Sharon Sumler
Supportive family-focused social worker
- Credentials
- LMSW
- Experience
- 20 years
- Licensed in
- Michigan
- Languages
- English
- Format
- Online sessions
About Sharon
Sharon Sumler is a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) with two decades of experience. She focuses on family and parenting concerns alongside issues like stress, anxiety, addiction, depression, trauma, and relationship struggles. Sharon speaks plainly and meets people where they are to help them sort through immediate worries and make clear next steps.
Her approach is practical and collaborative. She listens first, then helps parents and families identify patterns that cause conflict or distress.
Background and approach
Sharon draws on methods from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), mindfulness, motivational interviewing, and client-centered therapy to build straightforward plans that families can try between sessions. Sharon has worked across many common family challenges, including blended family dynamics, parenting stress, attachment concerns, and caregiving strain.
She also supports people facing grief, intimacy issues, anger, bipolar disorder, ADHD, and life transitions. Her work often addresses communication problems, codependency, and commitment worries. Sessions aim to break big problems into small, manageable steps.
Sharon helps clients practice new ways of talking and acting, track what works, and adjust plans as needed. She uses short-term skills from CBT and DBT alongside reflective listening to help families improve daily routines and relationships. Sharon practices in Michigan and provides services in English.
She offers multiple online session formats including video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text messaging to fit different schedules and needs.
How targeted approaches translate to online family work
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and understanding the family's perspective. It helps parents and caregivers feel heard and work out priorities together. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at how thoughts and behaviors affect mood and relationships and teaches practical skills for changing those patterns. Dialectical Behavior Therapy, DBT, adds skills for handling strong emotions and improving communication during heated moments.Choosing the right approach is part of the process. Sharon works collaboratively to figure out what methods fit each family's needs, goals, and daily life. She may blend skills from different approaches and adjust the plan as progress is tracked so families get what helps most in their situation.
Online therapy offers flexibility for busy parents and caregivers. Video calls allow face-to-face conversations when schedules permit, while phone sessions can work when screens are impractical. Live chat and text-based messaging make it possible to check in between sessions, practice new skills, or get support during difficult moments. These options help families fit therapy into real life and practice changes where they matter most.
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.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Concrete skills for riding out strong emotion, tolerating distress, and handling relationships without things escalating. The skills are practised in daily life, so between-session support by message or phone fits naturally.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
Also works with
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Family conflicts
- Grief
- Hoarding
- Intimacy-related issues
- Jealousy
- Multicultural concerns
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Trauma and abuse
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 20 years
- Licensed
- Michigan
- Languages
- English
Next step
Talk to Sharon
- Takes a few minutes
- Nothing to set up just to look
- Stop at any point