About Sharon
Sharon (Shonnie) Brown is a licensed marriage and family therapist who helps people facing stress, anxiety, relationship strain, grief, depression, and life transitions. She supports clients dealing with parenting challenges, career concerns, ADHD, intimacy issues, sleep problems, anger, and the lingering effects of trauma and abuse. Sharon focuses on helping people build self-compassion and better ways to cope with strong emotions.
She writes plainly and works in a direct, heartfelt manner.
Background and approach
Sessions often include goal setting, coping skills, mindfulness exercises, and writing practices when helpful. Sharon values a strong therapeutic relationship and uses practical tools to help clients take one manageable step at a time. Sharon trained at the University of California, Berkeley, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, and completed a Master of Arts in counseling psychology at John F.
Kennedy University in Orinda, California. She holds a California LMFT license - CA LMFT 30787 - and brings three decades of clinical experience to her practice. Her background includes facilitating groups on separation and divorce, infidelity, co-parenting education, and social anxiety.
She has worked extensively with individuals and couples and pays particular attention to toxic workplace stress, major life transitions, and family of origin issues. Sharon also uses writing as a tool for emotional healing and reflection. In sessions she blends somatic-aware practices, attachment-focused ideas, and cognitive strategies to help clients notice their bodily responses, understand patterns, and change unhelpful thoughts.
She encourages curiosity, patience, and small, steady steps toward greater self-care and resilience.
How somatic and talk-based approaches translate online
Somatic-aware work includes noticing body sensations, breath, and tension patterns to help people understand their reactions to stress and relationships. This approach can support people dealing with anxiety, trauma reactions, overwhelm, and problems with self-soothing.Attachment-Based Therapy focuses on how early relationship patterns shape current connections and trust. It helps people identify repeating patterns in close relationships and learn new ways to connect and set boundaries.
Client-Centered Therapy centers the client's experience and pace, with the therapist offering empathy and reflection rather than directing every step. This style is useful for building self-compassion and exploring feelings like shame, guilt, or loneliness.
Finding the right mix of approaches is part of therapy. Sharon will work collaboratively to choose techniques that fit a person’s needs, goals, and comfort level. Together they’ll try methods and adjust as progress and preferences become clearer.
Online sessions offer practical flexibility. Video calls let people see body cues and maintain visual connection, while phone sessions remove the need for video. Live chat and text messaging provide shorter, paced check-ins and ongoing support between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy days and reach consistent care from home or work.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
Also works with
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Career difficulties
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Money and financial issues
- Parenting issues
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 30 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English