Sharon (Shonnie) Brown , LMFT

Sharon (Shonnie) Brown is a northern California native whose personal experiences with change and cross-cultural adaptation have shaped a long career in psychotherapy. With a B.A. from UC Berkeley and an M.A. in counseling psychology from JFK University in Orinda, CA, she brings more than 30 years of practice as an LMFT, which stands for Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, working primarily with individuals and couples.

Her clinical work has included facilitating groups focused on separation and divorce, infidelity, co-parenting education, and social anxiety. Areas of particular interest include toxic workplace stress, major life transitions, separation and divorce, infidelity, relationships and broken friendships, self-esteem concerns, young adulthood, co-parenting, and aging-related issues. She also integrates grief, trauma and abuse, ADHD, parenting, intimacy-related issues, sleep concerns, anger, depression, and career or financial stress into her practice when relevant.

Sharon is a professional writer who often uses writing as a therapeutic tool to promote emotional processing. Her style is honest, direct, and heartfelt, drawing on cognitive and solution-focused techniques, family systems perspectives, and psychodynamic ideas. She has also incorporated Pete Walker, MFT’s roadmap for childhood trauma and Complex PTSD into her approach.

Sharon identifies two core patterns she often addresses: difficulty self-soothing and an absence of self-compassion, self-protection, or self-love. To address these, she employs goal setting, practical coping skills, mindfulness exercises, and optional writing practices while building a strong therapeutic relationship. Her work emphasizes gradual steps, optimism, and cultivating gratitude.

Attachment, Client-Centered, and CBT Approaches Online

Sharon (Shonnie) Brown integrates Attachment-Based Therapy, Client-Centered Therapy, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) into her clinical work. Attachment-Based Therapy explores how early relationships shape current patterns of closeness and trust and can help with intimacy, abandonment issues, and difficulties self-soothing. Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes empathic listening and collaboration, creating space for clients to find their own solutions and build self-compassion. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying and shifting unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, which is useful for stress, anxiety, depression, and coping with life transitions.

Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the therapeutic process, and Sharon works collaboratively with each person to determine what fits their needs, goals, and preferences. She tailors strategies such as goal setting, mindfulness exercises, and writing practices to individual circumstances, adjusting methods as progress unfolds.

Online therapy offers practical flexibility for people balancing work, family, or mobility limits. Through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging, clients can access licensed professionals and therapists from home or on the go, making it easier to maintain continuity of care and engage in consistent work toward healing.