Kelly Shelton, LCSW

Kelly Shelton is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) in Florida with 14 years of experience. She focuses on relationships, trauma and abuse, self-esteem, coping with life changes, and compassion fatigue. Kelly meets people where they are and adapts conversations to each person’s needs.

Her approach centers on practical, conversational work. She uses client-centered methods to follow each person’s pace. She also draws on cognitive behavioral strategies to identify unhelpful thoughts and DBT skills to build emotion regulation and distress tolerance. Emotionally-Focused Therapy and mindfulness tools are used when they fit the goals.

Kelly has worked across a range of concerns linked to relationships and emotional regulation. She helps people address abandonment, attachment issues, codependency, communication problems, and infidelity. She also supports those dealing with family of origin issues, divorce and separation, and feelings of emptiness, guilt, or shame.

Her practice includes attention to trauma-related responses such as dissociation and impulse-driven behavior, and she has experience with responses after natural or human-caused disasters. She also notes work with disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD) and compassion fatigue in helping professionals.

Sessions are framed around respect, sensitivity, and compassion. Kelly collaborates with each person to build a plan that fits their life and goals. She encourages the first step of reaching out and completing the brief intake to begin matching and scheduling.

Approaches that guide online sessions

Kelly commonly blends client-centered therapy with cognitive behavioral techniques. Client-centered work means the conversation follows the client’s concerns and pace, helping people feel heard and understood. Cognitive behavioral work focuses on identifying thought patterns that keep problems going and testing small changes to see what helps.

She also uses dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills when emotion regulation and impulsivity are central concerns. DBT-style tools teach practical ways to tolerate distress, manage strong emotions, and improve interpersonal effectiveness.

Finding the right approach is a shared process. The therapist and client will talk about goals and try methods that fit the person’s needs and preferences. Adjustments are made over time so the plan stays useful and realistic.

Session formats are not listed in the biography, so confirm current options before booking. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy schedule, reduce travel time, and allow for shorter check-ins on a work break or longer sessions when needed. Licensed professionals can adapt techniques like mindfulness exercises and CBT worksheets to remote conversations to help clients practice between sessions.