About Shannon
Shannon Julianne Toy welcomes people who are feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or stuck. She uses clear, practical steps to help clients handle stress, mood changes, relationship struggles, body image and eating concerns, grief, and work or life transitions. Shannon writes plainly and listens carefully to what matters most to each person.
She has seven years of overall experience in social work and therapy and holds MD, Licensed Certified Social Worker - Clinical (LCSW-C), and Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) credentials.
Background and approach
Shannon combines solution-focused work with client-centered conversations. Sessions are collaborative and aim for doable changes, not abstract goals. Her approach draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, mindfulness, narrative work, and client-centered techniques.
That mix lets her help people notice unhelpful thoughts, build new habits, and reconnect with personal values. She also addresses complex concerns such as trauma, attachment wounds, dissociation, and co-occurring issues. Shannon has experience across many settings and with a wide range of concerns including ADHD, bipolar disorder, compassion fatigue, parenting strain, intimacy-related issues, and forgiveness work.
She supports people who are navigating abandonment, adoption and foster care histories, BDSM and kink questions, and communication or commitment conflicts. Sessions are offered in English and delivered online through several formats. To begin, a reader selects the Start Therapy button, completes a short matching questionnaire, and schedules sessions according to therapist availability.
How Shannon’s approaches translate to online work
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps people notice painful thoughts without being ruled by them and focus on actions that match their values. It can help with anxiety, depression, and feeling stuck during life changes. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy looks at how thoughts and behaviors interact and uses small experiments to change unhelpful patterns; it is useful for anxiety, mood issues, and eating-related concerns. Client-Centered Therapy means conversations are guided by the person's own goals and pace, with the therapist offering empathy and reflection rather than directing every step.Finding the right approach is part of the work. Shannon treats therapy as a collaboration and will help clients try different methods to see what fits best. Together they set goals, adjust techniques over time, and keep the focus on practical steps that make life easier and more meaningful.
Online formats make it easier to fit therapy into busy lives. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and visual cues. Phone sessions work well when bandwidth is limited or a quieter audio check-in is preferred. Live chat and text-based messaging suit brief check-ins, ongoing reflection between sessions, or times when typing feels more comfortable. These options give flexibility while keeping the focus on steady progress and real-world changes.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- LGBT
- Eating disorders
Also works with
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Bipolar disorder
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Domestic violence
- Eating and food-related issues
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Postpartum depression
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 7 years
- Licensed
- Virginia, Maryland, Michigan
- Languages
- English