About Dr. Shumaker

For more than two decades, I have had the privilege of helping children, adolescents, adults, and couples navigate challenges, better understand themselves and their relationships, and create meaningful change in their lives.

I am a licensed psychologist and health care provider in Massachusetts, where I have practiced since 2004 with my private practice office located in Norwell, MA. My approach to therapy combines evidence-based clinical practice with an existential-integrative perspective—recognizing that effective therapy involves not only addressing symptoms and immediate concerns, but understanding the whole person, including their experiences, relationships, values, and sense of meaning and purpose.

Alongside my clinical practice, I am a tenured Professor of Psychology at Suffolk University in Boston, where I direct the Master's Program in Mental Health Counseling. I am also an author and researcher whose work in psychotherapy has been published in peer-reviewed professional journals and in book form. My years as a clinician, educator, researcher, and author continually inform my work with clients, while my private practice remains grounded in something much simpler: providing thoughtful, individualized care and a genuine therapeutic relationship.

My clinical and scholarly interests include existential-integrative psychotherapy and working with children and families navigating separation, divorce, and high-conflict parenting. My published work includes a book on existential-integrative therapy as well as research appearing in journals including The Humanistic Psychologist, Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, and Person-Centered & Experiential Therapies.

At the heart of my work is the belief that therapy should never feel one-size-fits-all. I work collaboratively with each client, drawing upon clinical research, professional experience, and an understanding of the individual to create an approach that is responsive to where they are and where they hope to go.

Clinical Experience & Professional Scholarship

Licensed Psychologist & Health Care Provider, Massachusetts
Tenured Professor of Psychology, Suffolk University
Director, Master's Program in Mental Health Counseling
Author, Existential-Integrative Approaches to Treating Adolescents
Published author in peer-reviewed journals, including The Humanistic Psychologist, Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, and Person-Centered & Experiential Therapies

B.A. Harvard University, 1993

Ph.D. Clinical-Community Psychology, University of South Carolina, 2002

Post-Doctoral Fellowship Mass General Hospital/Harvard Medical, 2003