About John
John Shafer is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) based in New York. He brings 25 years of experience and a practical, down-to-earth style to sessions. He focuses on stress, anxiety, phobias, relationship concerns, trauma, and mood difficulties such as depression and bipolar disorder.
John uses a mix of proven approaches to help people manage symptoms and make changes. He often blends Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with cognitive behavioral ideas and mindfulness practices.
Background and approach
Sessions are conversational and goal-focused, with clear strategies to try between meetings. His background includes work in rural community mental health, school-based settings, and city and suburban clinics. That variety shaped his ability to work with people from many different backgrounds and life stages.
He has provided individual, group, and couple sessions over the years. John has experience supporting people through grief, addiction, parenting stress, caregiving strain, and identity-related concerns such as LGBT issues and gender identity expression. He also helps with sleep problems, anger, self-esteem, career decisions, and coping with life changes.
People who choose him can expect a collaborative approach. He listens for what matters most, sets practical goals together, and adapts methods to fit each person’s situation. His long career is rooted in learning from diverse populations and refining straightforward techniques that help people move forward.
Approach and online care that fit your life
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on helping people notice thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them, then choose actions that match their values. It can be useful for anxiety, stress, and persistent fears. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps people identify unhelpful thought patterns and try practical behavior changes to reduce distress and improve daily functioning. It often helps with phobias, sleep problems, and mood symptoms. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) emphasizes skills for emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and improved communication, which can help with anger, relationship strain, and overwhelming emotions.Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with each person about their goals, preferences, and what has or hasn’t worked before. Together they will choose methods to try and adapt them over time so the plan fits the person’s needs.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to meet: video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation when a longer discussion is needed. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or a quick check-in fits a busy day. Live chat and text messaging are useful for brief updates, coaching-style support, or when the person prefers written communication. These options make it easier to schedule consistent sessions and keep therapy integrated with everyday life.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Fertility issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 25 years
- Licensed
- New York
- Languages
- English
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