Shayna Schaefer, LCSW

Shayna Schaefer is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) based in Delaware with 28 years of clinical experience helping people navigate complex emotional and life challenges. She focuses on fostering self-compassion, strengthening communication skills, and guiding individuals through meaningful transitions so they can approach relationships and responsibilities with greater clarity and confidence.

Her practice addresses a broad range of concerns including stress, anxiety, depression, trauma and abuse, relationship and family difficulties, grief, parenting and blended family issues, intimacy and sexual concerns, eating and body image issues, ADHD and bipolar disorder, career and life-change challenges, and anger management. She also works with issues related to adoption and foster care, attachment and abandonment, caregiving stress, codependency, and dissociation. Shayna integrates evidence-based methods to tailor care to each person s needs.

Fluent in English and Spanish, Shayna employs a collaborative, person-centered stance that emphasizes active listening and practical skills alongside deeper exploration of values and meaning. She draws on approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, client-centered methods, existential perspectives, and mindfulness techniques to support healing, problem solving, and personal growth.

Therapeutic Approaches and Online Care

Shayna uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help people clarify what matters most to them and take meaningful action toward those values, a useful approach for anxiety, depression, and life transitions. She also applies Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to identify and shift unhelpful thinking patterns and behaviors, which can ease symptoms of stress, panic, and mood difficulties. In addition, a client-centered stance creates a respectful, empathetic space where clients lead the pace of exploration while the therapist offers validation and practical support.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic process. Shayna collaborates with each person to determine which methods best fit their goals, needs, and preferences, adjusting strategies over time as progress and priorities evolve.

Online sessions make this collaborative work more accessible through flexible options such as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. These formats allow clients to engage from home or other convenient locations, accommodate busy schedules, and maintain continuity of care during life changes while working with licensed professionals and therapists in a way that fits their daily routines.