Find Calm.
Feel Understood.
Move Forward
Compassionate, evidence based therapy to help you navigate life’s challenges, transitions, and uncertainties.
At Starkey Counseling by the Shore, I provide a calm, supportive space where clients can feel understood while learning practical tools to create meaningful change.
I work with teens, adults, couples, and families navigating anxiety, OCD, trauma, relationship stress, life transitions, and emotional overwhelm. My approach is compassionate, collaborative, and grounded in evidence-based treatment, while always recognizing the importance of the whole person behind the symptoms.
Whether you are struggling with intrusive thoughts, panic, communication difficulties, self-esteem, or feeling stuck in patterns that no longer serve you, therapy can help you regain confidence, clarity, and emotional balance.
Anxiety
Anxiety can feel overwhelming, exhausting, and isolating. It may show up as constant worry, racing thoughts, difficulty relaxing, panic, perfectionism, or avoidance of situations that feel uncomfortable or uncertain. Therapy can help you better understand your anxiety, develop effective coping tools, and regain a greater sense of calm and confidence in your daily life.
Depression
Depression can affect every part of life — your energy, motivation, relationships, self-worth, and ability to enjoy things that once felt meaningful. Whether you are experiencing sadness, emotional numbness, hopelessness, or feeling “stuck,” therapy can provide support, insight, and practical strategies to help you reconnect with yourself and move forward with greater clarity and purpose.
Life Transitions
Life changes — even positive ones — can feel stressful and emotionally overwhelming. Transitions such as career changes, parenthood, relationship shifts, divorce, relocation, entering adulthood, or navigating new stages of life can bring uncertainty and self-doubt. Therapy offers a supportive space to process change, build resilience, and navigate transitions with greater confidence.
Grief & Loss
Grief is deeply personal and can impact us emotionally, physically, and mentally. Loss may involve the death of a loved one, the end of a relationship, changes in identity, infertility, health challenges, or other significant life experiences. Therapy can help you process grief at your own pace while creating space for healing, meaning, and support along the way.
Personal Growth
Therapy is not only for difficult moments — it can also be a space for growth, self-discovery, and becoming more aligned with the life you want to create. Together, we can work on building confidence, strengthening self-worth, improving boundaries, reducing self-criticism, and helping you feel more empowered in your relationships, decisions, and everyday life.
Communication
Healthy relationships require communication, emotional safety, and connection — but many couples find themselves feeling misunderstood, disconnected, or stuck in unhealthy patterns. Whether you are navigating conflict, rebuilding trust, improving communication, or simply wanting to strengthen your relationship, therapy can help couples deepen understanding, increase emotional connection, and create healthier ways of relating to one another.
The Blog
Recent Posts
Social Media and Teen Self-Esteem
Today’s teens are growing up in a world of constant comparison. Social media can create pressure to look a certain way, achieve more, maintain friendships perfectly, and always appear happy
What Intrusive Thoughts Really Mean
Intrusive thoughts can feel frightening, confusing, and deeply personal. Many people who struggle with anxiety or OCD worry that having a disturbing thought means something about who they are as
Reactive Communication vs. Effective Communication
When emotions run high, communication often becomes reactive rather than productive. Many couples find themselves interrupting, defending, escalating, or saying things they later regret during moments of stress. Reactive communication