Sheila Mashack LMHC

My work in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is grounded in direct clinical practice and evidence-informed care. I use CBT to help clients identify distress patterns, challenge unhelpful thought processes, and develop practical coping strategies, integrating CBT with trauma-informed, person-centered, neuroscience-informed, and motivational approaches to support emotional regulation, insight, and behavioral change.

My work in trauma therapy integrates a trauma-informed, person-centered approach with inner child and inner teen work to help clients understand how early experiences shape emotional reactions, coping patterns, and self-beliefs. I guide clients in identifying the inner critic and strengthening the healthy parent to promote emotional regulation, self-compassion, and safer, more adaptive responses, using evidence-based and neuroscience-informed strategies to support healing and resilie

My work in anger management helps clients understand the emotional and physiological roots of anger rather than simply controlling behavior. I use trauma-informed, CBT-based, and neuroscience-informed strategies to identify triggers, regulate the nervous system, challenge unhelpful thoughts, and build healthier emotional responses. I also explain how amygdala-driven fight, flight, or freeze reactions can intensify anger when the brain perceives threat.

Relational work is a core focus of my practice. I support individuals in understanding relationship patterns shaped by early family dynamics, attachment experiences, and past relational wounds. My work addresses unmet emotional needs, communication challenges, trust issues, boundaries, co-dependency, and unresolved conflict. Clients slow reactive cycles, increase emotional awareness, and develop healthier ways of expressing needs to build clarity, accountability, and emotional safety.

My approach helps clients understand their anger triggers, recognize underlying emotions, and develop healthier ways to express feelings, while building emotional awareness, impulse control, and practical coping skills so anger becomes a signal for growth, communication, and positive change rather than a source of conflict or regret.

My approach helps clients identify anxiety triggers, understand underlying worries, and develop effective coping strategies using mindfulness and other techniques to build emotional awareness, self-regulation, and confidence so anxiety feels more manageable. I also explain how fear responses driven by the amygdala can trigger fight, flight, or freeze reactions that show up as anxiety, helping clients recognize survival mode and apply grounding skills to restore a sense of safety and control.

My approach helps clients understand their anger triggers, recognize underlying emotions, and develop healthier ways to express feelings, while building emotional awareness, impulse control, and practical coping skills so anger becomes a signal for growth, communication, and positive change rather than a source of conflict or regret.