Dr. Andrea Shirley, LMFT
Calm, practical support for life's challenges
Details
| Name | Dr. Andrea Shirley |
|---|---|
| Credentials | LMFT |
| Based in | California |
| Licensed in | California |
| Session format | Online |
| Languages | English |
| Years in practice | 27 |
About Andrea
Dr. Andrea Shirley is a licensed marriage and family therapist with 27 years of experience in California. She works with people facing stress, anxiety, relationship strains, and identity-related concerns.
She values each person's story and helps them use their strengths to move forward. In sessions she listens closely and follows the client's lead. She focuses on what matters to the client now, helping them name problems and notice what is already working.
Background and approach
Her style is direct and respectful, and she aims to make the work practical and achievable. Dr. Shirley blends Narrative Therapy with client-centered and solution-focused ideas.
That means she helps clients rewrite difficult parts of their life story, centers the client's perspective, and highlights small changes that build momentum. She also brings trauma-focused skills when past harm affects present functioning. She supports people coping with grief, caregiving stress, chronic illness, anger, sleep problems, and career transitions.
She also helps with intimacy-related worries, adoption and foster care issues, attachment concerns, and questions around commitment. Sessions may use conversation, focused problem-solving, and exercises to shift patterns between sessions. She encourages realistic goals and steady progress, acknowledging that change usually happens in small steps.
Dr. Shirley aims to be a steady, practical collaborator for people ready to try something different.
What this therapist works with
Her listing names Stress, Anxiety, LGBT, Relationship issues among the things Andrea works with, alongside the areas below.
- Stress, Anxiety
- LGBT
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
- Self esteem
- Trauma and abuse
- Grief
- Intimacy-related issues
- Sleeping disorders
- Anger management
- Career difficulties
- Coping with life changes
- Coaching
- Compassion fatigue
- ADHD
- Abandonment
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Attachment issues
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Cancer
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Fertility issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Phobias
- Postpartum depression
- Post-traumatic stress
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Approaches listed
- Narrative Therapy: Named in her listing among her approaches.
- Client-Centered Therapy: Listed by Andrea among the ways she works.
- Solution-Focused Therapy: Listed by Andrea among the ways she works.
- Trauma-Focused Therapy: Listed by Andrea among the ways she works.
- Training stated: This directory copies the approaches a therapist names and does not check training records. Ask Andrea directly how much of the work is narrative and what a session usually looks like.
Narrative Therapy in this listing
Narrative Therapy appears in this therapist's own list of approaches. That tells you it is part of how she works. It does not tell you how much of a session it shapes, and this directory does not check or rate training.
If a narrative approach is what you are looking for, it is worth asking Andrea directly how she uses it and what a session usually looks like.
Online session options
How Narrative and Client-Centered Approaches Work Online
Dr. Shirley often uses Narrative Therapy to help people step back from painful stories and consider different ways to describe themselves. This approach helps when identity, past harms, or repeated patterns feel stuck and someone wants to rewrite how those experiences shape daily life.She also draws on client-centered therapy, which means she follows the client's priorities and supports them without judgment. That approach is useful for building trust, clarifying goals, and making sure therapy fits the person's values and pace.
Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. She will work with the client to decide which methods suit their needs and goals, and adjust plans over time. The client’s preferences, life demands, and the problems they bring guide the selection of techniques.
Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to make therapy more flexible. Video calls allow fuller conversation and visual cues, phone sessions work when bandwidth is limited or for shorter check-ins, and messaging supports brief updates or ongoing reflections between meetings. These options help people fit care into busy days and different routines.
Common questions about this listing
What problems does Dr. Shirley most often help with?
She works with stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, grief, relationship and family concerns, self-esteem, and intimacy-related issues. Her practice also includes ADHD, caregiver stress, chronic illness, and career transitions.
How would you describe her therapeutic style?
Her style is client-centered and collaborative. She listens to each person's story, helps name patterns, and focuses on practical steps the client can try between sessions.
What kind of experience does she bring?
She has 27 years of professional experience working with a wide range of life and relationship challenges. That background informs a pragmatic approach to problem-solving and healing.
Where is she licensed and practicing?
She is a California licensed marriage and family therapist, credentialed as LMFT, and works with clients based in California.
Which languages are sessions offered in?
Sessions are offered in English.
What session formats are available?
She meets with clients using video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to fit different scheduling and communication needs.
How are sessions priced and billed?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability and sessions use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin working with her?
Start by selecting the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and then schedule sessions according to therapist availability.
Contacting this therapist
Sessions with Andrea are arranged through our partner platform. It asks a few questions about what you are looking for, then shows you the therapists available to you, including Andrea where she has space. Ask about fees, and whether she holds a licence or registration where you live.
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