Mary Shands, LPC

Mary Shands is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) with 12 years of clinical experience. She is licensed in Missouri and Texas and works with people facing anxiety, depression, trauma, addiction, and many life transitions.

Mary began her career in school settings, supporting students in both special education and general education. She has also worked in veteran services, substance use treatment, an insurance company, and a sexual offender treatment program. Those roles shaped her ability to talk with people across ages and backgrounds.

Her approach is practical and conversational. She listens first, then helps people identify small steps that fit their life. She draws on cognitive behavioral techniques to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, and on client-centered work to keep conversations focused on each person's goals.

Mary also uses attachment-informed ideas to help people understand patterns in close relationships. Emotionally focused tools are part of her way to address relationship and intimacy concerns. Mindfulness and existential ideas appear when people want help making sense of life changes.

People often come to Mary for help with parenting stress, grief, eating and sleeping concerns, ADHD, compassion fatigue, and issues tied to aging and geriatric concerns. She also supports those dealing with career strain, body image, and recovery from domestic violence and substance use.

Her style is warm, energetic, and straightforward. To get started, readers should follow the site's process to request a match and schedule sessions according to therapist availability.

How these approaches translate to online therapy

Attachment-based ideas focus on how people relate to others. Online work using attachment perspectives helps identify relationship patterns, improve emotional connection, and plan new ways of interacting. This can be useful for intimacy issues, separation related to adoption, and long-standing avoidant patterns.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) targets specific thoughts and behaviors. In online sessions CBT often involves identifying unhelpful thinking, testing new behaviors between meetings, and using practical exercises to reduce anxiety, manage mood, or address cravings in addiction recovery.

Emotionally focused work helps people notice and name feelings in relationships. Online conversations can guide partners or individuals to express key emotions more clearly and practice new responses that reduce conflict and increase closeness.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Mary will collaborate with each person to choose methods that match goals, needs, and preferences. She adjusts techniques over time so sessions remain relevant and useful.

Because specific session formats are not listed in the biography, confirm current options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit counseling into a busy life - for example by reducing travel time, allowing shorter check-ins, or letting people join from a different location when needed. Licensed professionals can use video or phone in ways that focus on practical skill building and ongoing support without changing the therapeutic aims.