About Brian
Dr. Brian Shaffer uses a person-centered approach that puts the client's goals first. He combines practical tools with thoughtful listening to help people move toward recovery and better daily functioning.
He has 20 years of experience working in mental health, addiction, trauma, grief, loss, and spiritual care. Brian holds LCMHC and LCPC credentials and practices in Pennsylvania. He brings calm focus to difficult conversations about substance use and emotional pain.
How Brian works
In sessions he helps people sort through past traumatic events and identify how those events affect present behavior. He offers skills to manage anxiety, depression, anger, and overwhelming stress. He also helps people address intimacy-related concerns, compulsive behavior, eating struggles, and problems with self-esteem.
He weaves clients' spiritual beliefs into treatment when that matters to the person. That means therapy can address both practical coping skills and deeper meaning questions. Brian supports people working through grief, loss, caregiver stress, chronic illness, and life transitions.
His work draws on several well-known approaches including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Attachment-Based Therapy, and Client-Centered Therapy. Sessions aim to build clearer choices and steady coping rather than quick fixes. He meets people where they are and helps them make changes that fit their life.
Brian lists 14 ways of working on the entry:
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Existential Therapy
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Jungian Therapy
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
What Brian works with
The areas below are the ones Brian selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- HIV / AIDS
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Traumatic brain injury
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Training and background
| Registers | LCMHC, LCPC |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 20 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | Pennsylvania |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
Therapeutic approaches adapted for online work
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them, then choose actions that match their values; it is useful for stress, anxiety, and life changes. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thinking and changing behavior through practical exercises, often helping with depression, anxiety, and coping skills. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early relationship patterns shape current relationships and emotional responses, which can help with intimacy issues and trust concerns.Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will discuss your goals and preferences and together you will choose which methods to try. That collaborative process helps tailor sessions to address addiction, grief, trauma, or other concerns using approaches that fit you.
Online sessions are offered as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to increase flexibility. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and guided exercises, phone sessions can fit a work break or lower bandwidth, and messaging or live chat are useful for quick check-ins or brief coaching between meetings. These options make it easier to keep therapy consistent around busy schedules and life demands.
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Common questions
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A practical next step
Write down two things you would want to be different in six months. That is the most useful thing to bring to a first session, whoever it is with. If you would rather start now than keep reading, online sessions are the quickest route.
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