Provider / Shanelle Ford MA LAPC

When life feels heavy and daily pressures become overwhelming, finding the path back to yourself can feel out of reach. Shanelle provides a grounded, heart-centered space to untangle that weight and prioritize your mental health. As a Licensed Associate Professional Counselor, Shanelle offers care that respects the unique stage of life you are in, supporting adolescents and adults facing anxiety, relational stress and moments when the “volume” of your emotions feels turned up too high.

With a diverse clinical background, Shanelle brings an empathetic, strengths-based approach, offering insight and practical tools to manage your most challenging days. She believes real change hinges on an authentic, collaborative, shame-free relationship, while always leaving room for a dose of humor because sometimes laughter is exactly what the soul needs.

Support for Teens and Students Shanelle’s experience in high school outpatient therapy has equipped her to support teens through social anxiety, self-esteem, social dynamics, and the unseen strain of academic burnout. She is particularly skilled in helping teens manage the transitional stress of divorce and the complexities of moving through two-home environments, and the unique adjustments inherent in blended or stepfamily dynamics. Shanelle provides a safe space to process these shifts and reclaim personal agency.

Life Transitions and Systemic Support Shanelle walks with clients through the transitions that redefine daily lives and family dynamics. If you are navigating a divorce, a job loss, or the end of a long-held role, she will be a steady presence through the emotional fatigue of major life transitions. Additionally, she offers a supportive space for the partners and parents within neuro-diverse (ADHD) relational and family systems focusing on building practical communication tools, sustainable rhythms, and reclaiming balance.

Grief, Loss, & Caregiving Shanelle has a special interest in helping individuals navigate the wide lens of grief and loss, honoring traditional bereavement as well as ambiguous loss—the grief that comes with medical diagnoses, caretaker fatigue, or the "living grief" of watching a loved one change. Sensitive to the lingering impact of these transitions, she honors the grief of losing a loved one, a life stage, or a beloved pet. Through meaning-making, she serves as a supportive guide in integrating these experiences into a new, hopeful chapter.

Inclusive Care Shanelle is deeply committed to providing BIPOC-affirming care and addressing the complexities of minority stress with compassion. Therapy must be tailored to the client’s lived experience and cultural background. Her practice is a soft landing where individuals from all walks of life feel seen, honored, and supported during their most vulnerable moments.

Therapeutic Approach and Evidence-Based Frameworks

• CBT & DBT: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy

• Future-Focused Support: Solution-Focused Therapy (SFBT)

• Relational & Depth Work: Person-Centered, Psychodynamic

• Inclusive Practice: BIPOC-affirming and LGBTQIA+ inclusive care.

Education

• Eastern University: MA Clinical Psychology and Counseling

• Rutgers University: BS Business Management

Languages: English

Our mission is to provide the most up-to-date, research-driven mental health care to our communities. We offer comprehensive treatment across the lifespan, including psychiatric medication management, therapy, and interventional psychiatry services such as Spravato (esketamine) and TMS.  Options for virtual and in-person care available in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.   Contact us to learn more about how we can help.