Hi, I'm Shelly. I work with individuals who feel stretched thin or quietly lost in their own lives, and with couples who keep landing in the same painful place and want to find their way back to each other. Whether you are carrying anxiety, grief, or distance in the relationships that matter most, you do not have to sort it out alone. I would be glad to walk with you.
In our sessions, you can expect a calm, unhurried pace and plenty of room to be honest. I pay close attention to what is happening for you in the moment, and I help you stay with feelings that often seem like too much, so they become more workable and less overwhelming. We work at the level of emotion, which is where lasting change tends to begin. Most people find they can breathe a little easier here, and that they leave feeling steadier and more like themselves.
Degree(s):
MA in Marriage and Family Therapy, Whitworth University
Current license/status:
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapy Associate (LMFTA)
Additional training, certifications, or areas of study:
Maybe you are the person everyone else leans on, and somewhere along the way your own needs got quiet. Maybe you feel anxious, low, or disconnected and are not sure how you got here. Or maybe you and your partner keep landing in the same painful place and cannot find your way back to each other. Whatever brought you here, you do not have to figure it out alone.
I'm Shelly Donovan, a Marriage and Family Therapist Associate at Life Directions Counseling in Spokane. I work with adults and couples who feel overwhelmed, emotionally distant, or weighed down by experiences that have been hard to carry. My work is rooted in Emotionally Focused Therapy, an attachment-based approach that helps people understand their deeper emotional needs and build secure, lasting bonds. With individuals, we gently explore the feelings beneath anxiety, depression, grief, self-doubt, and people-pleasing, and reconnect you with your worth and your voice. With couples, we move through disconnection, conflict, and broken trust by creating space for honesty and rebuilding emotional safety.
I see therapy as a process of remembering and reclaiming who you have always been beneath the pain and the patterns that no longer serve you. My own healing journey deepens the empathy and steadiness I bring to this work. I see clients in person at my Spokane office and through secure telehealth across Washington State. Whatever you are carrying, we can take the first steps together, at a pace that feels right for you.
If any of this feels like what you have been looking for, I would love to hear from you. There is no need to have it all figured out first.
My work is built on four values that shape every session: compassion, attunement, authenticity, and hope. My hope is that you feel genuinely seen and safe from our very first conversation. Outside of the therapy room, I love being outdoors and hiking around the Pacific Northwest with my family and dog, which keeps me close to the same sense of presence and connection I try to bring to the people I work with.