Works with
- Anger
- Stress, Anxiety
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
- Anger management
- Depression
How Crista works
Practical facts
- Credentials
- LCPC
- Licensed in
- Maine
- Years in practice
- 15
- Languages
- English
- Session format
- Online, through our partner platform
About Crista
Crista Shaw is a licensed clinical professional counselor with 15 years of experience practicing in Maine. She focuses on helping people manage stress, anxiety, anger, and the effects of trauma and abuse. Her style is warm and down-to-earth, aimed at making it easier to take the first step toward support.
Crista creates a space where clients can talk through difficult feelings without feeling judged. She listens closely and helps people name what they are facing.
Background and approach
Sessions are practical and focused on real-life problems and goals. She uses straightforward tools from cognitive behavioral therapy to spot unhelpful thinking and change patterns that worsen mood or anxiety. She also draws on dialectical behavior therapy skills to help with emotional regulation and impulsivity.
These approaches are paired with client-centered work that centers the person's own values and choices. Crista has worked with a wide range of concerns related to family and relationships, parenting stress, adoption and foster care questions, grief, and mood disorders. She also supports people navigating sexuality, LGBT matters, postpartum mood changes, and life transitions.
Clients can expect a collaborative process that combines short-term coping skills with longer-term problem solving. She aims to help people build tools they can use day to day and to reduce the overwhelm that comes with intense feelings.
What Crista works with
Everything Crista lists, in the therapist's own terms. Anger is the reason this directory exists; the rest tells you what usually sits alongside it in Crista's practice.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
- Anger management
- Depression
- LGBT
- Grief
- Eating disorders
- Parenting issues
- Coping with life changes
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Blended family issues
- Co-morbidity
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Mood disorders
- Postpartum depression
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Sexuality
- Women's issues
- Young adult issues
Approaches Crista lists
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
Listing an approach is not evidence of training in it. This directory copies what each therapist names and does not check training records.
Therapeutic approaches that work online
Client-centered therapy focuses on the client's perspective and priorities. It involves listening closely, reflecting what matters most, and building goals together, which helps people feel heard and understood. Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, looks at connections between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and teaches practical skills for shifting unhelpful patterns. CBT is often used for anxiety, mood problems, and stress management.Choosing the right approach is a team effort. The therapist will talk with the person about current needs, goals, and preferences and then try strategies that fit. That collaborative process may combine skill teaching, problem solving, and emotional support so the work is useful day to day.
Online sessions include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to match different needs. Video is good for face-to-face conversation and exercises that use visual materials. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or when a client prefers not to be on camera. Live chat and text are useful for brief check-ins, quick skill coaching, or ongoing support between longer sessions. These formats offer flexibility for busy schedules and different ways to keep therapy consistent.
Questions people ask about Crista
What concerns does Crista commonly address?
She supports people facing stress, anxiety, anger, depression, trauma and abuse, grief, parenting strain, and issues related to LGBT identity and sexuality.
What is her therapeutic approach like?
Her work blends client-centered listening with practical skills from cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy to address thinking patterns, emotion regulation, and coping strategies.
How much clinical experience does she have?
Crista has 15 years of professional work experience helping people with a variety of emotional and life challenges in Maine.
What are her credentials and where is she located?
She holds the credential ME LCPC and practices in the state of Maine.
In which languages can sessions be held?
Sessions are offered in English.
Can international clients work with her?
She does not accept international clients at this time.
What session formats are available?
Sessions can be scheduled as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or through text-based messaging.
How are costs and starting therapy handled?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability and uses a subscription model that can be canceled at any time; to begin, select Start Therapy, complete the short matching questionnaire, and schedule based on therapist availability.