Clinical Approach

Allison Shiffler (She/Her) is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and specializes in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) and also includes a variety of theories such as feminist theory and psychoanalytic theory. As a social worker, Allison believes that navigating therapeutic healing is not specific to modality, but must include intersectional clinical approaches for the consideration of social constructs and mental health impacts of systemic issues.

Academic Background

In 2017, Allison earned her Masters of Social Work from Columbia University in the city of New York and graduated in the concentration of Advanced Clinical Social Work Practice. While at Columbia, Allison's MSW program emphasized the promotion of social & economic justice for populations at risk, clinically practicing with diverse populations, and evaluating practice outcomes. 

Social Work Background

Among Allison’s diverse experience she has worked as a social advocate for teenage girls as a social advocate with adolescent girls in in-patient recovery. During Allison’s clinical internship at Columbia University she worked at the Cohen Veteran Network as an individual therapist for the Veteran community.

Allison also has experience as a victim’s advocate, working for the children’s justice center with child survivors of sexual abuse.

Allison worked for three years as a forensic therapist for the State of Utah. Specializing in severe and persistent mental illness.

She supports sex positive education, finds value and relevance in feminist theory, and is an LGBTQ informed therapist. She welcomes people of all sexual orientations and is passionate about offering a safe space as a Utah Clinician. 

Allison is passionate about helping religious clients navigate their own safety & trajectory within their religion and/or belief system. Allison is also skilled in her individual approach to faith transitions and in helping clients navigate the deconstruction of shame-based beliefs, implementing healthy boundaries with family members, and the empowerment that aligns with this life changing transition.

Allison's approach to therapy serves the purpose of helping her clients in navigating their own experience by building a foundation of safety, recovery, and ultimately, empowerment. She believes that therapy is for everyone and that finding the right therapist is key for progress and recovery. Our lives are full of emotionally traumatizing experiences relating to family, rejection, shame, self hatred, regret, breakups, divorce, difficulty with parenting, grief & loss, transitioning beliefs, and many other aspects of unprocessed and undisclosed pain.

Allison believes that therapy must be a supportive environment for everyone who commits to growth, no matter their values, religion, preferred & identifying gender, sexual orientation, race, and/or ethnicity. Her CBT practice and focus includes Depression & Anxiety, Complicated Grief, Trauma-Focused, Faith Transition, and LGBTQ informed and she believes that therapy (with the right therapist) does work and that acceptance, peace, and recovery is possible, even in the most painful of circumstances.