Leah Shanks

Leah Shanks is a licensed counselor in Tennessee with 15 years of clinical experience. She focuses on practical ways to reduce stress and anxiety, manage anger, and address trauma and abuse. Leah works with people facing eating and body-image concerns, low self-esteem, and mood struggles. She emphasizes small, steady steps toward feeling better.

Leah believes clients know their own stories and brings a respectful, listening-first style to sessions. She helps people identify strengths that make change possible and builds on what already works in their lives. Conversations are straightforward and goal-oriented, with room for emotion and reflection.

Her approach draws on several methods, including cognitive behavioral techniques, mindfulness, somatic work, and EMDR when appropriate. Leah uses these tools to help people notice unhelpful patterns, practice new responses, and reduce distressing symptoms over time. She also centers the client's pace and comfort when trying different strategies.

Leah has helped people navigate parenting stress, grief, relationship strain, compassion fatigue, and life transitions. She offers guidance for panic and mood disorders and addresses impulsivity and self-harm concerns with care. Her style mixes practical skills training with emotionally focused reflection to support real-life change.

Taking the first step can feel hard, and Leah aims to make that step clear and manageable. She supports each person in setting realistic goals and tracking progress one session at a time.

How Leah’s approaches translate to online work

Leah uses cognitive behavioral techniques and mindfulness work to help people change unhelpful thoughts and practice new coping skills. CBT often involves identifying thought patterns, trying out alternative responses, and tracking small behavior changes. Mindfulness therapy helps people notice the present moment and reduce reactivity, which can ease stress, panic, and anger.

She also uses elements of somatic work to help people tune into bodily responses and learn grounding or regulation skills. Somatic methods focus on breathing, body awareness, and movement to calm intense feelings and manage impulsivity or panic symptoms.

Finding the right approach is part of the work together. Leah collaborates with each person to choose methods that match their goals and comfort level, and she adjusts the plan as needs change. Clients help set priorities so sessions feel useful and manageable.

The profile does not specify which session formats are offered, so confirm current options before booking. Online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life by removing travel time and allowing quicker check-ins around work or caregiving. They also allow use of screen-shared worksheets, guided mindfulness exercises, and real-time practice of skills in everyday settings, which many people find helpful.