About Patrick
Patrick Shanahan is a licensed clinical social worker with 44 years of experience who focuses on helping people navigate anxiety, grief, relationship strain, and life transitions. He takes a straightforward, calm approach that aims to help clients find workable steps forward. Patrick emphasizes values and practical problem-solving rather than technical jargon.
He believes people are generally self-correcting and can move toward healthier choices once they get unstuck. That idea guides sessions where clients and Patrick look for small changes that add up.
Background and approach
He draws on insights from multiple cultures and comparative religion to understand each person’s values and priorities. Patrick’s early work began with creating and running an outpatient clinic for runaway and homeless youth. For 18 years he provided case management, individual therapy, and family work both in shelters and in community settings.
That hands-on experience shaped his practical, solutions-focused style. Later he supervised staff and graduate students and partnered with a university on research to improve therapy models. He completed 29 credit hours toward a Ph.D. in family therapy and was offered a fellowship with Washington University’s Ph.D. program.
He also spent years providing phone therapy and crisis intervention through managed care. In clinical work he mixes approaches such as cognitive behavioral methods, acceptance and commitment ideas, attachment-based thinking, emotionally-focused techniques, and client-centered skills. Sessions often include problem solving, communication practice, and attention to values.
Patrick sees therapy as collaborative work to find clear, realistic steps forward.
Approaches that guide online sessions
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, focuses on helping people clarify what matters to them and take small steps toward those values while accepting difficult feelings. It can be useful for anxiety, stress, and life changes because it pairs clear action with acceptance. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at patterns of thought and behavior and teaches practical skills to shift unhelpful thinking and reactions. CBT is often used for anxiety, depression, and managing strong emotions. Emotionally-Focused Therapy emphasizes understanding and changing patterns in close relationships by naming emotions and improving communication. It can help people who struggle with intimacy or recurring conflict.Finding the right approach is part of the work. Patrick will talk with each person about their goals and preferences and suggest methods that fit. He uses a collaborative process and may blend techniques so the plan fits how a client prefers to work and what they want to change.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video sessions allow face-to-face conversation and visual cues, phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited, live chat works for shorter check-ins, and messaging supports ongoing reflection between sessions. These options make it easier to schedule therapy around work, caregiving, or travel while keeping the focus on real-world changes and practical skills.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Relationship issues
- Grief
- Anger management
Also listed
- Addictions
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Blended family issues
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Multicultural concerns
- Parenting issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Stress, Anxiety
- Trauma and abuse
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Existential Therapy
- Hypnotherapy
- Jungian Therapy
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Narrative Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
- Experience
- 44 years
- Licensed
- Missouri
- Languages
- English
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