There is nothing wrong with you.
Training & Approach
I invite you to see yourself as a thread in a web of interconnection, and I aspire to practice therapy as part of systemic and ecological healing.
Each person's healing process is a unique and creative experience, and therapy is about creating a courageous space to explore whatever concerns you. I will listen to you with empathy, curiosity, and humility, and guide you through experiential practices. Together, we will focus on the adaptive ways you have moved through life, deepening your relationship to all parts of yourself. We will connect the dots of your story, identify core values and beliefs, and increase your understanding of how your nervous system works.
Counseling and therapy is a sociopolitical act that can reinforce social inequality or disrupt it, and the wellness industry is complicit in many harms. By exploring the ways that our intersecting identities have shaped us, and reflecting on our experiences of privilege and marginalization, we can show up more authentically and effectively in our relationships and in the world.
I weave together Internal Family Systems, somatic/polyvagal therapy, Psychodrama, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Lifespan Integration, and Mindful Self Compassion, through a liberatory, anti-oppressive framework.
I received Master of Arts and Master of Education degrees in Counseling Psychology from Columbia University in 2008.
About Shannon
I grew up on a 45-foot sailboat on the Salish Sea. My ancestors were recent immigrants from the lands currently known as Germany and Scandinavia, and settlers of Turtle Island many, many generations ago. I am an adventurous traveler, perpetual student, baker of extravagant birthday cakes, and a dancer. I have a deep and abiding reverence and love for my beyond-human relations.
I hold Master of Arts and Master of Education Degrees in Counseling Psychology from Columbia University in New York City. My graduate program centered a multicultural psychology framework and placed experiential group work around race/ethnicity at the core of our clinical training, with an intersectional focus on gender, socioeconomic class, ability, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, and immigrant status. I also attended a certificate program in conflict resolution at the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution (ICCCR) at Columbia University.
I opened my private practice in 2011. My professional background includes experience working with unhoused and incarcerated populations in community mental health settings, counseling first generation college students of color in New York City, conducting intersectional anti-oppression consultation and training programs, working with youth in need, and teaching organic gardening. Through the International Rescue Committee, I have offered pro bono psychological evaluations to people seeking asylum since 2022.