About Shannan
Shannan OConnor is a California-licensed marriage and family therapist with five years of clinical experience. She works with people who are feeling overwhelmed by anxiety, stress, relationship strain, or life transitions. Her style is direct and supportive, focused on helping people make practical changes that fit their lives.
Shannan centers sessions on the person's strengths and goals. She treats the client as the expert on their own story and helps them notice what already works.
Background and approach
Sessions are aimed at making small, steady shifts rather than quick fixes. Her background includes helping people cope with grief, trauma and abuse, and challenges like panic attacks, social anxiety, and low self-esteem. She also supports those facing caregiver stress, multicultural concerns, and issues around intimacy and family conflict.
Shannan brings five years of experience working in California settings to her practice. In a typical session she listens closely, helps identify patterns that keep problems going, and offers tools to try between meetings. She emphasizes practical steps for managing anxiety, improving communication, and reducing overwhelm.
The goal is clearer choices and less reactivity. People who reach out can expect a collaborative approach. Shannan helps set realistic goals and adjusts methods to what feels most useful.
Her work is grounded in evidence-based therapeutic techniques and aimed at helping people move toward greater self-compassion and everyday functioning.
Evidence-based approaches and online sessions
Many evidence-based techniques focus on building skills and shifting unhelpful patterns. One common approach helps people learn practical anxiety management strategies such as paced breathing, grounding exercises, and step-by-step exposure to feared situations; these techniques aim to reduce panic attacks and social anxiety symptoms. Another approach concentrates on communication and relationship skills, teaching how to express needs, set boundaries, and repair interactions with partners or family members to ease conflict and improve intimacy.Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will work with the client to identify priorities, try out methods, and adjust the plan based on what feels most helpful. Goals, personal preferences, and real-life demands guide which techniques are emphasized.
Online therapy offers several practical benefits for busy people. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation when meeting in person is difficult. Phone sessions can be useful when bandwidth is limited or when a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging are helpful for ongoing support between sessions and for people who prefer written communication. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, caregiving, or travel schedules and support continuity of care across locations.
Questions people ask
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Which languages are supported and can international clients participate?
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also listed
- Anger management
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- LGBT
- Multicultural concerns
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Experience
- 5 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English
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