About Shelly
Shelly "Sheldon" Lewin helps people facing relationship problems, trauma and abuse, depression, addictions, grief, anger, and self-esteem struggles. He also supports clients dealing with career challenges, coping with life changes, bipolar concerns, eating issues, and compassion fatigue. With more than 30 years of experience in healthcare leadership and clinical settings, he brings steady guidance and practical skills to sessions.
Shelly uses clear, goal-oriented methods. He listens for strengths and patterns, and then helps people try small, doable changes.
How Shelly works
Sessions focus on building coping skills, improving communication, and developing better ways to manage strong emotions. He blends short-term tools with deeper work about how past experiences shape current behavior. He earned a Master of Social Work from Loyola University and holds the LICSW and LCSW credentials.
Over three decades he worked in executive roles at large health systems and later moved into independent practice in New Mexico. That mix of clinical training and organizational experience informs a practical, steady approach to problems. In the first meeting he invites clients to describe their concerns and goals at their own pace.
He asks about history and strengths and then suggests clear, realistic targets such as reducing anxiety, improving relationships, or managing stress. Therapy is collaborative - clients and therapist set the direction together. Outside of work he enjoys hiking, travel, reading, and art.
He lives in New Mexico with his wife and their Yorkie, Kugel. He brings patience, positivity, and persistence to sessions and encourages people not to give up on themselves.
Shelly lists 6 ways of working on the entry:
What Shelly works with
The areas below are the ones Shelly selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
- Career difficulties
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Cancer
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Coaching
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Infidelity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Personality disorders
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Workplace issues
Training and background
| Registers | LICSW, LCSW |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 30 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | New Mexico |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
How therapeutic approaches translate to online work
Emotionally-Focused Therapy helps people notice and name their feelings, strengthen emotional bonds, and change interaction patterns that cause pain. It is useful for people who want clearer communication and closer connections. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing new behaviors to reduce symptoms like anxiety or depression. It offers concrete exercises you can try between sessions. Motivational Interviewing is a collaborative way to explore ambivalence and strengthen someone’s own motivation for change, often used for addiction or behavior shifts.Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist discusses your goals and preferences in early sessions and recommends methods that match your needs. Together you review what’s working and adjust over time so therapy stays practical and focused.
Online sessions are offered as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to fit different schedules and styles. Video lets you use visual cues and longer conversations, phone works well when bandwidth is limited, live chat can be used for short check-ins, and messaging supports ongoing, flexible contact between appointments. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy lives and to continue work from different locations.
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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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