Dr. Andrea Shirley, LMFT

Dr. Andrea Shirley greets people looking for clear, steady help during difficult life moments. She is a California licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) with 27 years of experience. She focuses on stress, anxiety, grief, and the kinds of life changes that leave people stuck or worn out.

Her work begins by listening to the person in front of her. She treats people as the expert on their own story and helps them notice strengths they can use. Sessions aim for practical steps that ease daily life and reduce overwhelm.

Dr. Shirley draws from approaches that center the client and their narrative. That means she pays attention to personal meaning and helps people reframe challenging chapters. She also uses solution-focused ideas to set short-term goals and track small wins.

People come to her for relationship concerns, intimacy-related issues, LGBTQ matters, adoption and foster care questions, caregiving stress, chronic illness, and work or career strain. She also supports those dealing with trauma, sleep problems, anger, ADHD, and compassion fatigue.

Her style is conversational and goal-oriented. She helps clients name a few concrete next steps and tests what works. If you want guidance through a midlife crossroads or other life transition, she offers steady, experienced support to help you move forward.

How her approaches shape online therapy

Client-Centered Therapy focuses on understanding each person's experience and building on the strengths they already have. It helps when someone needs an accepting space to clarify feelings and make decisions. Narrative Therapy pays attention to the stories people tell about their lives and looks for ways to reframe problems so they feel less defining. That can help with identity concerns, relationship patterns, and midlife questions. Solution-Focused Therapy zeroes in on practical, short-term goals and small changes that add up to real improvement.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to decide which methods make the most sense based on goals and preferences. Sessions can shift over time if different problems need a different focus.

Confirm the current online session options before booking, as formats are set by the practice. In general, online work can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy week by reducing travel time and allowing quicker check-ins. It can also let people choose sessions that match their needs, such as a shorter call for a brief update or a longer discussion when tackling a major life change.