Shelby Prendes (she/her/hers)

MA, LMHC
Accepting Clients

Your relationship with yourself is the only one you're guaranteed to have for your whole life - isn't it worth investing in?

Licensed Mental Health Counselor in St. Petersburg, FL

Services
  • Individual

About My Clients

Many of my clients are stuck in cycles that involve diets, a complicated relationship with clothes or the mirror, struggling to feel at peace in their bodies or safe with food. Or they're stuck in anxiety, overwhelm, or burnout. Some are stuck with incredibly high expectations of themselves, burning themselves out to try to do it all. Others feel stuck in certain past experiences in some way. They want to break cycles and get unstuck, but they need someone in their corner. (Enter: me!)

My Approach to Helping

My passion is helping folks heal in their relationships with food, body, and self. To do so, I use a thoughtful and intentional blend of somatic approaches with aspects of the traditional cognitive approaches. We won't be ignoring your brain, but we WILL be getting into your body! I work from a weight-inclusive and anti-diet framework that is informed by the Health at Every Size principles and the concepts of Intuitive Eating. I am a Certified Body Trust® Specialist, which means I've received specialized and rigorous training in the Body Trust framework for working with food and body image concerns. I also provide Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) to support with a variety of concerns connected to the nervous system. I am so grateful for the privilege to help others step out of body distrust, diet culture, perfectionism, rigidity, nervous system dysregulation, and shame - and INTO flexibility, self-compassion, safety, freedom, and embodiment.

My Personal Beliefs and Interests

The name of my practice is Embodied Self Counseling. So what does it mean to be your embodied self, and why do I think it's important? Well, being embodied means to be present and connected with the body you inhabit. To listen to its communications, signals, rhythms, flows, and truths - and to honor and respect them. To feel at home with your body. We are born with this trust in our bodies and the ability to ask for our needs to be met. But individual and cultural experiences disrupt the awareness and attunement that was once natural and inherent. We learn we should have fewer needs, take up less space, deny ourselves, rank and label bodies based on appearance and ability. When we wind up disembodied in this way, as so many of us do, we miss out on so much. The good news here is that the relationship with your body that you were born with is yours to reclaim. So, let's work together to return you to your embodied self. I'd love to help facilitate such a homecoming.

Techniques I Use

Specialties
Accelerated Resolution Therapy Feminist Therapy Somatic Therapy: Body-Based Healing for Emotional Trauma
Other Techniques
  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
  • Culturally Sensitive Therapy
  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
  • Feminist Therapy
  • Humanistic Therapy
  • Motivational Interviewing
  • Narrative Therapy
  • Somatic Therapy: Body-Based Healing for Emotional Trauma
  • Trauma Therapy
  • Accelerated Resolution Therapy

Issues I Treat

Specialties
Anxiety Body Image Issues Self-Esteem
Other Issues
  • Anxiety
  • Body Image Issues
  • Burnout
  • Depression
  • Eating Disorders
  • LGBTQ-Friendly Therapists
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Relationship Issues
  • Self-Esteem
  • Systemic Oppression Therapy
  • Women's Issues
I offer online counseling in the following states:
I have experience with the following
  • Judaism

At A Glance

  • Experience: 7 years of practice
  • Languages: English
  • Rate: $100 - 150/session

Reach out to Shelby