About Shirley
Shirley Butcher is a licensed professional clinical counselor who helps people facing stress, anxiety, addiction, trauma and depression. She uses straightforward, practical steps and listens carefully to each person's concerns. Shirley aims to create a calm space where people can talk about hard things and find steady ways forward.
Shirley blends body-focused work with talk therapy to address how stress and trauma show up in the body. She also draws on attachment-based ideas to look at relationship patterns, and uses cognitive-behavioral tools to change unhelpful thoughts and habits.
Background and approach
Sessions are focused on what is useful for each person right now, with skills that can be practiced between meetings. Her background includes six years working in behavioral health and in alcohol and drug counseling. That experience informs a practical approach to addiction and co-occurring concerns.
Shirley pays attention to family of origin issues, communication problems, codependency and struggles with guilt or shame. People who come for therapy often want help with abandonment or attachment wounds, dissociation, body image, or the emotional fallout from divorce and domestic violence. Shirley also supports clients working through control issues and feelings of emptiness.
The work moves at a pace chosen by the client, with an emphasis on developing clear coping skills. Shirley practices in Minnesota and offers sessions in English. Her credentials include LPCC, which stands for Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor.
She combines practical counseling skills with gentleness and attention to both body and mind.
How somatic and attachment approaches work online
Shirley uses Somatic Therapy to help people notice how stress and trauma show up in the body. This involves simple body awareness practices and grounding exercises that can reduce physical tension and support emotional regulation. Attachment-Based Therapy is used to explore relationship patterns and early bonds that still affect how someone connects and trusts others; it can be useful for working on communication problems and codependency.Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Shirley will discuss goals and preferences, try different techniques when needed, and adjust the plan based on how the client responds. The work blends body-focused practices with conversation and skill-building, and the therapist invites feedback throughout the process.
Online therapy offers flexibility through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. These formats make it easier to schedule sessions around work, caregiving, or travel and let clients practice skills in their everyday environment. Licensed professionals can guide body-awareness exercises, teach grounding and DBT-style coping skills, and use attachment-focused conversation effectively across these formats.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Attachment issues
- Body image
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Trauma and abuse
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 6 years
- Licensed
- Minnesota
- Languages
- English