Mary Shands is a Licensed Professional Counselor with more than 12 years of clinical experience.
01About Mary
Mary Shands is a Licensed Professional Counselor with more than 12 years of clinical experience. She practices in Texas and holds an LPC credential. Mary draws on a broad background in schools, substance-abuse treatment, veterans services, and behavioral health settings to support people facing common and complex struggles.
She listens carefully and brings an open, energetic presence to sessions. People come to her for help with anxiety, depression, trauma, stress, addictions, grief, and relationship or intimacy concerns.
Background and approach
She also supports those coping with parenting strain, career stress, ADHD, and changes that follow illness or loss. Mary blends practical techniques with a person-centered stance. Sessions focus on real-life strategies people can try between meetings.
She uses cognitive-behavioral tools to change unhelpful thinking and emotion-focused ideas to improve close relationships. Her background includes work in school counseling, special education, substance use treatment, veterans programs, and programs addressing sexual offending. That variety shapes her flexible approach and comfort with a wide range of problems, including codependency, body image, and first responder issues.
Mary also offers coaching-style support for career and life transitions. She describes herself as warm, direct, and attentive, aiming to help people set clear goals and practice small steps toward change. Her training spans Missouri and Texas licensing requirements and ongoing professional education.
02Credentials
- LPC (Missouri)
- License 2014024447 · expires June 2027
- LPC (Texas)
- License 77506 · expires May 2026
- NPI
- 1649793787 · national provider identifier
Both are public records. A state board register will confirm a license and its standing, and the national registry will confirm an NPI. This directory copies what the counselor lists and checks neither.
03Focus 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
Methods Mary names
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Existential Therapy
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
These are the methods Mary names on their own professional profile. Naming an approach is not evidence of training or certification in it, and this directory checks no training records. Ask directly if it matters to you.
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04Online support
How Mary’s Approaches Translate to Online Care
Attachment-based work focuses on patterns in close relationships and how people connect emotionally. Online sessions can look at those patterns and practice new ways of relating during conversation and role-play exercises. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, helps people identify unhelpful thoughts and test different behaviors; it suits issues like anxiety, depression, and sleep or eating concerns by giving concrete steps to try between sessions. Client-centered therapy centers the person’s experience and pacing, offering space to talk while the therapist reflects and clarifies what matters most.Choosing the best approach is a collaborative process. Mary will listen to goals, try methods that fit those goals, and adjust based on what helps. She aims to work with each person to find approaches that feel practical and manageable rather than prescribing a single method from the start.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to keep working on goals. Video calls let people use visual cues and longer conversation. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth or camera use is limited. Live chat and text-based messaging support quick check-ins, ongoing coaching, and shorter updates between longer appointments. These options make it simpler to fit sessions into busy schedules and to continue work across different life situations.
05Questions people ask
What concerns does Mary commonly help with?
She works with people facing anxiety, depression, trauma and stress. Other common topics include addictions, grief, self-esteem, ADHD, and relationship or intimacy issues.
What is her approach in sessions?
Mary mixes client-centered listening with practical techniques. She uses cognitive-behavioral tools and emotion-focused ideas to help people try different responses and notice what changes.
What professional background does she bring?
Mary has 12 years of experience across schools, substance use treatment, veterans services, and behavioral health programs. That variety informs how she addresses many types of concerns.
Where is Mary licensed and based?
She holds a Licensed Professional Counselor credential and practices in Texas. She is also licensed in Missouri as noted in her professional details.
Which languages are sessions offered in?
Sessions are offered in English. She also accepts clients who live outside the United States.
How can sessions be scheduled and delivered?
Therapy sessions can be held by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging. These formats allow different ways to connect depending on need and preference.
How are fees handled?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability and is provided through a subscription model. The subscription can be canceled at any time.
What are the first steps to begin working together?
Start by selecting the Start Therapy button and completing a short matching questionnaire. After that, schedule a session according to therapist availability.
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