Shannon Flanakin

Hi! I'm Shannon.

I'm a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Washington State, and I help adults better understand themselves, navigate difficult experiences, and find ways of moving through life that feel more manageable and meaningful.

People come to therapy for all kinds of reasons. Maybe you're overwhelmed by everyday responsibilities, struggling with anxiety or depression, questioning your relationship with alcohol or cannabis, or trying to understand why certain patterns keep showing up in your relationships.

You might know exactly what you want to work on. Or you might just know that something isn't feeling right.

Either way, you don't have to figure it all out before reaching out.

I believe therapy works best when you feel comfortable being yourself, asking questions, and talking openly about things that may be difficult to say elsewhere. My goal is to offer a space where we can make sense of what you're experiencing together, without judgment or pressure to have all the answers.

Why I became a therapist

I've always felt drawn to helping others, although the path to becoming a therapist wasn't entirely clear to me when I was younger.

My own experiences with therapy and sobriety played an important role in bringing that path into focus.

Through that personal work, I came to appreciate how meaningful it can be to have someone who listens, helps you understand yourself more clearly, and supports you as you begin making changes in your life.

I also came to recognize that emotional well-being is connected to much more than what happens during a therapy session. Our relationships, daily responsibilities, physical health, past experiences, and ways of coping can all influence how we're feeling.

Those experiences helped shape my decision to become a counselor and continue to inform the way I approach my work today.

I don't assume that my experiences are the same as yours. Your story is your own. But I know how important it can be to have a space where you feel understood and can explore difficult things without shame.

What it's like to work with me

My clients have described me as calm, grounded, and insightful. I bring warmth and curiosity to our sessions, and I see therapy as something we do together.

I'm not here to tell you who you should be or what your life should look like.

Instead, we'll take time to understand what's happening, explore patterns that may be contributing to your difficulties, and identify what matters most to you.

Sometimes that means looking at experiences from your past and considering how they may be affecting you today. Other times, our work may be more focused on managing immediate challenges, developing practical strategies, or navigating a decision you're facing.

We can make room for both.

I'll offer observations, ask questions, and share tools or perspectives when they may be helpful. I'll also encourage you to consider what fits your experiences and what doesn't. You don't have to agree with everything I say, and there's no expectation that you'll make changes before you're ready.

I take our work seriously, but that doesn't mean every conversation has to feel heavy. There's room for humor, too, when the moment calls for it. Sometimes being able to laugh together can make it a little easier to talk about difficult things.

I want therapy to feel like a place where you can be honest, including when you're uncertain, frustrated, or struggling to put something into words.

We'll work at a pace that makes sense for you, with the understanding that your needs and goals may change along the way.

What informs my approach

I take a whole-person approach to therapy, which means I consider the different parts of your life rather than looking at any one challenge in isolation.

Anxiety, for example, may be connected to ongoing stress, relationship difficulties, ADHD, or expectations you've placed on yourself. Burnout may involve more than work. And alcohol or cannabis use may be serving a purpose that deserves to be understood before we talk about changing it.

We don't have to assume that every difficulty has its roots in childhood or that there's one explanation for what you're experiencing.

Instead, we'll explore the possibilities together and focus on what feels relevant to you.

I draw from different therapeutic approaches based on your needs, with an emphasis on understanding your experiences, developing useful coping skills, and supporting changes that align with your values.

Above all, I believe therapy should be responsive to the individual. What helps one person may not be what another person needs, and our work should reflect that.

Who I work with

I provide online therapy for adults throughout Washington State.

My areas of focus include:

• Anxiety & Depression Counseling: Support for persistent worry, low mood, self-doubt, and emotional overwhelm.
• Burnout Counseling for Adults: Exploring what's draining you and finding more sustainable ways to manage life's demands.
• Childhood Trauma & Relational Healing: Understanding how early experiences and relationships may be affecting you today.
• ADHD Counseling for Adults: Exploring ADHD-related challenges, emotional overwhelm, and strategies that fit your everyday life.
• Alcohol & Cannabis Use Support: A nonjudgmental space to examine your relationship with substances, consider changes, or receive support with sobriety.

Training & areas of focus

My therapeutic approach is grounded primarily in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which helps people develop a different relationship with difficult thoughts and emotions while taking steps toward what matters most to them.

I’ve completed multiple specialized ACT trainings with leading developers and founders of the approach. This training informs how I help clients approach difficult experiences with greater flexibility, understand what matters to them, and make meaningful changes without expecting themselves to eliminate every uncomfortable thought or feeling.

I've also pursued substantial additional training in trauma and relational healing, including complex PTSD, the neurobiology of trauma, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT), somatic approaches, moral injury, abandonment, and deeply held core beliefs.

Other areas of specialized training include:

• ADHD & neurodivergence, including ADHD-focused clinical training and continuing education related to autism
• Anxiety, depression & OCD
• Burnout, boundaries & unhealthy relationship patterns
• Mindfulness and emotion-focused approaches
• Polyvagal theory and somatic therapy
• Substance use, addiction & recovery