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LCSW

Shellby Custer, LCSW

  • Experience23 years
  • LocationPennsylvania
  • Focus areasStress and Anxiety, Trauma and abuse, and Self esteem
  • Therapy approachesInternal Family Systems and Attachment-Based Therapy
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About Shellby

Shellby Custer is a licensed clinical social worker in Pennsylvania who draws on 23 years of clinical experience to guide people through emotional challenges and life transitions.

Background and approach

She integrates Internal Family Systems with evidence-based techniques to help clients explore internal parts, address patterns rooted in attachment, and develop practical tools for mood regulation and coping. Her practice emphasizes respectful curiosity and steady support as clients work through grief, trauma, anxiety, depression, and related concerns.

Shellby brings a broad lens to complex presentations, combining cognitive and narrative strategies with mindfulness and motivational approaches to tailor treatment plans to each person’s needs. She attends to issues such as self-esteem, addiction, relationship struggles, chronic pain and illness, and career or identity shifts, helping clients address both immediate symptoms and underlying relational or developmental wounds.

With attention to shame, isolation, and family-of-origin patterns, her work supports rebuilding resilience and finding renewed purpose. Sessions focus on collaborative exploration and skill building, whether the goal is processing past injuries, managing mood disorders, or strengthening daily coping practices.

Shellby holds the LCSW credential, and she frames therapy as a process of discovery and growth paced to each client’s readiness and goals.

Integrating Parts Work and Practical Skills Online

Internal Family Systems helps clients identify and communicate with the different internal parts that shape feelings and behavior, making it useful for trauma, shame, and self-criticism. Attachment-Based Therapy focuses on how early relational patterns influence current connections and emotional responses, which can help with trust, intimacy, and family-of-origin issues. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy offers structured ways to notice and shift unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, supporting mood regulation and coping in daily life.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will work with each client to explore which combination of parts work, attachment perspectives, and skills-based strategies best matches their goals, needs, and preferences, adjusting methods over time as progress unfolds.

Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to increase flexibility for people balancing work, family, or health needs. These formats make it easier to maintain continuity of care and to practice strategies between sessions, while allowing clients to choose the communication style that feels most accessible and effective for them.

Frequently asked questions

What concerns does this therapist address?
Areas of focus include stress, anxiety, depression, trauma and abuse, self-esteem challenges, relationship and family issues, grief, addictions, and coping with life changes.
How would you describe the therapeutic style?
The approach blends Internal Family Systems with attachment-based thinking, mindfulness, CBT, narrative methods, and motivational interviewing to combine exploratory work with concrete coping strategies.
What is the clinician's background and experience?
The therapist has 23 years of clinical experience working with a wide range of mood, trauma, and relational concerns and applies integrative methods drawn from several therapeutic traditions.
What are the therapist's credentials and practice location?
Shellby Custer holds an LCSW and practices in Pennsylvania; license details are PA LCSW CW018289.
Are sessions available in other languages or to international clients?
Sessions are offered in English and the therapist is not currently accepting international clients.
Which session formats are offered for online work?
Clients can work through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging depending on preference and availability.
How is pricing handled for sessions?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions are provided through a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
What is the process to begin working together?
To start, select the Start Therapy button, complete a brief matching questionnaire, and schedule sessions according to the therapist's availability.

Areas of expertise

Primary focus

Stress, AnxietyTrauma and abuseSelf esteemDepressionCoping with life changes

Also works with

AddictionsRelationship issuesFamily conflictsGriefIntimacy-related issuesSleeping disordersParenting issuesAnger managementCareer difficultiesBipolar disorderCoachingCompassion fatigueADHD

Additional focus areas

AbandonmentAttachment issuesChronic pain, illness, and disabilityEmptinessFamily of origin issuesForgivenessGuilt and shameIsolation / lonelinessLife purposeMood disordersPersonality disordersPost-traumatic stressSeasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)Self-loveSexual assault and abuseSocial anxiety and phobiaWomen's issuesYoung adult issues

Therapeutic approaches

Attachment-Based TherapyCognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)Mindfulness TherapyMotivational InterviewingNarrative TherapyPsychodynamic TherapySolution-Focused TherapyTrauma-Focused TherapyInternal Family Systems

Experience

23+ years

Licensed

Pennsylvania

Languages

English