Donald Shawler
Practical support for stress, mood, and life changes
- Credentials
- LCPC
- Experience
- 20 years
- Licensed in
- Illinois
- Languages
- English
- Format
- Online sessions
About Donald
Donald Shawler is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) who brings 20 years of experience to his work with adults. He focuses on helping people manage depression, anxiety, stress, and a range of life changes. He aims to create a calm, nonjudgmental space where people can talk through what is hard for them.
His style starts with a person-centered way of listening. That means he follows what matters to the client and builds goals together.
Background and approach
He also uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which looks at patterns of thinking and helps reframe thoughts that get in the way. Donald teaches practical skills like anger management and coping strategies. He often blends mindfulness exercises to help clients notice reactions and make different choices.
Emotional work is part of sessions when needed to address relational or intimacy-related problems. He has worked with people facing addictions, grief, trauma, and identity concerns including LGBT issues. Other areas he addresses include career stress, caregiver strain, body image, and blended family concerns.
The focus is on clear steps and steady progress rather than quick fixes. Sessions are held with attention to each person's pace and values. Donald works from Illinois and offers services in English.
He is open to working with international clients and adapts approaches to fit individual needs and goals.
How therapeutic approaches translate to online care
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and following the client's priorities. Online sessions using this approach let the therapist and client set goals together and work at the client’s pace, which can help when people are coping with stress, life changes, or relationship problems.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, breaks problems into thoughts, feelings, and actions. In remote work, CBT often includes short exercises, thought records, and practical homework to change unhelpful thinking patterns that contribute to anxiety or depression.
Mindfulness helps people notice their reactions and create space for choice. Online sessions can include simple guided exercises and prompts to practice between meetings, which supports managing anger, worry, and emotional overwhelm.
Donald treats finding the right approach as a joint task. He will talk with each person about their goals, try methods that fit, and adjust based on what works best. That collaborative process is part of early sessions.
Online therapy offers flexibility through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. These options make it easier to fit counseling into busy days, allow follow-up outside of scheduled meetings, and let people keep continuity when travel or distance is a factor.
Client-Centered Therapy
The direction comes from you rather than from a set programme. The therapist offers a warm, non-judgemental space to think out loud and work at your own pace. Online, this rests on the relationship rather than on being in the same room.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT looks at the link between what you think, how you feel, and what you do. You work on noticing unhelpful patterns and practising steadier responses. It suits online sessions well, because much of the work happens between appointments and can be talked through from anywhere.
Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
Attends to the emotions underneath a recurring argument or distance, and to the attachment needs driving them. Often used where a relationship keeps returning to the same painful loop.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- LGBT
- Anger management
Also works with
- Addictions
- Aging and geriatric issues
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- HIV / AIDS
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 20 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English
Next step
Talk to Donald
- Takes a few minutes
- Nothing to set up just to look
- Stop at any point