- Client-focused
- Skill-building
- Trauma-informed
About Shakina
Shakina Small is an LPC with 26 years of experience helping people work through relationship and life challenges. She draws on a compassionate, direct style to help people identify unhelpful patterns and make practical changes. Clients can expect straightforward guidance alongside listening and validation.
Her background includes long work in clinical and community settings across Pennsylvania. That history includes time in schools, residential programs, foster care settings, and both inpatient and outpatient environments. She has supported people who have experienced sexual, emotional, and physical trauma and abuse, and she brings that experience to work through trust and safety issues in therapy.
Shakina uses a mix of approaches to match the needs of each person. She often uses Client-Centered therapy to create a listening space, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to address thinking and behavior patterns, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills for emotion regulation. She also draws on Emotionally-Focused and existential ideas when those frameworks fit the goals at hand.
Shakina works with a wide range of concerns, including relationship and intimacy issues, family conflict, parenting strains, addiction and substance concerns, anger, career stress, bipolar disorder, ADHD, and coping with life changes. She also addresses adoption and attachment issues, blended family dynamics, body image, codependency, and other related topics.
Her approach is practical and collaborative. She helps people set goals, practice new skills, and examine the roots of recurring patterns so they can move forward in daily life. To begin, prospective clients can use the site process to match and schedule sessions with her according to availability.
How her approaches translate to online sessions
Shakina commonly uses Client-Centered Therapy to create a listening and accepting space, where the person sets the pace and topics. This approach is helpful for relationship struggles and emotional processing. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing new behaviors, which can be useful for anxiety, mood struggles, and many everyday problems. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) provides concrete skills for managing intense emotions and improving relationships, and it can be applied when emotion regulation or impulsive behaviors are a concern.Choosing the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what has or has not worked before. Together they decide which methods to try and adjust them as progress is made.
Session formats are not specified in the biography, so confirm current options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy schedule, reduce travel time, and allow shorter check-ins when needed. It also supports using worksheets, emotion regulation exercises, and real-time practice of new skills during the session to help transfer learning into daily life.
Areas of focus
Frequently asked questions
What concerns does she help with?
She works with relationship and family issues, trauma and abuse, self-esteem, addictions, intimacy issues, parenting, anger, career worries, bipolar disorder, ADHD, and coping with life changes.
What is her therapeutic style like?
Her style blends empathy with direct guidance. She listens closely, teaches practical skills, and will be direct when needed to help clients make changes.
How long has she practiced?
She has 26 years of experience working in clinical and community settings across Pennsylvania, including residential programs, schools, foster care, and inpatient and outpatient services.
What credentials and location are listed?
She holds the LPC credential and practices in Pennsylvania.
Which languages are supported for sessions?
Sessions are offered in English.
Can people outside the U.S. work with her?
She does not accept international clients at this time.
How does payment and cost work?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
How do I start a therapy relationship?
Select the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule according to therapist availability.