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Find Peace When Everything Feels Overwhelming

Do any of these resonate with you?

  • You're anxious all the time and can't seem to turn your brain off

  • You feel stuck between who you're expected to be and who you actually are

  • You and your partner love each other but can't stop fighting

  • You have thoughts that won't stop, no matter how hard you try to push them away

  • You're the "successful" one in your family but feel guilty, isolated, or like you don't belong

  • You're worn down from code-switching, explaining, or hiding parts of yourself

If so, we're here to help.

Free 10 Minute Consultation
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I'm a compassionate and experienced therapist

Hello, I'm Shalin Carter

I specialize in helping people who feel anxious, misunderstood, stuck, or caught between expectations and who they really are.

My approach is warm and collaborative, focused on understanding your unique experiences and providing the tools you need to move forward.

My personal experience as a biracial woman and the daughter of someone failed by mental health care allows me to support you with deep understanding and empathy.

Free 10 Minute Consultation

Serving clients in Herndon, VA, Bethesda, MD
& Online across DC, MD, VA

Therapy Offerings

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Couples Therapy

Couples therapy helps you reconnect, communicate without constant conflict, and feel like a team again.

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Individual Therapy

Individual therapy gives you space to talk about what's really going on and find ways to move forward that feel right for you.

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OCD Therapy

OCD therapy using ERP and ICBT gives you specialized treatment designed specifically for OCD, not generic anxiety advice.

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Grow Your Confidence (and Your Practice)

services for therapists

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Supervision & Consultation For Therapists

You're a pre-licensed therapist that is looking to genuinely hone your skills and become the therapist you want to be, not just slog through getting your required hours. You’re gaining clinical experience but sometimes wonder if you're doing it right.

Or maybe you're a licensed clinician who feels stuck and needs a fresh perspective. Clinical supervision and case consultation help you develop critical thinking skills, grow your confidence, and become the therapist you want to be.

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Active Allyship Cohort

This 8-week clinical consultation community is designed to help therapists move beyond learning about cultural responsiveness and begin actively integrating cultural humility, intersectionality, and anti-oppressive practice into their clinical work with multiracial, biracial and BIPOC clients.

You don't have to arrive knowing all the right things to say. You do need to arrive willing to be curious, accountable, challenged, and changed by what you learn. The next 8-week cohort begins January 19, 2027.

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What Makes Us Different

Three reasons you may want to work with us

We are real. We will absolutely NOT underestimate the significance of the realities of life in therapy.

We use an approach that marries attuned presence, genuine reflection, universal positive regard, acknowledgement of circumstances and social justice in the therapy room. Always.

1. We Help People Who Feel Stuck or Overwhelmed

Whether you're navigating life transitions, family expectations that don't align with who you are, racial trauma, or OCD that's been misdiagnosed, we create space for you to be fully yourself. We use specialized training and lived experience to help you feel truly understood.

2. We Use Evidence-Based, Specialized Approaches

We're trained in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) for couples, Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and Inference-Based CBT (ICBT) for OCD, and trauma-informed care. These aren't generic techniques. They're proven approaches designed specifically for what you're going through.

3. We Won't Give You Generic Advice That Doesn't Fit Your Life

We won't tell you to "just think positive" or give you pop psych tips. Instead, we'll work together to understand what's really going on beneath the surface and help you make decisions that align with who you actually are, not who everyone expects you to be.

Let’s Get Started

Start Finding the Peace You've Been Looking For

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It's exhausting to be overwhelmed and not know where to get support.

It's possible to feel calm, to communicate without constant friction, to stop beating yourself up and start living. That journey begins with a conversation where you don't have to hold back or explain (you can just be).

Free 10 Minute Consultation