About Shari
Shari Peterson is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) in Minnesota with 20 years of experience in mental health. She has worked in community mental health, schools, and outpatient settings and spent several years providing individual therapy. Her background includes helping people who face depression, anxiety, substance use, relationship struggles, and ADHD.
She often meets people who have experienced complex trauma, abuse, or domestic violence. Her approach is warm and relational.
Background and approach
She focuses on strengths and builds a working relationship that feels honest and respectful. Sessions are tailored to each person. She draws from client-centered methods, cognitive-behavioral ideas, mindfulness, motivational interviewing, and the Gottman Method to match what a person needs.
Conversations may include practical behavior changes, skill building, and exploring personal stories to make sense of patterns. Shari pays attention to how life events, attachment history, and health challenges affect daily functioning. Common topics she addresses include sleep and eating concerns, chronic illness and pain, codependency, and body image.
She also supports people managing mood disorders, addiction, and co-occurring conditions. Her style is straightforward and grounded. She works collaboratively to set goals, try different strategies, and notice small changes over time.
People who value an empathetic, respectful listener and clear steps forward may find her approach helpful.
How therapy approaches translate to online care
Client-centered therapy focuses on listening and following the person's lead to help them feel heard and understood. It helps when someone needs a steady, accepting space to talk through life stress and to clarify goals.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and actions and teaches practical skills to change unhelpful patterns. It is useful for anxiety, depression, sleep and eating concerns, and problems with focus or routine.
Mindfulness therapy uses simple attention and breathing practices to reduce reactivity and increase awareness of the present moment. It can support people dealing with stress, chronic pain, or emotional overwhelm.
Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will discuss goals, preferences, and what has or hasn't worked before, then try approaches that fit the person. Plans are adjusted over time based on what helps most.
Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to provide flexibility. Video is often used for in-depth sessions and skill practice. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is low or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat or text messaging can support quick check-ins, homework prompts, or brief reflections between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life and keep momentum between appointments.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Also listed
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Body image
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fertility issues
- Gender dysphoria
- Guilt and shame
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Isolation / loneliness
- LGBT
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Traumatic brain injury
- Women's issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 20 years
- Licensed
- Minnesota
- Languages
- English
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