Shirley Porter RP

Shirley has been practicing psychotherapy for 32 years, working with individuals 17 years and older from diverse backgrounds. She has expertise in the following areas:

• Trauma (including Acute Stress Disorder, PTSD, complex trauma)
• Suicidality and Mental Health Crises
• Depression
• Anxiety or stress symptoms
• Relationship issues
• Grief and complicated grief
• Cultural adjustment for Newcomers and Refugee Immigrants

Shirley considers it an honor and privilege to work with her clients as she bears witness to their sacred stories, and works with them to identify, and compassionately understand the wounded parts of the self, which can then begin to heal. In her career she has seen thousands of healing transformations, as clients practice self-compassion and learn new skills and strategies to empower themselves to deal with challenges in effective and healthy ways.

Shirley is the author of two books of trauma (one for clients, and one for therapists), and has written several published applied research papers. For many years she served as an Adjunct Clinical Professor, teaching and providing clinical supervision to graduate students in the Counseling Psychology program at Western University. She has also been a Clinical Supervisor/Consultant to other therapists internationally since 2010.

Shirley is currently the Clinical Director of Shirley Porter and Associates Psychotherapy, which is a virtual psychotherapy service offering online therapy to individual clients in the privacy and comfort of their own home. Her current focus is on providing clinical supervision/consultation to other therapists, while maintaining a small caseload. She continues to write professionally for Choosing Therapy.

She has studied and utilized many different therapeutic approaches with her clients, believing that no single therapeutic approach will be the answer for every client. While her approach is always client-focused, trauma informed, and based in compassion – she tailors her therapeutic approach and interventions to meet her client’s individual needs. The therapeutic approaches and interventions she utilizes include:

• CBT and Compassion-focused CBT
• Parts Work
• Comprehensive Resource Model (CRM)
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
• Imagery Rescripting and Reprocessing Therapy (IRRT)
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
• Brief Solution Focused Therapy
• Polyvagal Therapy
• Somatic Experiencing Therapy
• DBT
• Motivational Interviewing

Education

• M.Ed., Counseling, Western University
• B.A., Honours Psychology, Western University

Professional Affiliations

• Canadian Counseling and Psychotherapy Association
• College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario

Why I Write for Choosing Therapy

I write for ChoosingTherapy.com, because I believe that it is essential that people have access to the most up-to-date, accurate, and evidence-based information on mental health issues and treatments. The fact that these articles are written by licensed therapists and medically reviewed, provides a background of expertise and credibility that is important in getting this important information out to the community. I also appreciate the fact that, professionally, writing these articles requires me to engage in literature reviews on the most current research in specific areas, which ensures I keep up-to-date on topics that are important to my work with my own clients, and in clinical supervision.