Mary Shands

Mary Shands is a Licensed Professional Counselor with 12 years of clinical experience. She holds LPC credentials in Missouri and Texas and has worked across school settings, veterans services, substance abuse programs, and other treatment centers. Mary listens carefully and brings an energetic, warm presence to sessions.

She helps people manage stress, anxiety, depression, and addiction concerns. She also supports those dealing with trauma, grief, relationship and parenting challenges, and identity or intimacy-related struggles. Her background includes work with veterans, people facing emotional abuse, and clients navigating separation related to adoption.

Mary uses straightforward methods that focus on what helps a person now. She draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Client-Centered approaches to identify patterns and build practical skills. She also incorporates Attachment-Based and Emotionally-Focused ideas when relationships and bonding are central to the concern.

In conversation she aims to make complex problems easier to understand. Sessions often look like steady listening, asking helpful questions, and trying out small changes between meetings. Mary also brings experience delivering trainings and presentations to groups.

People come to her seeking help with sleep and eating issues, career stress, coping with life changes, ADHD, and compassion fatigue. She works with a broad range of concerns including abandonment, codependency, body image, and first responder issues. Her approach is hands-on and focused on real life outcomes.

Approaches that guide online work and goals

Mary often uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people identify unhelpful thoughts and try new behaviors. CBT is useful for anxiety, depression, sleep and eating concerns, and many everyday stressors.

She also uses Client-Centered Therapy, which emphasizes listening and supporting each person’s own goals. This approach helps when someone needs space to process feelings and decide their next steps.

Attachment-Based or Emotionally-Focused ideas are brought in when relationships or bonding patterns are central. These approaches focus on how connections with others shape emotions and behavior.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Mary will talk with the person about goals, preferences, and what has worked or not worked in the past. Together they decide which methods to try and adjust the plan as progress is made.

Confirm current session options before booking, since formats are not specified here. Online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life, reduce travel time, and allow shorter check-ins when needed. Licensed professionals can tailor session length and pacing so therapy fits work, school, or caregiving schedules.