Shirley Southard, LCMHC

Shirley Southard is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC) with 20 years of experience helping people manage stress, anxiety, addiction, anger, depression, ADHD, relationship and family concerns, trauma, grief, and parenting challenges. She offers calm, nonjudgmental support and listens closely to what matters most to each person.

Shirley uses practical strategies that people can try between sessions. She often draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to identify unhelpful thinking and build new habits. Motivational interviewing helps when someone feels stuck or unsure about change. Mindfulness and Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills are also used to manage strong emotions and improve coping.

Her background includes work across mental health, developmental disability, and substance use settings. Shirley has supported people navigating medication management and has experience with military-connected concerns. That variety shaped a flexible, problem-focused style that prioritizes clear, achievable goals.

In a session she focuses on listening first, then on simple steps a person can take right away. Psychoeducation is offered so people understand why certain strategies help. Shirley aims to make therapy understandable and useful for day-to-day life.

Shirley practices in North Carolina and provides care in English. She helps people work through life changes, coping skills, and recovery from substance-related problems while focusing on strengths and workable plans for the future.

Practical approaches for online therapy

Shirley commonly uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people notice unhelpful thoughts and try new behaviors that reduce anxiety and improve mood. CBT sessions often include short exercises and homework that can be practiced between meetings.

She also uses Client-Centered techniques that focus on listening, acceptance, and understanding. This approach helps people feel heard and builds a collaborative space to set personal goals.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills are used when strong emotions or impulsive behaviors make life hard; DBT-style work teaches breathing, grounding, and emotion regulation tools that are easy to practice in everyday situations.

Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the work together. Shirley will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what feels most useful, and then adapt techniques collaboratively as progress is made.

Online therapy offers flexibility through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. Video is useful for full conversations and skill demonstrations, phone calls work well when bandwidth is limited or for a quick check-in, and chat or messaging can support short updates or ongoing coaching between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy lives and to keep practicing skills consistently.