Sharon Lemire
I’m a therapist who genuinely enjoys getting to know people and understanding what makes them who they are. I work with adolescents and adults navigating anxiety, depression, relationships, grief, chronic pain, trauma, life transitions, or sometimes just feeling stuck or disconnected from themselves. My approach is collaborative and flexible because I don’t think therapy should look exactly the same for everyone. I draw from approaches like ACT, CBT, DBT, attachment-based and psychodynamic therapy, mindfulness, and Motivational Interviewing depending on what you’re working through and what feels useful to you. Sometimes that means learning practical tools or finding a different way to respond to difficult thoughts and emotions. Other times, it means slowing down and looking at patterns, relationships, past experiences, or the things that may be happening underneath the surface. I want therapy to feel comfortable, honest, and real. You may come in knowing exactly what you want to work on, or you may need some time to figure that out. Either way, we’ll start with what feels important to you and go from there.
First session
The first session is really a chance for us to get to know each other. I’ll want to hear what brought you in, what’s been going on, what feels important to you, and what you’re hoping might be different. I’ll ask questions and gather some background information, knowing that we won’t get to your entire life story in 50 minutes. We’ll also talk about what you want from therapy and what has or hasn’t been helpful in the past. My hope is that you leave with a sense of what it might be like for us to work together and whether I feel like the right fit for you. I also hope you leave feeling a little lighter, or at least relieved to have had some time that was just for you to talk openly about what you need. And maybe you leave feeling a little proud of yourself too, because making the decision to start therapy and setting aside that time for yourself can be a meaningful step in itself.
Strengths
I tend to be an active and engaged therapist. I ask questions, notice patterns, share what I’m noticing, and offer different perspectives when they might be useful. At other times, I may give you more room to talk something through without jumping in. A lot depends on you, what we’re working on, and what feels useful in that moment. I’m naturally curious about people and interested in understanding what’s underneath what’s happening. We might look at patterns that keep showing up, how relationships and past experiences have shaped you, things you’ve come to believe about yourself, or ways of coping that made sense at one point but may not be working as well anymore. Depending on what you need, I also draw from ACT, CBT, DBT, Motivational Interviewing, mindfulness, and attachment-based approaches. That might look like learning ways to manage intense emotions, noticing and questioning unhelpful thought patterns, exploring your values, practicing different ways of communicating, or figuring out how to respond differently when you find yourself falling into a familiar pattern.
Ideal clients
You might be feeling overwhelmed, stuck, disconnected, or just tired of dealing with the same things over and over. Maybe anxiety is taking up too much space, school or work feels overwhelming, friendships or relationships have gotten complicated, or you’re dealing with family stress, grief, chronic pain, or a major life transition. You might be struggling with confidence, figuring out who you are, feeling like you don’t quite fit in, or trying to manage everyone else’s expectations while also figuring out what you want for yourself. Sometimes there isn’t one obvious problem at all. Things may look fine from the outside, but something just doesn’t feel right. You might come to therapy wanting practical tools or with a very clear goal, or you might just want a place to start sorting through everything. Wherever you’re starting from, we can spend some time understanding what’s going on, what you want to be different, and what might help you get there.
Origin story
I started my career working with adolescents in a residential program, where I spent a lot of time supporting young people through behavioral and emotional challenges. That experience taught me pretty quickly that there is usually much more going on underneath a behavior than what you see on the surface. I became really interested in understanding the person behind it: what they had experienced, what they were feeling, how they learned to cope, and what they might be trying to communicate even when they didn’t have the words for it. As my career continued, I worked with young people, families, and community organizations, and I kept coming back to that same curiosity about people and their stories. I found that I really valued the opportunity to slow down, listen, ask questions, and understand how someone’s experiences, relationships, environment, and beliefs about themselves all fit together. Becoming a therapist felt like a natural progression of that work. What I still love about therapy is that I get to know people beyond whatever problem initially brought them in. I get to help them make connections they may not have seen before, understand themselves with a little more compassion, recognize strengths they may have overlooked, and decide for themselves what they want to do differently. No two people come in with the same story, and I think that’s a big part of what continues to make this work meaningful to me.
Ongoing work together
Our work will build around what matters to you, and that can change as therapy unfolds. Sometimes we’ll focus on something happening right now, and other times we may notice a pattern that keeps showing up and spend more time understanding where it comes from and what keeps it going. We might practice new ways of responding, experiment with different tools, or simply make space to look at something from a different angle. Progress doesn’t always look like a dramatic breakthrough. Sometimes it’s realizing you handled a situation differently, recognizing a pattern sooner, setting a boundary you normally wouldn’t, feeling less overwhelmed by something that used to take over, or understanding yourself with a little more compassion. Throughout our time together, we’ll also take moments to look back at what’s changing, including the things that can be easy to miss when you’re living through them day to day. We’ll check in about what’s helping, what isn’t, and whether the work still feels connected to what you want from therapy.
Treatment methods
Acceptance and commitment (ACT)
I use ACT to help clients notice difficult thoughts and feelings without letting them completely take over or determine what happens next. We may explore what matters most to you, where you feel stuck, and how you can make choices that are more connected to your values, even when uncomfortable thoughts or emotions are still present.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
I use CBT to help clients recognize connections between their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. We might slow down a situation, look at the story you're telling yourself about it, question assumptions or patterns that may be contributing to distress, and experiment with different ways of thinking or responding.
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
I draw from DBT when clients need practical tools for managing intense emotions, tolerating distress, communicating more effectively, setting boundaries, or navigating conflict. I tend to integrate DBT skills into the work rather than providing a formal comprehensive DBT program.
Mindfulness-Based Therapy
I use mindfulness to help clients become more aware of thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, and reactions as they're happening. The goal isn't necessarily to clear your mind or make uncomfortable feelings disappear, but to notice what's happening with enough space to choose how you want to respond.
Attachment-based
I use an attachment lens to understand how earlier relationships and experiences may influence the way you connect with people now. We might notice patterns around closeness, trust, conflict, reassurance, independence, or feeling rejected and explore how those patterns show up in current relationships without assuming that everything comes back to childhood.
Location
Virtual sessions