Laura Shaw

Laura Shaw is a California licensed marriage and family therapist with 24 years of professional experience. She focuses on stress, anxiety, grief, parenting concerns, and building self-esteem. Laura aims to make it easier to talk about painful topics and to take the first steps toward change.

She creates a welcoming space where people can share thoughts and feelings without judgment. Sessions center on listening closely and responding to what matters most in a person's life. Laura helps clients identify clear, manageable steps they can try between meetings.

Her work often addresses communication problems, caregiver stress, attachment challenges, and the emotional fallout of life transitions. She also supports people working through forgiveness, guilt, shame, and questions about life purpose. Divorce and separation are listed among the issues she helps explore.

Laura blends client-centered therapy with cognitive behavioral therapy, using those approaches to match each person’s needs. That means she focuses on understanding each person’s experience while also looking for patterns in thinking and behavior that can be changed.

People who choose her often want practical help as well as emotional support. She offers guidance aimed at strengthening coping skills and increasing confidence. The work moves at a pace set by the client.

How Laura’s Approaches Work Online

Client-centered therapy focuses on understanding the person’s perspective and creating a trusting, respectful dialogue. It helps when someone needs empathetic listening and support to sort through emotions and decisions.

Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, looks at how thoughts and behaviors affect feelings. It offers practical exercises to test unhelpful thinking and to build new coping skills for anxiety, stress, and low self-esteem.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with each client about goals and preferences and then choose techniques together. That collaborative process means plans can change as needs evolve.

If you’re considering online therapy, confirm the session options before booking since formats are not specified here. Online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy schedule, reduce travel time, and allow shorter check-ins when needed. They can also be useful when someone prefers not to use video or wants a session that fits a lunch break or caregiving routine.