Patrick Shanahan

Patrick Shanahan is a licensed clinical social worker with 44 years of experience. He helps people facing relationship strain, grief, anxiety, depression, addiction, and parenting challenges. He pays attention to values and practical steps so clients can move forward from feeling stuck.

He believes people are generally self-correcting and that getting past a sticking point can lead to healthier choices. That perspective draws on ideas from Carl Jung and Milton Erickson and guides how he listens and responds. He emphasizes clients' value systems as a source of direction and solution-finding.

Early in his career he created and ran an outpatient clinic connected to a runaway and homeless youth shelter. For 18 years he provided case management, individual therapy, and family work both in the shelter and out in the community. He also trained and supervised staff and graduate students during that time.

He spent part of his career working in managed care, providing phone therapy and crisis intervention while helping members use their mental health benefits. He has also worked in outpatient office settings and with a local university on research to improve therapy approaches.

His clinical approach blends practical techniques such as cognitive behavioral methods, problem-solving, and communication work with systems-oriented ideas like structural and strategic family theory. He also uses attachment-focused and emotionally focused methods when helpful. People who want a values-oriented, experienced therapist who favors plain talk often find his style straightforward and task-focused.

How therapeutic approaches translate to online work