Ananya Shah

About

I'll admit it: therapy asks a lot. It asks you to say true things to a stranger and to trust that doing so will help. My job is to make sure that gamble pays off. Community mental health was my first professional home, and it showed me how to meet people in the middle of real, complicated lives. Many of my clients trace their struggles to a deployment; others carry childhood wounds that predate any uniform, and plenty carry both. I practice harm reduction, because in all my years I have never once seen shame make a person healthier. We go at the speed of trust, and we let that speed change as trust grows. I often hear that it felt easier to begin this work with a woman, and honestly, whatever gets you through the door is fine by me. Sessions with me feel like talking with someone who really wants to know the answer. Come find out.