ROBINSON, PA · TELEHEALTH STATEWIDE
Shelby O’Brien, MA, LPC
“I am the specialist on mental health and you are the specialist on yourself.”
Shelby O’Brien is a Licensed Professional Counselor at CPA Counseling’s Robinson Township office, also seeing clients by secure telehealth across Pennsylvania. She works one to one with late teens, young adults, and adults on anxiety, depression, trauma, ADHD, grief, anger, self-esteem, and life transitions — easygoing by design, with the client leading.
WHO SHELBY WORKS WITH
Who she’s for
Shelby works one to one with late teens, young adults, adults, and college students. She sees children too, though they are not who she is looking for. Individual therapy only, in person at Robinson or by telehealth across Pennsylvania.
why work with Shelby
You know yourself better than anyone
Her working premise: clients know themselves better than anyone, and her role is to help them explore their own thinking and arrive at realistic solutions that actually work for them. Collaborative in practice, not just in description.
HOW SHELBY WORKS
Seven approaches, and you choose the pace
Shelby uses a range of modalities and is explicit that clients take the reins. The method gets chosen for the person; the direction is yours.
CONDITIONS TREATED
What Shelby treats – who Shelby sees
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Trauma
- ADHD
- Grief & Loss
- Anger Management
- Life Transitions
- Controlling Relationships & Gaslighting
- Emotional Abuse
- Relationship & Marital Stress
- School / Academic
- Workplace Stress
- Self-Esteem
For younger clients
A calming presence — her clients’ words
“Together we can work to achieve your goals to a healthier version of yourself.”
CARE PHILOSOPHY
Easygoing. And you take the reins.
Easygoing is how Shelby describes her own style, and client-led is how she describes the method. She works from the premise that you know yourself better than anyone, which means the direction comes from you and the clinical skill comes from her — she is explicit about that division.
ABOUT SHELBY
Heard, seen, and accepted
Shelby O’Brien is a Licensed Professional Counselor with a master’s in Clinical Mental Health from Waynesburg University.
She has worked as a therapist since 2019 and became fully licensed in 2021. Before that, from 2016 to 2018, she worked as therapeutic staff support and as a mobile therapist while completing her master’s. Across her career she has worked with clients from age four through fifty, helping people manage anxiety, depression, anger, ADHD, grief, and life transitions, and process trauma.
Shelby works hard to provide clients with a space where they feel heard, seen, and accepted. She meets clients where they are and provides a safe space to explore their thoughts and feelings free from judgment. Her belief is that clients know themselves better than anyone — she is the specialist on mental health, and you are the specialist on yourself — so her role is to help you explore your own thinking and arrive at realistic solutions that work for your situation.
She describes her style as easygoing and lets clients take the reins, drawing on cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, client-centered, strengths-based, and solution-focused approaches. She has recently completed training for a trauma certification and has begun bringing somatic techniques into her sessions. She is a conversation-driven therapist and uses self-disclosure to help normalize what clients are going through, believing they deserve to know something about the person they are working with.
She sees clients at the Robinson Township office and by telehealth across Pennsylvania.
Working Since
Licensed 2021 · individual therapy
Client-Led by Design
You take the reins
Personalized Care Plans
No program commitments required
CONDITION GUIDE
Therapy guides from Shelby O’Brien
Trauma
Rebuilding Trust After Emotional Abuse
Emotional abuse leaves invisible wounds — eroding your confidence and your ability to trust yourself and others. Healing isn’t just leaving the relationship; it’s rebuilding trust from the inside out. Christina Binder, LSW, a trauma-certified therapist in Robinson, helps survivors rebuild self-trust and move forward, in person or by telehealth across Pennsylvania.
LGBTQ+
LGBTQ+ Affirming Therapy in Pittsburgh
LGBTQ+ affirming therapy in Pittsburgh means a therapist you don’t have to edit yourself for — one who understands enough about your identity that you can focus on whatever actually matters that day. Pittsburgh has strong specialized LGBTQ+ organizations; a general affirming therapist is complementary, supporting anxiety, depression, trauma, relationships, school, work, and life transitions. Kelly Schworn, LPC offers a warm, person-centered, affirming space in the greater Pittsburgh area.
Relationships
Acceptance vs. Forgiveness: Accepting People as They Are
Forgiveness and acceptance are related but distinct. Forgiveness is often about releasing resentment over something in the past; acceptance is about the present — letting go of the expectation that someone needs to change in order for you to be at peace. Acceptance isn’t approval, excusing, or giving up; it’s seeing a person clearly and protecting your own peace through adjusted expectations and boundaries. Dana Werner, LMSW helps clients with relationships and boundaries at CPA Counseling in Pittsburgh’s Robinson area and by telehealth across Pennsylvania.