Bailey Shertzinger

Entering adulthood is hard...ask anyone! This is a time where you are expected to “figure out your life,” then make a huge decision about what to do next. I work primarily with teenagers in high school, college students, young adults who have recently graduated, and emerging adults transitioning into the next stage of their lives. As a former teacher and School Counselor in Pinellas County, I learned how to help students navigate post-high school transitions, including assisting with college applications. I specialize in supporting clients who are: dealing with perfectionism, experiencing anxiety, combatting depression, looking for College and Career Guidance, navigating transitions, and/or looking for support to manage ADHD symptoms.

I often pair concrete, solution-focused practices with a psychoanalytic framework. I use a developmental framework when working with clients and will implement practices that meet them where they are at. For young and emerging adults, that typically looks like helping them solve concrete problem associated with life transitions, while holding the larger process of the psyche's development in mind.

For example, if you are a young adult needing guidance with transitioning into the next phase of life, we will spend time looking at your strengths and interests to create flexible pathways toward your goals. Using the psychoanalytical framework, we will work together to help you down your path of individuation, where you connect your daily activities with a deeper purpose. Paired with a solution-focused framework, we can work on breaking down these larger goals into concrete steps, so you feel like navigating this transition is manageable.

During a first session, we will typically open with a brief breathing exercise so we can enter a contained space together. I will then spend this session getting to know your personal goals for therapy, in addition to what your strengths are. Next, I will walk through my preferred modalities of therapy, and you can tell me what resonates with you. We will then work together in a collaborative way to build a road map. We will close our session with a similar exercise to how we opened so you feel safe and contained entering back in your daily life. The most important aspect is for us to build rapport. If this is your first time in therapy, we can talk through any concerns or worries you have about the process; I am here to support you!