About Shirley
Shirley Colee is a Florida-based licensed mental health counselor with 20 years of experience helping people facing relationship strain, trauma, grief, anxiety, and mood concerns. She emphasizes a respectful, compassionate approach and adapts sessions to each person’s needs. Shirley aims to make the first steps into therapy feel manageable and supportive.
Her style is practical and person-focused. Sessions start by listening to what matters most to the client. From there she and the client set clear goals and try techniques that fit everyday life.
How Shirley works
Conversations are direct but gentle, with attention to safety and pacing. Shirley draws on several evidence-informed methods to help people change patterns that cause distress. She uses client-centered work to build trust, cognitive behavioral tools to shift unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, and EMDR for those processing traumatic memories.
She also brings elements of dialectical behavior therapy to teach emotional regulation and coping skills. Many clients seek help with family problems, parenting pressures, substance use, eating concerns, work stress, and life transitions. She also addresses issues such as attachment wounds, caregiver strain, codependency, and impulsivity.
Sessions are tailored so the strategies match the person’s real-world routine. Therapy is offered in English and Shirley accepts international clients. Sessions are available by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging.
To begin, clients complete a short matching questionnaire and then schedule sessions according to the therapist’s availability.
Shirley lists 12 ways of working on the entry:
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Existential Therapy
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Gottman Method
- Imago Relationship Therapy
- Jungian Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
What Shirley works with
The areas below are the ones Shirley selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
Also listed
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Codependency
- 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 of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Stress, Anxiety
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Training and background
| Register | LMHC |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 20 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | Florida |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
How Shirley’s approaches translate to online care
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on attentive listening and building trust. Online sessions using this approach let clients lead the conversation while the therapist offers empathy and reflection to clarify what matters most. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, helps identify and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors with practical exercises and homework that can be reviewed in video or text formats. Dialectical Behavior Therapy, DBT, teaches concrete skills for managing strong emotions and improving relationships through emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness practices.Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will discuss goals and preferences during early sessions and recommend which methods to try. Clients are encouraged to give feedback so techniques can be adjusted over time to match progress and daily life needs.
Online therapy offers flexibility for different routines and comfort levels. Video calls allow face-to-face interaction for deeper conversation and skills practice. Phone sessions can be a simpler option when bandwidth is limited. Live chat and text-based messaging make brief check-ins, coping reminders, and written reflections easy to fit into a busy day. These formats help people access consistent care without long commutes and make follow-up between sessions straightforward.
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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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