About Amy
Amy Shafer is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with three decades of experience in mental health care. She uses a mix of practical therapies to help people manage worry, sadness, and major life changes. She speaks plainly and focuses on real-world steps that fit each person's daily life.
Her work centers on stress, anxiety, depression, grief, and relationship difficulties. She also addresses parenting strain, compassion fatigue, sleep problems, and addiction-related concerns.
Background and approach
Amy has substantial experience with aging and geriatric issues and supports people coping with chronic illness and caregiver stress. Amy draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Client-Centered approaches to guide sessions. She helps people notice what matters, change unhelpful thoughts, and build habits that match their values.
Mindfulness and emotionally focused techniques are used when they suit the person’s goals. Her background includes a Master of Social Work from San Diego State University and long practice in California settings. Amy has worked with a wide range of concerns across different life stages, and that breadth informs a flexible approach to problem solving.
She explains options so people can make clear choices about next steps. Sessions focus on practical tools, straightforward conversations, and step-by-step plans. People can expect a collaborative process that respects their pace and priorities.
Amy supports clients who want concrete strategies for coping and for rebuilding connections after loss or stress.
Therapeutic approaches adapted for online work
Amy commonly uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to help people clarify their values and take small, meaningful actions. ACT focuses on noticing thoughts and feelings without getting stuck, which can help with anxiety, grief, and life transitions.She also applies Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to identify unhelpful thinking patterns and replace them with practical strategies. CBT is useful for managing worry, low mood, and sleep problems by breaking issues into manageable steps and experiments.
Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with each person about their goals and preferences, then suggest methods that fit those needs. Plans are adjusted over time based on what works and what feels realistic.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to connect: video calls for full conversations, phone sessions when bandwidth or camera use is an issue, live chat for brief check-ins, and text-based messaging for quick support between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy days and different routines, while keeping focus on concrete skills and steady progress.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Avoidant personality
- Blended family issues
- Cancer
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Fertility issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Relationship issues
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 30 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English