About Shirley
Shirley Souder uses a practical, relationship-focused style to help people manage life’s hardest moments. She combines talking, problem-solving, and faith-informed perspectives to help clients find workable steps forward. Shirley holds both LMFT and LCSW credentials and has been in practice for over 40 years.
Her sessions tend to be direct and focused on real-life change. She asks concrete questions about current choices and behaviors, then helps people decide what to do next.
How Shirley works
She also brings Christian Counseling insights to clients who want faith to play a role in their healing. Shirley often helps people dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, and addictions. She also supports those facing relationship strain, intimacy-related concerns, parenting stress, caregiver burden, and career questions.
Practical skills like emotional forgiveness, communication, and decision-making are regular parts of her work. Her approach draws on attachment-focused ideas and emotionally-focused techniques to strengthen how people relate to others. Cognitive behavioral strategies help identify unhelpful thought patterns and replace them with actions that feel better.
Motivational interviewing is used to encourage change and build commitment when needed. With 43 years of experience in Indiana, Shirley mixes straightforward coaching and psychotherapy. Sessions aim to be usable the day after a meeting, not just insightful in the moment.
People who want clear steps, a faith-aware perspective, and attention to relationships often seek her out.
Shirley lists 5 ways of working on the entry:
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.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Training and background
| Registers | LMFT, LCSW |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 43 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | Indiana |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
Approach-focused online therapy that fits your life
Shirley uses attachment-based ideas to look at how relationships shape feelings and behavior, helping people improve connection and repair difficult interactions. She also uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to spot frustrating thought patterns and replace them with actions that reduce anxiety and improve mood. Emotionally-Focused Therapy elements appear when work centers on deep emotional bonds and the way partners or close others respond to each other.Finding the right approach is part of the process. Shirley collaborates with each person to choose methods that match their goals and values, and she adjusts strategies over time as progress is made. The plan comes together through conversation and practical trial rather than theory alone.
Online sessions are offered via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to provide flexibility. Video works well for face-to-face conversation and emotional work. Phone sessions can fit into a short break or when bandwidth is limited. Live chat and messaging suit quick check-ins, brief coaching, or paced reflection between meetings. These options help people keep therapy consistent while juggling work, caregiving, or travel.
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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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