Sharmaine Whitten, LMFT
California · 5 years in practice
Sharmaine Whitten is a California-licensed marriage and family therapist who helps people manage stress, anxiety, grief, and depression.
License and registration
- LMFT, California
- 140164 · expires June 2027
- NPI
- 1134681828 · national provider identifier
- Years in practice
- 5
- Languages
- English
Details are as listed on the therapist's public professional profile. You can check the license with the issuing state board, and the NPI with the national registry.
About Sharmaine
Sharmaine Whitten is a California-licensed marriage and family therapist who helps people manage stress, anxiety, grief, and depression. She focuses on practical steps that make day-to-day life feel more manageable. Sharmaine emphasizes respect, sensitivity, and steady support as people work toward clearer goals.
She shapes sessions to each person’s needs rather than using one fixed plan. Conversations aim to identify what matters most, reduce intense feelings, and find small, doable changes.
Background and approach
Sharmaine draws on Emotionally-Focused Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to guide those conversations. Clients often talk about relationship strain, communication problems, and life transitions such as divorce or childbirth. Sharmaine helps people sort through guilt, shame, and questions about life purpose while building routines that ease panic and overwhelm.
Her approach balances emotional understanding with hands-on coping strategies. Over five years of practice, she has focused on creating a respectful and compassionate space for people to be honest about what’s hard. Sessions can include short-term problem solving or deeper work on repeated patterns that cause distress.
The goal is clearer thinking and better day-to-day functioning. Sharmaine works in California and conducts therapy in English. She tailors each plan to a person’s goals and pace, helping them take practical steps toward feeling more capable and connected.
Focus areas and approaches
Everything Sharmaine lists on their public professional profile, in their own terms.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Grief
- Depression
- Coping with life changes
- Communication problems
- Divorce and separation
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Life purpose
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Self-love
Approaches Sharmaine names
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Gottman Method
- Solution-Focused Therapy
Naming an approach is not evidence of training in it. This directory copies what each therapist lists and does not check training records.
Online support
How therapy approaches translate to online sessions
Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) focuses on understanding and working with emotions in the therapy session. It helps people notice patterns of emotional interaction and identifies what is needed to feel safer and more connected in relationships and personal life.Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) teaches people how to accept difficult thoughts and feelings while committing to actions that match their values. It is useful when stress, anxiety, or life changes get in the way of everyday goals.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and helps people test and change unhelpful thinking. This approach can reduce panic symptoms, ease depression, and improve coping skills.
Sharmaine treats finding the right approach as a joint process. She works with each person to decide whether emotion-focused work, acceptance strategies, or skills-based CBT - or a mix of these - best fits their goals and circumstances. This collaborative planning happens in early sessions and is revisited as progress is made.
Online therapy offers flexibility with several formats: video calls for face-to-face conversation, phone sessions when bandwidth or movement is easier, live chat for short check-ins, and text messaging for ongoing support between sessions. These options make it simpler to fit therapy into a busy schedule, keep consistent momentum, and use brief check-ins when full sessions are not possible.
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Questions people ask
What concerns does Sharmaine help with?
She helps people manage stress, anxiety, grief, depression, and coping with life changes, plus related issues like communication problems and panic attacks.
What is her therapy style like?
Sessions are collaborative and practical with emotional focus. She blends emotion-focused work with CBT and ACT to address feelings and behavior.
How much clinical experience does she have?
She has five years of professional experience providing therapy in clinical settings and independent practice.
What credentials and region apply to her practice?
She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, LMFT, practicing in California.
Which languages are supported for sessions?
Sessions are offered in English.
Can international clients work with her?
She does not accept international clients at this time.
What session formats are available?
Therapy is offered via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to fit different needs.
How are fees and getting started handled?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability and uses a subscription model that can be canceled at any time. To begin, select the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule according to availability.
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