About

Hello and welcome! My name is Kim Shaffer. I am so glad you are taking this step, as I know it can be so challenging to do so.

I am a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in the state of Maine. I have been providing individual and couples therapy for over 20 years. In my experience, I have worked with adults at various stages of their life with a vast array of mental health disorders and life struggles including but not limited to: anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, managing stress, life transitions, relationship difficulties, personality disorders, grief and loss, career difficulties, LGBTQ-related matters, sexual disorders and trauma.

Everyone's journey involves many twists and turns in which one cannot always handle on their own. Therefore, as a therapist, I hope to provide an atmosphere where you feel welcome, heard, and accepted, as well as the necessary skills needed for your journey. Whether it is the way you have been feeling, the thoughts you have been having, or relationships that you are struggling with, I am willing to offer my assistance. I will ask you to describe to me where you are in your journey and what is particularly bothersome for you. From there, I will help you explore alternative ways of thinking, about, feeling, and coping with your current circumstances. Everyone has many strengths and I will assist you in identifying your own personal strengths available to help manage difficulties encountered. My therapy approaches include: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Solution-Focused Therapy, and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT).

It is my greatest hope that while working together, you will achieve a level of personal growth to lead a happy, fulfilling, and healthy life. Psychotherapy is not about focusing on the problems in life, but more about solution building. Although it acknowledges present problems and past causes, it predominantly explores your current resources and future hopes -helping you to look forward and use your own strengths to achieve your goals. It works by helping you to overcome problems without tackling them directly-using solution building concepts to foster change and helping you to develop a set of clear, concise and realistic goals.

I empathize with your struggles and believes that you are equipped with the skills to create change in your life, though you may need help refining and identifying those skills. It is also my belief that you know at least on some level what change is needed in your life. Therefore, I am professionally trained to help you clarify your goals and guide you to see what is working for you, as well as, encourage you to experiment with new approaches to your problems.

I have years of experience. My theoretical approach to counseling is “multi-modal” with strong solution focused and cognitive behavioral influence to empower you and motivate change.

The human spirit can overcome anything if it has hope. Addressing your mental health issues will help you find joy and cleave to the reasons for living.