Shawn Smith, LCSW

Shawn Smith is a licensed clinical social worker with 30 years of experience helping people through difficult life moments. She uses clear, practical methods to address anxiety, depression, grief, and trauma-related concerns. Parents and individuals reach out for help with parenting stress, self-esteem, and relationship challenges.

She draws on cognitive behavioral therapy to identify unhelpful thoughts and try small behavior changes that make daily life easier. Client-centered work guides sessions toward each person's priorities, while dialectical behavior therapy and mindfulness skills teach ways to manage intense emotions. Motivational interviewing supports people who are ready to make changes but feel stuck.

Shawn often focuses on problems that come from family dynamics, abandonment, communication breakdowns, and codependency. She also has long experience supporting survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, veterans, and women facing life transitions. In sessions she aims to help clients build clearer boundaries and stronger self-care habits.

Her style is straightforward and respectful. She listens first, then helps set practical goals and small steps to reach them. Expect a mix of talking, skill practice, and planning between sessions.

Shawn works with people who want concrete tools and steady support while they heal and grow. Her background and years of practice shape a calm, steady approach to solving everyday problems and coping with big changes.

Approaches that translate well to online care

Shawn commonly uses cognitive behavioral therapy to help people notice and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors; this approach often includes homework and simple experiments that work well between video sessions. She also uses client-centered therapy to keep the work focused on each person's goals, offering a supportive, listening-based frame that fits phone or messaging formats. Dialectical behavior therapy skills are part of her toolkit for managing strong emotions, teaching concrete breathing, distress tolerance, and interpersonal techniques that can be practiced in daily life.

Finding the best approach is a joint process. Shawn will talk with a person about their goals, try different strategies, and adjust treatment based on what helps most. She encourages collaboration so the plan matches individual needs and preferences rather than following a one-size-fits-all path.

Online sessions offer practical flexibility. Video calls let people work face-to-face without travel, phone sessions use less bandwidth and can fit a work break, live chat allows short check-ins, and text messaging supports ongoing reflection between meetings. These options make it easier to maintain continuity of care and practice skills in real situations while fitting therapy into a busy life.