- Attachment-based work
- CBT and DBT skills
- Parenting support
About Sherrin
Dr. Sherrin Packer-Rosenthal is a California licensed clinical social worker and licensed professional clinical counselor with 40 years of experience. She works with adults dealing with stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, parenting concerns, and coping with life changes. She also addresses related issues such as abandonment, attachment difficulties, body image, chronic illness, caregiving stress, and blended family matters.
She uses straightforward, evidence-minded methods drawn from attachment work, cognitive behavioral ideas, client-centered practice, and dialectical behavior approaches. Sessions focus on clear skills and practical steps as well as understanding patterns that keep painful feelings alive. She talks through how to notice thoughts and behaviors, how to repair ruptures in relationships, and how to build everyday skills for parenting and care roles.
Her background includes an NIMH fellowship in community mental health and work on early-childhood supports and shelters. She trained alongside clinicians who study trauma, attachment, and nervous system regulation and applies those perspectives in clinical work. She is also a credentialed school counselor and has experience with IEPs and 504 plans for children.
In meetings she aims to help people become experts on their own lives. Practical tools and reflective conversation are combined so clients can practice new ways of responding at home. She encourages learning how to repair conflicts and move forward after the normal ruptures of daily life.
Her approach explicitly addresses guilt and shame as part of trauma, attachment ruptures, and parenting struggles. People choosing to work with her are guided through methods that focus on understanding those feelings, shifting unhelpful patterns, and developing kinder self-talk and relational skills.
How her approaches translate to online sessions
Attachment-Based Therapy helps people understand how early relationships shape fears and patterns in current life. It focuses on noticing how closeness and distance are managed and on repairing relational ruptures that trigger guilt or shame. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing them with practical experiments. It teaches concrete skills to change how someone thinks and behaves when shame or anxiety comes up.Finding the right mix of approaches is treated as a team effort. She will work with clients to choose methods that match their goals, preferences, and the problems they bring. That collaboration means trying strategies, checking what helps, and adjusting as needed rather than following a single fixed plan.
Confirm the specific online session formats before booking since the biography does not list them. Online work can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy week, allow shorter check-ins when needed, and reduce travel time. Some formats may be better for skills practice, while others suit longer relational work; the therapist will discuss practical options so sessions fit everyday life without adding complexity.
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
40+ years
Listed in
California
Languages
English
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of problems does she help with?
She helps people with stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, parenting issues, and coping with life changes, as well as related concerns like abandonment, attachment problems, and caregiving stress.
How would she approach shame or guilt in sessions?
She uses attachment-informed and cognitive-behavioral ideas to look at patterns that keep guilt and shame active, combining skills practice with conversations that shift self-critical thoughts.
How much clinical experience does she have?
She has 40 years of professional experience, including an NIMH fellowship in community mental health and long-term work on early-childhood and family supports.
What are her credentials and where is she based?
She holds LCSW and LPCC licenses in California and practices from that state.
Does she work in other languages or internationally?
Sessions are offered in English and she is not accepting international clients at this time.
What session formats are offered?
Confirm current session options before booking, as the biography does not list specific formats.
How are fees handled?
Cost varies with location; sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
How do I get started with her?
Select the See online therapy options button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule a first session.
Online talk therapy is not emergency care. If you are in danger or thinking about harming yourself, use the crisis numbers.