Therapist Shirley Ankrom-Smith Photo

Shirley Ankrom-Smith, LPC

Stress, Anxiety Relationships Family conflicts Grief Parenting issues
Video Phone Live Chat Messaging

About me

Welcome and Hello! My name is Shirley and I am a licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Missouri. I have 14 years of experience as an educator and school counselor in grade five through 12. I have 15 years of experience as a Professional Mental Health Therapist. I understand that it can be a challenging step to seek help. I am proud of you for reaching out to find some stability and/or guidance in resolving your issue or concern. As we work together, I hope to help you evaluate and resolve your doubts, fears, or concerns. I hope to empower you to have the strength to feel confident in voicing your desired expectations to me and to others in your life. We will utilize various tools to help build confidence and I will be your greatest advocate as you navigate your path towards renewed pride, courage, compassion, self-worth and/or setting boundaries. Do you want a change or peace? Please contact me!

I work with adolescents and adults. I work primarily with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Reality Therapy Modalities. Individual therapy, couples therapy, and family therapy are available. I am here to help you work on Behavioral Issues, Career Counseling, Adolescent, Chronic Pain, Codependency, Coping Skills, Depression/Stress/Anxiety, Grief, Parenting, Relationship Issues, School Issues, Self Esteem, Self-Harm, Trauma Issues, and Women's Issues.

I genuinely understand the many challenges of life. It is hard sometimes, but no one should have to navigate life alone, depressed, or mentally compromised due to feeling lost or detached from one’s self and the ones we call our friends and family. "I don't feel like myself" is a common statement I hear. There are tools to use to redirect feelings/thoughts. Please contact me if you would like to talk. I am here to help!

Professional experience

15yrs in practice
Stress, Anxiety Relationships Family conflicts Grief Parenting issues

Additional areas of focus: LGBT, Trauma and abuse, Intimacy-related issues, Eating disorders, Anger management, Self esteem, Career difficulties, Depression, Coping with life changes, Compassion fatigue, ADHD, Abandonment, Attachment issues, Caregiver issues and stress, Chronic pain illness and disability, Codependency, Divorce and separation, Family Problems, Guilt and shame, Isolation / loneliness, Post-traumatic stress, Self-love, Women's issues

Clinical approaches: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Client-Centered Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT), Solution-Focused Therapy

Services offered

Video
Phone
Live Chat
Messaging

License information

MO LPC 2005003223

Reviews

These quotes represent just a few of the many positive reviews that we have received for Shirley Ankrom-Smith. We don't pay anyone to provide their review and they are all made voluntarily. Some people's experience receiving therapy with BetterHelp might be different.

Shirley is an incredible therapist, always there, checking in and researching new courses of help for those in need. I highly recommend her!

Written on Sep 21, 2022 after therapy with Shirley for 8 months on issues concerning depression, stress, anxiety, relationship issues, self esteem, coping with life changes, and adhd

She is simply awesome!

Written on Nov 05, 2021 after therapy with Shirley for 2 weeks on issues concerning relationship issues, trauma and abuse, parenting issues, self esteem, and anger management

She’s very acknowledge to my concerns of my feelings very active in making suggestions to better myself

Written on Nov 01, 2021 after therapy with Shirley for 2 weeks on issues concerning depression, stress, anxiety, relationship issues, self esteem, and anger management

Thank you for all you have done! Your help is greatly appreciated!

Written on Aug 12, 2021 after therapy with Shirley for 9 months on issues concerning stress, anxiety, relationship issues, family conflicts, parenting issues, and coping with life changes

I love her. She’s so easy to talk to, attentive, very quick to respond, and cares. Her ability to ask questions in a way that it’s just a conversation has helped me learn so much about myself. If I lived closer to her office, I would absolutely do in person visits. She’s very understanding, judgement free, and kind.

Written on Sep 02, 2020 after therapy with Shirley for 1 month on issues concerning depression, stress, anxiety, relationship issues, and grief

She’s wonderful, very attentive and active in the situations I open up to her about. She also allows me to make my progress with a gentle nudge in the right direction but doesn’t tell me exactly what to do, letting me figure out the way that works best for me without needing to rely on someone to spoon feed me the answers. Really helping me to grow within myself and giving me the strength to make the right changes in my life.

Written on Aug 04, 2020 after therapy with Shirley for 2 weeks on issues concerning depression, relationship issues, family conflicts, grief, eating disorders, self esteem, compassion fatigue, and adhd