Shana Williams-Leary

Shana Williams-Leary is a licensed clinical social worker with 24 years of experience working in both inpatient crisis and outpatient counseling settings. She has provided therapy to individuals, couples, and families ranging in age from 4 to 85 across Florida, Utah, Maine, Arizona, and several other countries.

She holds clinical social work licenses in Florida (LCSW, license SW7878) and Utah (LCSW, license 12996356-3501). Her clinical work is versatile and client-centered - she begins where each person or family is and then tailors interventions to meet their needs. Her specialty includes treatment for PTSD, including abuse and both primary and secondary traumas. She is a Certified TIST (Trauma-informed Stabilization & Treatment) therapist and has advanced training in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, including the Flash Technique.

Shana has significant experience working with people diagnosed with chronic serious mental illness, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, dissociative issues, and depression. She has supported clients through life transitions, worked with expatriates, highly sensitive persons (HSPs), and individuals with developmental delays. She has also counseled a number of people in up to middle stage dementia and provided support to their caregivers and to parents facing parenting challenges. For individual therapy, her highest comfort level is working with adults aged 18 and over.

Her approach is eclectic and warm, grounded in acceptance, positive regard, and trust-building, while also able to be solution-focused and brief when appropriate. She uses Motivational Interviewing to clarify what clients truly want and what they are not motivated to change, then shifts to a strengths-based, skill-building model that incorporates cognitive-behavioral and humanistic techniques alongside family systems and developmental perspectives for relational concerns.

Shana values her own personal counseling experience and recognizes therapy as a powerful, courageous undertaking. She regards each person as deserving of respect, kindness, and a space to be fully heard and accepted. She views her work as a therapist as a sacred trust, a privilege, and part of her own human journey. Working with Shana Williams-Leary is described by her as an honor, and she aims to support each client on their unique path toward better health in whatever therapeutic style they find most helpful and supportive.