Meet Dr. Shepard
(Photo credit: Sarah Featherstone)
I'm grateful you've come to my professional website. I chose to enter the field of professional counseling with the goal of easing the suffering and promoting the well-being of individuals and families who have historically had limited access to quality mental healthcare. I have worked with individuals, couples, and families who represent the prism of humanity, and much of my work has been aimed at ensuring that barriers to service are reduced or eliminated.
I have practiced in a variety of settings, from community-based and interdisciplinary clinics to on-campus college student counseling centers. I approach my work through the lens of Attachment Theory.
Pictured to the left are my partner Nicki (m. 2007) and our children Emily and Alice, who we welcomed in the summers of 2016 and 2018, respectively.
Graduate
Education
Ph.D. • James Madison University (Harrisonburg, VA)
Counseling and Supervision
•
M.A. • Reformed Theological Seminary
(Jackson, MS)
Marriage and Family Therapy
and Counseling
Professional
Memberships
American Counseling Association (ACA).
Divisions: Society for Affectional, Intersex, and Gender Expansive Identities (SAIGE), International Association for Marriage and Family Counseling (IAMFC), Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES).
•
Virginia Counseling Association (VCA).
Chapter: Central Valley Counselors Association (CVCA, past president).
Divisions: Virginia Association for Couples and Family Counseling (VACFC, past president), Virginia Association for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues in Counseling (VA-ALGBTIC), and Virginia Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (VACES).
Professional Licenses
& Certifications
National Certified Counselor (NCC): 1024237
•
Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC): Virginia No. 0701005604
Scholarship: Selected Publications
Shepard, C. F., Green, D. A., Fleitas, K. M., & Sturm, D. C. (2021). Informing consent: A grounded theory study of parents of transgender and gender-diverse youth seeking gender-confirming endocrinological interventions. The Professional Counselor, 11(4), 440-458. https://doi.org/10.15241/cfs.11.4.440
Fleitas, K. M.; Staton, A. R.; & Shepard, C. F. (2022). Counselor education pedagogy for affirmative and inclusive school counselors: Meeting the needs of LGBTQIA+ students. In S. Brant-Rajahn, et al (Eds.), Developing, delivering, and sustaining school counseling practices through a culturally affirming lens (pp. 294-321). IGI Global.