Shirley Marks, LMFT
Experienced marriage and family therapist focused on practical help
About Shirley
Shirley Marks is a licensed marriage and family therapist who brings 44 years of clinical experience to her work. She focuses on helping people manage addictions, relationship strain, mood concerns, and the stress that comes with life transitions.
Background and approach
Shirley aims to make it easier to talk about difficult feelings and hard choices. She helps people facing relationship and family tension find clearer ways to communicate.
She also supports those dealing with anxiety, depression, bipolar mood shifts, grief, and eating or process addictions. Many people seek her help for intimacy concerns, self-esteem struggles, or career-related stress.
Shirley uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques tailored to each person. Sessions are conversational and practical.
She encourages straightforward goals and step-by-step changes that fit daily life. Her approach pays attention to how family of origin, cultural background, and experiences of prejudice can shape feelings and behavior.
She also addresses issues such as codependency, infidelity, domestic violence impacts, and substance use problems with focused problem-solving and planning. The first sessions typically clarify priorities and set realistic steps forward.
Shirley works to create an open, nonjudgmental space where thoughts and feelings can be shared. She invites people to take small, concrete steps and checks in about progress along the way.
How evidence-based approaches work online
Shirley uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques that focus on practical change. One approach emphasizes structured problem-solving and goal setting to address addictive behaviors and patterns of acting out. This helps people break down big problems into small steps and track progress over time. Another approach targets mood and anxiety symptoms with skills for managing stress and changing unhelpful thinking. Those skills are useful for depression, bipolar mood shifts, and day-to-day anxiety.Choosing the right approach is collaborative. Shirley will talk with each person about their goals, preferences, and what has or hasn’t helped before. Together they decide which techniques to try and adjust the plan as progress is made.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to meet. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and visual cues. Phone sessions can fit into a short break or work better when bandwidth is limited. Live chat and text-based messaging make it possible to check in between sessions or use shorter, focused exchanges. These options make it easier to keep therapy consistent while fitting into a busy life.
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also works with
- Antisocial personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating disorders
- Family of origin issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- LGBT
- Multicultural concerns
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Self esteem
- Stress, Anxiety
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Experience
- 44 years
- Licensed
- Tennessee
- Languages
- English