Laura Shaw, LMFT

Laura Shaw is a California licensed marriage and family therapist with 24 years of experience helping people manage stress, anxiety, grief, parenting challenges, and changes in motivation or self-esteem. She creates a calm, respectful space where people can talk about hard feelings without judgment. Her approach aims to make the first steps toward change feel less overwhelming.

With two decades of practice, she draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and client-centered work to help people notice unhelpful thoughts and try new behaviors. Sessions focus on practical steps that can be used between meetings, such as simple exercises for managing anxiety or ways to reframe critical self-talk.

Laura pays attention to relationships and attachment patterns, and she helps people navigate communication problems, divorce and separation stress, caregiver strain, and forgiveness or guilt issues. She also supports clients working through loss, questions about life purpose, and women's issues.

Her style is steady and collaborative. She listens first, then offers tools that match a person’s goals and day-to-day life. Progress often comes from small, consistent changes rather than big fixes.

People who choose her typically want straightforward guidance and practical skills alongside space to process emotions. She works with each person at their own pace and helps them build confidence to handle future challenges.

How CBT and Client-Centered Therapy work online

Laura Shaw uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people identify thought patterns that fuel anxiety or low self-esteem and practice small behavior changes that reduce distress. CBT sessions often include clear goals and exercises to try between meetings, which can be easy to track in online formats.

She also uses client-centered methods that prioritize listening and empathy. This approach focuses on understanding a person’s experience and building a trusting, nonjudgmental relationship so they can explore feelings and make their own choices.

Choosing the right approach is a shared process. She will discuss goals and preferences and adjust methods as work progresses so the plan fits the person's life and needs.

Online therapy makes it simpler to fit sessions into busy schedules. Video calls offer face-to-face conversation; phone sessions work well when bandwidth is limited or you need a shorter check-in. Live chat and text-based messaging let people send updates or get brief support between appointments. These options provide flexibility and steady access to a therapist while people practice new skills in their everyday routines.