About Demi
Dr. Demi Shugrue is a California licensed professional clinical counselor with 10 years of experience. She helps people who are feeling overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, low self-esteem, or depression.
She also supports those dealing with relationship strain, family conflict, and parenting stress. Her approach is practical and respectful of each person’s strengths. In sessions she treats the person in front of her as the expert on their life.
She listens for what is working and what gets in the way.
Background and approach
Together with clients she develops small, doable steps to reduce panic, quiet worry, and improve daily functioning. Dr. Shugrue pays attention to how close relationships shape mood and behavior.
Attachment concerns, communication problems, and issues around control, forgiveness, or guilt are common topics she helps people talk through. She also works with clients coping with isolation, caregiver stress, and the fallout of separation or divorce. Her style is straightforward and goal-oriented.
Sessions can include practicing new ways of handling anxious thoughts, learning calming breathing or grounding techniques, and trying different communication strategies in relationships. She invites clients to take small steps and notice real changes over time. Signing up can feel hard, and she honors that courage while helping people move toward clearer routines and steadier moods.
How evidence-based techniques translate to online care
Dr. Shugrue uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques to address anxiety and mood concerns in clear, practical ways. One common approach focuses on recognizing and shifting unhelpful thinking patterns; clients learn to notice anxious thoughts, test them, and replace them with more balanced alternatives to reduce worry and panic. Another set of techniques centers on behavioral strategies such as gradual exposure and activity scheduling to rebuild confidence and reduce avoidance that keeps anxiety and low mood alive.Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will ask about goals, daily routines, and what has or hasn't worked before. Together they tailor methods and adjust them over time so the work fits the client's needs and preferences.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to make therapy flexible. Video allows face-to-face conversation and skill practice, phone works well when bandwidth is limited, live chat can be a shorter check-in, and messaging supports ongoing processing between sessions. These options help people fit therapy around work, caregiving, and other obligations while still making steady progress.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also listed
- Experience
- 10 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English
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