Crista Shaw

Crista Shaw is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) based in Maine with 15 years of experience. She focuses on creating a calm, respectful space where people can talk about what matters to them. She knows that reaching out takes courage and that first step is important.

She uses a client-centered approach that keeps each person’s goals in view. That means listening first and shaping sessions around what the client wants to address. Crista also draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help spot unhelpful thoughts and change patterns that increase stress or low mood.

Trauma-focused work is part of her practice for people coping with past hurt or abuse. She uses concrete tools to manage strong emotions and to reduce trauma-related symptoms. Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills are offered when stronger emotion regulation, distress tolerance, or interpersonal effectiveness skills are needed.

Crista helps people manage a wide range of life challenges including stress, anxiety, depression, grief, parenting strain, and women’s issues. She also supports clients facing eating concerns, postpartum depression, ADHD, sexuality questions, and life transitions. Her background includes work with family problems, blended family dynamics, adoption and foster care concerns, and isolation or loneliness.

In sessions she focuses on practical strategies and short-term skills people can use right away. Conversations are straightforward and aimed at steady progress. To begin, clients follow the site’s Start Therapy process and schedule according to availability.

How therapeutic approaches translate to online work

Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and building a strong working relationship. Online sessions can still follow this approach by prioritizing what the client wants to address and adapting the flow of conversation to each person’s needs.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, helps people identify unhelpful thoughts and try practical behavioral changes. In online sessions CBT work often includes setting small experiments between meetings and reviewing progress together.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with clients to choose or blend methods that match goals and preferences. That plan can change over time as needs shift and new challenges appear.

Confirm current session formats before booking so you know what options are offered. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy schedule, reduce travel time, and let people check in from a quieter spot. It can also allow shorter or more frequent check-ins when that helps maintain progress. Licensed professionals can explain what works best given a person’s routine and communication preferences.