Mary Shands, LPC

Missouri · 12 years in practice

Mary Shands is a Licensed Professional Counselor with 12 years of experience.

License and registration

LPC, Missouri: 2014024447 · expires June 2027
LPC, Texas: 77506 · expires May 2026
NPI: 1649793787 · national provider identifier
Years in practice: 12
Languages: English

Details are as listed on the therapist's public professional profile. You can check the license with the issuing state board, and the NPI with the national registry.

About Mary

Mary Shands is a Licensed Professional Counselor with 12 years of experience. She holds LPC credentials in Missouri and Texas and has supported people through a wide range of life challenges. Mary communicates in a warm, direct way and aims to make therapy easy to understand.

She listens closely and helps people sort through what matters most to them. Mary has worked in schools, an insurance company, veterans services, substance use treatment, and a sexual offender program.

Background and approach

That variety gives her experience with trauma, anxiety, depression, grief, and addiction. She also supports those facing parenting stresses, relationship strain, and separation issues related to adoption. Her approach draws from Emotionally-Focused Therapy, attachment-based ideas, cognitive behavioral techniques, and client-centered work.

She mixes practical strategies with attention to feelings and relationship patterns. Sessions often include talking through situations, testing small behavior changes, and noticing emotional responses. Mary brings energetic presence and strong listening skills to sessions.

She also leads trainings and presentations in clinical settings. Her background means she can talk with people who have encountered different kinds of systems and treatment environments. Therapy with Mary can address sleep and eating struggles, anger, self-esteem, career concerns, ADHD-related issues, and coping with life changes.

She also supports people dealing with grief, compassion fatigue, and first responder stress. Mary works in English and sees clients across Texas and beyond.

Focus areas and approaches

Everything Mary lists on their public professional profile, in their own terms.

Stress, Anxiety
Addictions
Relationship issues
Family conflicts
Depression
LGBT
Trauma and abuse
Grief
Intimacy-related issues
Eating disorders
Sleeping disorders
Parenting issues
Anger management
Self esteem
Career difficulties
Bipolar disorder
Coping with life changes
Coaching
Compassion fatigue
ADHD
Abandonment
Adoption and foster care
Aging and geriatric issues
Avoidant personality
Body image
Cancer
Codependency
Control issues
Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
Domestic violence
Drug and alcohol addiction
Eating and food-related issues
Emptiness
First responder issues
Forgiveness
HIV / AIDS
Hoarding
Hospice and end-of-life counseling
Immigration issues
Impulsivity
Infidelity
Intellectual disability
Isolation / loneliness
Jealousy
Life purpose
Midlife crisis
Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
Mood disorders
Multicultural concerns
Narcissism
Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
Personality disorders
Postpartum depression
Post-traumatic stress
Prejudice and discrimination
Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
Self-love
Sexual assault and abuse
Sexuality
Social anxiety and phobia
Traumatic brain injury
Women's issues

Approaches Mary names

Naming an approach is not evidence of training in it. This directory copies what each therapist lists and does not check training records.

Online support

Emotion and Attachment Work Online

Emotionally-Focused Therapy helps people notice and name their core feelings and how those feelings affect important relationships. It can be useful for reducing distress tied to attachment and closeness. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early relationship patterns shape current reactions and bonds, and it helps people try new ways of connecting and responding in relationships.

Mary treats choosing an approach as a team effort. She will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what feels most helpful. Together they decide whether to focus more on emotions, on thoughts and behaviors, or on building different relational patterns.

Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to meet different needs. Video calls work well for deeper emotional work because visual cues are available. Phone sessions can be a good option when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text let people share thoughts in writing and fit therapy into busy days. These options make it easier to schedule regular work and keep momentum between sessions.

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Questions people ask

What kinds of concerns does she help with?

She helps with stress, anxiety, depression, trauma, addictions, grief, relationship and intimacy issues, parenting stresses, eating and sleeping concerns, anger, self-esteem, ADHD, and related challenges.

What is her general therapy style?

She combines emotion-focused work with client-centered and cognitive tools. Sessions focus on feelings, relationship patterns, and practical behavior changes.

How much clinical experience does she have?

She has 12 years of experience across schools, veterans services, substance use treatment, and other community settings.

What are her credentials and where is she based?

She is a Licensed Professional Counselor with LPC credentials in Missouri and Texas and practices from Texas.

Can I work with her if I live outside the United States?

Sessions are offered in English and she accepts international clients.

Which session formats are offered?

She offers video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to fit different schedules and needs.

How does billing and cost work?

Cost varies with location and therapist details; sessions use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.

What should I do to begin working with her?

Click the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule a session according to the therapist's availability.

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