- Strengths based
- Sleep focused
- Values work
About Shawn
Shawn Mcgivern is a licensed mental health counselor with 27 years of experience helping people through hard moments. She brings a practical, warm style to sessions and focuses on real-life struggles like anxiety, depression, relationship strain, and sleep problems.
She centers work on a person’s strengths and values. That means building self-understanding and simple tools that fit day-to-day life. Clients who come for identity questions, workplace stress, or relationship communication will find a collaborative approach that aims for steady change.
Shawn uses several well-known therapies in flexible ways. She mixes skills training, values work, and emotion-focused conversations so people can manage strong feelings and make clearer choices. The room stays focused on what matters most to each person, not on jargon or tests.
Practical habits get attention alongside feelings. That includes pacing difficult tasks, improving sleep routines, and learning small communication moves that reduce conflict. Shawn often helps people sort grief, trauma aftermath, or patterns that cause shame or avoidance.
Sessions are paced to each person’s needs and goals. Shawn helps set short-term steps and longer-term aims so progress is visible. People leave sessions with things they can try between appointments to keep momentum going.
How therapy approaches translate to online care
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on helping people notice what matters to them and take small actions that reflect those values, while also learning to sit with hard feelings. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns and offers practical exercises to change them, useful for anxiety, sleep problems, and low mood. Attachment-Based Therapy explores how early relationship patterns shape current responses and helps people build new ways of relating and regulating feelings.Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what has or hasn’t helped before. Together they choose methods to try and adjust them as progress is made, keeping the plan practical and tailored.
Confirm the available session formats before booking, since the biography does not list specific online or in-person options. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life, reduce travel time, and allow for flexible scheduling around work or caregiving. It can also let people try brief check-ins or longer therapy blocks depending on what fits their routine. Ask about session length and frequency when you schedule so appointments match daily needs.
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
27+ years
Credentials
Massachusetts
Languages
English
Frequently asked questions
What concerns does Shawn address?
Common issues include stress, anxiety, depression, trauma and abuse, relationship and intimacy-related problems, grief, eating concerns, sleep difficulties, parenting strain, career and life transitions.
How would you describe the therapy style?
The approach is collaborative and empathetic, blending acceptance and commitment ideas, attachment perspectives, client-centered listening, and skills from CBT and DBT to match each person's needs.
What kind of clinical background does Shawn have?
Shawn has 27 years of clinical experience working with adults on issues like identity, communication, trauma recovery, and behavior change.
Where is Shawn licensed and practicing?
She is licensed as a mental health counselor (LMHC) and practices in Massachusetts.
Which languages are supported for sessions?
Sessions are offered in English.
Can people outside the United States work with Shawn?
She does not accept international clients at this time.
How are sessions scheduled and what formats are offered?
Please confirm current session formats before booking, as the biography does not list specific formats; scheduling follows the therapist's availability.
How does payment and getting started work?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time. To begin, select the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule according to availability.