Maybe you have been holding everything together for a long time, but something still feels heavy.

You may be dealing with anxiety, grief, trauma, chronic stress, relationship challenges, or a difficult life transition. You may understand why you feel the way you do but still cannot seem to move past it. You are functioning, but you do not feel like yourself. You are ready for a place where you can slow down, understand what is happening beneath the surface, and begin moving forward.

Or maybe you are concerned about your preteen or teenager.

Your child may be anxious, withdrawn, overwhelmed, angry, struggling at school, or having difficulty managing emotions. You want to help, but you are not sure what is typical for this stage and what may require additional support. The tension may also be affecting your entire family, leaving everyone feeling disconnected or unsure how to communicate.

Whether you are seeking counseling for yourself, your child, or your family, you do not have to navigate this season alone.

Meet Sha Wortman, LPC

Hi, I’m Sha.

I am a Licensed Professional Counselor providing individual, preteen, teen, and family counseling in Birmingham, Alabama. I also offer online counseling to clients throughout Alabama and Georgia.

For more than 20 years, I have helped people of different ages move through anxiety, grief, trauma, emotional overwhelm, family challenges, and major life transitions. I work with adults, preteens, teenagers, parents, and families who feel stuck and want support finding a healthier way forward.

Although I have extensive experience working with adolescents and their families, my work is not limited to young people. I also enjoy working with adults who have spent years taking care of everyone else, carrying painful experiences, or pushing through difficult seasons without having the space to care for themselves.

My background includes school counseling, private practice, and clinical services for high-risk students. These experiences have helped me understand the ways that personal struggles, family relationships, school pressures, past experiences, and life transitions can affect people at every stage of life.

My goal is to create a calm and welcoming space where you can take a deep breath, lower your guard, and know that your story matters. My counseling style is relational, faith-based, and grounded in both clinical training and real-life experience. I use compassion freely, curiosity always, and humor when it helps clients feel more at ease.

Counseling for Adults Who Feel Stuck

You do not need to be in crisis to benefit from counseling.

Sometimes you simply recognize that the ways you have learned to cope are no longer working. You may be carrying anxiety, unresolved grief, painful relationship experiences, family-of-origin wounds, or memories that still shape how you see yourself and relate to others.

You may look capable on the outside while feeling exhausted or overwhelmed internally. Perhaps you have spent so much time caring for your family, meeting expectations, or managing responsibilities that you are no longer sure what you need.

In individual counseling, I help adults:

• Understand anxiety and emotional overwhelm

• Process grief, loss, and difficult transitions

• Heal from trauma and painful past experiences

• Recognize patterns that keep them feeling stuck

• Develop healthier boundaries and coping skills

• Strengthen their sense of identity and self-worth

• Respond to present-day situations without being controlled by the past

• Explore spirituality, faith, and spiritual growth in a way that honors their beliefs

• Navigate the emotional demands of caring for a loved one with a chronic illness

Together, we will look beyond the immediate symptoms and explore the experiences, beliefs, and patterns underneath them. The goal is not simply to help you manage better. It is to help you experience meaningful healing and lasting change.

EMDR Therapy for Adults and Teens

I am an EMDR Trained Clinician currently pursuing certification, and I enjoy helping clients process experiences that continue to affect how they feel, react, or see themselves.

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is an evidence-based therapy approach that helps the brain process distressing experiences that may still feel emotionally unfinished or “stuck.”

EMDR therapy may be helpful for adults and teens experiencing:

• Trauma or painful past experiences

• Anxiety and chronic stress

• Grief and loss

• Negative beliefs about themselves

• Difficult relationship experiences

• Strong emotional reactions or triggers

• Experiences they understand intellectually but cannot seem to move beyond emotionally

One aspect of EMDR that many clients appreciate is that they do not have to describe every detail of a painful experience for healing to occur. We will carefully determine whether EMDR is appropriate for you and move at a pace that feels safe and manageable.

Want to understand more about how EMDR works? Read our blog, “What Is EMDR Therapy? How EMDR Helps Your Brain Process What Happened.”

Counseling for Preteens and Teenagers

The preteen and teenage years bring tremendous emotional, relational, social, and academic changes. Young people are trying to understand themselves while also navigating friendships, family expectations, school pressure, changing bodies, and an increasingly complicated world.

Sometimes those demands become overwhelming.

Your preteen or teen may be struggling with:

• Anxiety or excessive worry

• Anger and emotional outbursts

• Withdrawal or isolation

• Grief or a difficult family transition

• School stress and performance pressure

• Executive functioning challenges

• ADHD-related difficulties

• Friendship or peer concerns

• Low self-esteem

• Identity development

• Trauma or distressing experiences

• Difficulty communicating with parents

I have worked with hundreds of preteens and teenagers throughout my career. I understand how important it is for adolescents to have a counselor who takes them seriously without making them feel judged, lectured, or treated like a problem that needs to be fixed.

I work to build a genuine relationship with each young person while helping them understand their emotions, develop practical coping skills, communicate more effectively, and feel more confident in who they are.

Looking for practical ways to support your preteen or teen at school? Read our blog, “Back to School Reset: Simple Habits to Support Your Semester.”

Support for Parents and Families

When one person is struggling, the entire family often feels it.

Parents may feel worried, helpless, frustrated, or unsure whether they are responding in the right way. Repeated conflict can leave family members feeling misunderstood and disconnected, even when everyone genuinely wants things to improve.

Because of my extensive experience working with young people and parents, I can help families better understand what is happening beneath the behavior. When appropriate, I involve parents or other family members in the counseling process so that the progress made in therapy can be supported at home.

Family counseling and parent support may focus on:

• Improving communication

• Reducing recurring conflict

• Understanding a child’s emotional or developmental needs

• Responding more effectively to anxiety, anger, or withdrawal

• Navigating changes within the family

• Strengthening trust and connection

• Creating healthier patterns at home

My role is not to assign blame or decide who is right. It is to help family members understand one another more clearly and begin relating in healthier, more connected ways.

What It Is Like to Work With Me

When you come into my office, you will sit with someone who genuinely wants to understand you.

I take time to hear your story, not just the symptoms. We will explore the experiences, relationships, beliefs, and patterns that have contributed to where you are today. Whether I am working with an adult, a teenager, a preteen, or an entire family, I help clients name what they are experiencing and identify what may be keeping them stuck.

Counseling with me is compassionate and reflective, but it is also practical. You will leave sessions with a deeper understanding of what is happening beneath the surface and something meaningful to consider or practice between appointments.

You do not have to have everything figured out before beginning therapy. We can start with what feels hardest right now and work from there.

Begin Counseling With Sha in Birmingham, AL

Whether you are an adult looking for support, a parent concerned about your child, or a family struggling to reconnect, I would be honored to walk alongside you.

I offer individual counseling, EMDR therapy, preteen counseling, teen counseling, parent support, and family counseling at Sparrow Counseling in Birmingham, Alabama. Virtual counseling is also available throughout Alabama and Georgia.

Reach out to Sparrow Counseling to schedule a consultation, learn more about working with me, and take the next step toward feeling more grounded, connected, and hopeful.

Call 205-538-3978 or click here to schedule a free consult.

Read More of Sha’s Blogs:

When Your Teen’s Emotions Feel Bigger Than Ever: What to Do Next

When Anxiety Looks Like Defiance: Supporting Your Child, Preteen, or Teen Through Overwhelm

Grieving During the Holidays: How to Care for a Tender Heart

Struggling in School? How Parents Can Support a Teen Facing Academic Challenges