About Shari
Shari Sinwelski, LPCC, helps people manage stress, anxiety, relationship strain, trauma, grief, and self-esteem struggles. She writes short-term and long-term plans with each person to address the issues that feel most urgent. Shari keeps language simple and focuses on practical steps people can try between sessions.
Shari brings 26 years of experience in mental health to her work in California. She has supported people affected by sexual assault, domestic violence, and post-traumatic stress, and she has helped those coping with suicidal thoughts in themselves or with the aftermath of losing someone to suicide.
Background and approach
She also assists people facing life transitions such as career change or new goals. Her approach centers on creating an open space where thoughts and feelings can be shared without judgment. She listens closely and helps identify manageable steps to reduce anxiety and improve daily functioning.
Sessions balance talking through problems with concrete skills and coping strategies. Shari addresses practical concerns like caregiving stress, chronic illness and pain, workplace strain, money worries, and communication difficulties. She also supports people dealing with guilt, shame, forgiveness, and isolation.
The goal is to help people rebuild confidence and strengthen self-love over time. People can expect a collaborative process where goals are set together and progress is revisited. Shari emphasizes small, achievable changes that add up.
Her style is steady, direct, and compassionate, aimed at helping people move toward a more manageable daily life.
Approaches that guide online sessions
Shari uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques that focus on practical change and symptom relief. One approach emphasizes skill-building for anxiety - teaching breathing, grounding, and step-by-step exposure to reduce avoidance and ease worry. This helps people regain confidence in daily tasks and routines.Another approach addresses trauma and post-traumatic stress by helping a person tell their story at a pace that feels manageable and by teaching tools to reduce intense reactions. The work aims to lessen the hold of past events on current life without rushing the process.
Choosing the right approach is part of therapy. The therapist and client work together to decide which techniques match the client’s needs, goals, and comfort level. That collaborative planning can change over time as progress is made or new challenges appear.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to fit different schedules and needs. Video sessions are useful for face-to-face conversation, phone calls can be easier when bandwidth is limited, live chat lets people check in quickly, and text-based messaging supports brief questions or ongoing check-ins between sessions. These options aim to make consistent care easier to fit into a busy life.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
Also listed
- Experience
- 26 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English
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