Dr. Shawanda Woods-Smith

Dr. Shawanda Woods-Smith greets people with a calm, direct approach. She is a licensed psychologist in Louisiana with over 16 years of experience helping people facing stress, anxiety, depression, grief, relationship strain, and life transitions. She writes plain, practical guidance and aims to make sessions feel clear and useful from the start.

Dr. Woods-Smith uses a mix of approaches to fit each person’s needs. She draws on client-centered work to make space for what matters to the person. She uses cognitive behavioral techniques to identify and change unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns. Mindfulness and solution-focused ideas help set manageable goals and practice noticing the present moment.

Her background includes long-term clinical work in a range of settings and with varied concerns. She offers psychoeducation about how development, biology, and social factors connect to current struggles. That can help people understand why they feel stuck and what practical steps might help.

Sessions are collaborative and aimed at clear goals. Dr. Woods-Smith aims to outline a focused plan and adjust it as people progress. She emphasizes skill-building, communication strategies, and coping tools that can be used between sessions.

She also works with topics such as caregiver stress, blended family issues, hospice and end-of-life counseling, immigration-related stress, and challenges around intimacy and commitment. People who want straightforward, goal-minded support often find this approach helpful.

How her approaches translate to online therapy

Client-centered therapy focuses on listening and responding to what matters most to the person. The therapist encourages people to lead the conversation, and then helps reflect back what is useful. This approach supports people who need emotional space and validation.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) helps identify patterns of thought and behavior that cause distress and then tries small experiments to change them. CBT is often used for anxiety, depression, and coping with life changes because it breaks problems into manageable steps.

Mindfulness techniques teach simple practices for noticing thoughts and bodily sensations without getting pulled into them. Those practices can help with stress, grief, and chronic worry by widening what a person notices in day-to-day life.

Finding the right mix of methods is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with the person to choose approaches that match their goals, values, and comfort level. She adjusts methods as progress is made so sessions stay relevant and practical.

Specific session formats are not listed here, so confirm current options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy week, reduce travel time, support shorter check-ins when needed, and allow people to work on skills from familiar surroundings while staying focused on goals.