Shirley Colee, LMHC

Shirley Colee is a Florida-based licensed mental health counselor with 20 years of experience helping people through difficult life moments. She focuses on relationship strain, trauma and abuse, grief, depression, anxiety, and stress. She also supports those coping with addiction, parenting challenges, self-esteem concerns, and aging and geriatric issues.

Shirley uses a conversational, respectful style and adapts sessions to each person's needs. She centers the conversation on what matters most to the client and works together to set goals. Sessions often include practical tools to manage strong emotions, improve communication, and build daily routines that help recovery.

Her approach draws from Client-Centered Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Existential Therapy, and EMDR. These methods let her address both immediate symptoms and deeper patterns that keep problems repeating. She may use talk-based work, behavior-focused exercises, and skills practice to support change.

Over two decades Shirley has assisted people dealing with family problems, caregiver stress, attachment issues, and complicated feelings like guilt, shame, or emptiness. She also helps people manage impulsivity, anger, and the practical strains that come with life transitions. The work is practical and grounded in everyday challenges.

To begin, a short intake helps match needs to goals and shape a plan. Shirley aims to make the first steps manageable and clear so people can decide what pace feels right for them.

How Shirley’s approaches translate to online work

Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and building a caring, nonjudgmental conversation. In online sessions this means the therapist follows the client's lead and reflects what matters most to them. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and uses simple exercises to change unhelpful patterns; it is useful for anxiety, depression, and stress management.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Shirley will collaborate with the client to decide which methods to use based on the issues, goals, and personal preferences. That may mean mixing talk-based listening with skills practice or behavioral homework to fit the client’s life.

Specific session formats are not listed here, so confirm available options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy schedule, reduce travel time, and allow check-ins during a lunch break or between errands. It can also let clients focus on skills practice at home and bring real-life situations into the conversation for immediate problem-solving.