Shahna Duerksen

Is your cup feeling empty?

I'm Shahna Duerksen, M.A., LMFT, a California-licensed Marriage and Family Therapist providing therapy exclusively to women 18+ through California telehealth and in-person sessions in Fresno.

I work with women who spend much of their lives pouring into others and may eventually feel overwhelmed, anxious, burned out, disconnected, or unsure of who they are beyond their responsibilities. Sometimes everyone else is receiving our time, energy, and care while our own cups are running low.

I especially enjoy helping women navigate adult ADHD symptoms, anxiety, depression, people-pleasing, boundaries, relationship distress, betrayal trauma related to infidelity or problematic sexual behaviors in a partner, identity and life transitions, and family or cultural expectations.

I also support therapists and mental health professionals—from those in training to experienced clinicians—who are navigating burnout, compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, professional boundaries, self-care, and the emotional demands of caring for others.

Another meaningful part of my work is supporting women navigating life between cultures, including South Asian and Indian women balancing their own needs and identity with family, cultural, spiritual, or relational expectations. Finding room for yourself doesn't have to mean abandoning the people or values that matter to you.

I earned my M.A. in Intercultural Studies and M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Fresno Pacific University. My education and professional experience inform my interest in culturally responsive care and the ways culture, family, relationships, and life experiences shape how we understand ourselves.

And yes—funny, polite sarcasm and humor are fluently spoken. I also speak very basic conversational Hindi.

My approach to therapy is warm, welcoming, collaborative, trauma-informed, culturally responsive and with a slight touch of Southern humour thrown in. I believe therapy should be a space where you can pause, take a breath, and begin paying attention to your own cup—not just everyone else's.

I don't see myself as the expert on you; you are the expert on your own life. My role is to walk "with" you, collaboratively alongside of you and bring clinical knowledge, perspective, curiosity, and practical tools while we work together toward what matters to you.

I use an integrative approach drawing from evidence-informed practices, including psychoeducation, mindfulness, attachment, psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and family-systems perspectives. Depending on your needs and goals, we may explore emotional regulation, coping skills, relationship patterns, boundaries, self-understanding, cultural or family expectations, and practical strategies for managing ADHD-related challenges.

We may also explore what has been draining your cup, what has made it difficult to refill, and what sustainable care and meaningful change could look like in your actual life.

When meaningful to you, therapy can include practices such as mindfulness, meditation, breathwork, spirituality, or other sources of grounding and connection that are already part of your life. Your existing values, wisdom, and practices can be part of the work rather than something you have to set aside.

My goal is for you to feel seen, heard, supported, and safe while also having a space where you can be honest, curious, laugh, cry and be your self. Together, we will identify your priorities and break larger goals into small, manageable steps that help you move toward a fuller, more sustainable life.

Your first session is an opportunity for us to get to know one another and determine whether we feel like a good fit. We'll talk about what brought you to therapy, what has been happening in your life, what has been taking up space in your cup, and what you hope might begin to change.

I'll ask questions about your current concerns, relationships, history, strengths, and the factors that may be contributing to what you're experiencing. We may also explore the responsibilities, expectations, relationships, or patterns that have left you feeling depleted.

You don't need to have everything figured out or know exactly what you need from therapy before we meet. You can simply begin where you are.

Together, we'll start identifying your priorities and, when appropriate, develop some initial goals. We may consider what it would mean to refill your cup in realistic ways, strengthen your support system, establish healthier boundaries, improve coping, or reconnect with parts of yourself that may have been placed on hold.

I want you to leave your first session with a clearer sense of, “This is a place where I can talk about what I'm really experiencing.”

Therapy isn't about telling you to pour from a fuller cup perfectly—or suggesting that self-care is always simple. It's about creating space to understand yourself, your patterns, your relationships, and what matters to you, and then deciding together what can be changed, strengthened, released, or made room for. (As of Sept. 2026 I"m transitioning to accepting only private pay clients and no longer accepting insurances for new clients. Please contact me directly for more details: Email: [email protected]).