About Carissa
Carissa Shobe is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) practicing in Pennsylvania with more than 15 years in mental health and substance use work. She focuses on helping people reduce distress and build clearer ways to reach their goals. Her approach centers on practical skills and steady, realistic progress.
Carissa uses a trauma-informed perspective that looks at strengths first. She helps people notice patterns that keep causing pain and replace them with healthier habits.
How Carissa works
Sessions often include learning tools to manage stress, strong emotion, and impulsive behaviors. Her work addresses a wide range of concerns including stress, anxiety, depression, bipolar challenges, addictions, trauma and abuse, anger, and self-esteem. Additional focuses include issues such as attachment difficulties, codependency, dissociation, eating and food-related problems, gender dysphoria, and life purpose questions.
In session she draws on cognitive behavioral strategies to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. Dialectical behavior skills are used for emotion regulation and crisis coping. Mindfulness practices are introduced to help with grounding and present-moment awareness.
People meet her for straightforward help learning skills and making small changes that add up. She works with each person to set realistic goals and build habits that match their values. The emphasis is on usable tools and steady forward movement rather than quick fixes.
Carissa lists 3 ways of working on the entry:
What Carissa works with
The areas below are the ones Carissa selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Bipolar disorder
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Guilt and shame
- HIV / AIDS
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Mood disorders
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Personality disorders
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Traumatic brain injury
Training and background
| Register | LPC |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 15 |
| 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
Approaches that translate to online care
Carissa uses cognitive behavioral techniques to help people spot and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. CBT is practical and goal oriented, and it often helps with anxiety, depression, and addiction-related patterns.She also brings dialectical behavior therapy skills into sessions to teach emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and clearer communication. DBT skills can be useful when emotions feel overwhelming or reactions are intense.
Finding the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will collaborate with each person to pick strategies that match their needs, goals, and daily life. Plans are adjusted as progress is made and new challenges appear.
Online sessions can be scheduled as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to suit different routines. Video is good for longer sessions and richer communication, phone works well when bandwidth is limited, and chat or text can fit brief check-ins or ongoing skill practice. These options make it easier to keep regular appointments and use learned skills between sessions.
Start online instead of waiting
Our partner service asks a few questions about what you are looking for and matches you with a therapist for sessions from home.
Book with CarissaWe will earn a commission if you sign up through our link, at no cost to you.
Common questions
What kinds of concerns can be addressed in sessions?
What is her therapeutic style?
How much experience does she have?
What credentials and where is she located?
Which languages are used in sessions?
What session formats are available?
How are fees and payment handled?
How do I begin working with her?
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.
We will earn a commission if you sign up through our link, at no cost to you. Entries are not assessed or endorsed by this directory.
Other entries for stress, anxiety
Supportive LCSW helping people build strength and clarity
Practical, trauma-aware therapy for everyday life
Practical, relational therapy for life transitions