Sharon (Shonnie) Brown, LMFT

Sharon (Shonnie) Brown is a California licensed marriage and family therapist, LMFT, with 30 years of experience. She works with adults facing stress, anxiety, relationship problems, self-esteem struggles, career questions, ADHD, grief, and family of origin issues. She also addresses parenting, sleep problems, anger, depression, and major life changes.

Shonnie writes plainly and directly in sessions. She draws on client-centered and attachment-based ideas to explore how early family roles and expectations still shape current choices. She uses goal setting, coping skills, mindfulness exercises, and writing prompts when people want concrete tools to practice between meetings.

Her background includes a B.A. from UC Berkeley and an M.A. in counseling psychology from JFK University in Orinda, California. Over three decades she has worked with individuals and couples and led groups on separation, infidelity, co-parenting, and social anxiety. That group work informs how she talks about transitions and communication patterns.

In sessions she can be direct and honest while focusing on practical steps. Common targets are learning to self-soothe, increasing self-compassion, and setting boundaries that reflect current needs rather than old family rules. Writing is sometimes used as a way to process feelings and clarify goals.

Shonnie pays attention to workplace stress, broken friendships, aging concerns, and the fallout from separation and divorce. She encourages small, sustainable changes and works with people who want to understand how their childhood patterns affect present relationships.

Therapeutic approaches used in online sessions