About John
John Shafer is a licensed clinical social worker with 25 years of experience helping people manage stress, anxiety, depression, relationship struggles, and addiction. He practices in New York and uses clear, practical methods to help clients cope with life changes and day-to-day challenges. He draws on a mix of approaches to fit each person’s needs rather than one-size-fits-all plans.
Shafer learned his social work skills after earning a master’s degree in social work and then working across rural, suburban, and city settings.
Background and approach
That variety exposed him to many kinds of life situations and helped him shape a flexible, straightforward style. He has worked with people at many life stages and with a wide range of cultural backgrounds. In sessions he uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Client-Centered work, and existential ideas.
He blends these approaches to focus on what helps an individual make meaningful change and manage painful feelings. He aims for practical tools people can use between sessions. Shafer has experience running individual and group work, and he has led conversations about relationships, communication, and coping skills.
He pays attention to how identity and background shape someone’s current struggles, and he seeks to respond in culturally aware ways. People who come to him can expect straightforward conversation, goal-focused planning, and tools for daily life. Sessions emphasize small, useful steps so progress feels manageable and relevant.
How John’s Approaches Work Online
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps people notice difficult thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them, then focus on actions that match their values. It is useful for anxiety, depression, and coping with life changes. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy looks at how thoughts, feelings, and actions influence one another and teaches practical skills to change unhelpful patterns. It is often used for anxiety, mood problems, and sleep concerns.Choosing the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what has or hasn’t helped before. Then he will suggest one or a mix of approaches and adjust as someone’s needs change over time, making decisions collaboratively.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to give flexibility. Video works well for in-depth conversations and practicing skills with visual cues. Phone sessions are useful when bandwidth is limited or for shorter check-ins. Live chat and text messaging allow quick access to coaching-style support or brief reflections between meetings. These options help people fit therapy into busy schedules and maintain continuity when life is hectic.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Fertility issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 25 years
- Licensed
- New York
- Languages
- English