John Shafer

By way of introduction, I am John Shafer, LCSW-R. In 1998, I graduated from Syracuse University’s School of Social Work with my master’s in social work.
Throughout my social work career, I strived to learn from the highest credentialed and experienced professionals. Background wise, I have experience working with people in the following areas: rural community mental health settings, school-based mental health settings, city and suburban settings.

Vocationally, diversification of approaches to working with people from an array of different environments provided my basis for success. I worked with people across the spectrum of age ranges from three years old to people in their nineties. Also, I gained experience working with people from different socio-economic statuses. Over the years, my ongoing diversity training afforded me opportunities to hone my clinical skills related to populations covering a wide gamut of racial and ethnic backgrounds. I sought to develop techniques to address gender identity expressions that was done in a culturally sensitive manner.

Along the way, I prided myself on developing counseling and psycho-therapy skills. In the course of working with people, the therapy models I used most often included: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Mindfulness, Narrative Therapy, Strengths Based Therapy, and Solution-Focused Therapy.
In general, my employment opportunities accorded me the chance to develop clinical skills. I implemented different types of therapy such as individual therapy, couple’s therapy and group therapy; all of which provided me with professional development opportunities.
Interweaving professional experiences with evidence based therapy models, I work collaboratively with people to attain client-centered and person-centered goals.