How I work
At the heart of my work is the belief that healing happens in safe, emotionally attuned connection. Therapy with me is collaborative and grounded in research-supported approaches that create real and lasting change.
nsight and understanding can be helpful—but they can only take us so far. Real change happens through experience, not just awareness. That’s where I focus our work.
I draw primarily from Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP). These approaches help you safely experience and process emotions to completion, so old patterns can shift and deeper security can emerge.
I also integrate mind–body awareness, deeply shaped by over two decades of dedicated meditation practice and contemplative study. This brings a steady, grounded presence to our work and supports you in slowing down, tuning into your nervous system, and allowing emotional and physical experiences to work together in the healing process.
Whether working with individuals or couples, therapy is centered on presence, safety, and authentic connection within yourself and in your relationships.
Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT)
For individuals, I draw on Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT), an attachment-based approach that brings deeper understanding to your inner world. Together, we help you connect with a steadier, wiser part of yourself and explore how early experiences shaped the way you feel, respond, and relate. From there, we begin building new ways of responding, ones rooted in emotional safety, regulation, and authenticity.
EFIT is especially helpful for anxiety, trauma, and relationship pain because it focuses on strengthening emotional security from the inside out.
“One of the greatest gifts of our work together is now knowing how to hold this space for myself — to lean in rather than run away, and to feel that it’s safe to stay with big feelings. Safe to stay with myself, in my body.”
— Individual Therapy Client,
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) for Couples
In my work with couples, I use Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) to help partners recognize and shift the emotional cycles that create distance and conflict. Together, we slow those moments down so each of you can access and share what’s happening underneath, building safety, repairing trust, and creating a relationship that feels more secure and responsive.
“Emotions take us over, and that’s why we are scared of emotion. They are supposed to take us over, and orientate us”
Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP)
AEDP is a trauma-informed, emotion-focused approach that helps you experience change, not just talk about it. With both individuals and couples, it guides us in accessing and staying with core emotions safely, so distress can shift into greater connection, confidence, and self-compassion.
When we stay present with emotions in real time, something meaningful begins to change. Pain softens. New experiences take root. Many clients describe AEDP sessions as “feeling something shift,” not just understanding why they feel the way they do.
“The roots of resilience are to be found in the sense of being understood by and existing in the mind and heart of a loving, attuned and self possessed other”
Mind-Body Integration
Because the mind and body are inseparable, therapy with me often includes mindfulness and somatic awareness.
You’ll learn to recognize how stress and emotion live in your body — and discover tools to release tension, regulate your nervous system, and restore balance.
“You are the sky. Everything else- it’s just the weather.”
What This Means for You
You don’t need to keep track of the approaches we’re drawing from. What matters is that our work feels safe, steady, and meaningful to you. At the core, everything we do is grounded in emotional safety, connection, and lasting change.
“Shelby listens deeply, helps you find the root of your hurt, and guides you toward a sense of inner peace. Her work taught me to live less in fear and trauma, and more with confidence, compassion, and gentleness.”
