Meet Angela Shankman LCSW

LCSW #88574
she / they

After a lifetime of not being truly understood for who you are or what you need, it can be mentally and emotionally excruciating to put yourself out there enough to find a therapist. I have been there many times, too.

You are looking for a therapist that understands and is welcoming to all parts of you.

As someone who strongly values reducing harm and increasing compassion, I provide care from a LGBTQIA+ affirmative, anti-racist, social justice oriented lens.

My therapeutic style is very relational; I see building a connection and trust as the foundation of any successful therapeutic work with my clients. To the degree that it is supportive of my clients’ processes, I bring my humanity into the room and do not hide behind a professional facade. 

I work with my clients from a non-pathologizing lens, meaning I see your mental health symptoms as signs that something in your life needs attention and shifting. I relate mental health symptoms to a “check engine” light on a car - your symptoms are very wise signals from your mind and body but do not define your character any more than that light defines the car.

With my use of both Compassionate Inquiry and Internal Family Systems approaches, we can examine your perceptions and how they were created, gain more clarity on your life experiences, connect you back to your body, find compromise between the different parts of you that may be in conflict, and explore how cultural and generational events have shaped you.

I see you as the expert on your own story, and my sessions are completely led by what you see as important to explore. The flexibility to meet you where you are is very important to me so that I can support you in doing the work that is most beneficial to you in the present moment.