About Me

Serving women of color in-person in White Plains, NY, and virtually across New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Connecticut, and California.

Hi! I'm Shakira, an EMDR-trained therapist specializing in supporting women who feel overwhelmed, overlooked, or disconnected due to chronic illness, medical trauma, or a crisis of faith. I understand how difficult it is to carry pain while still showing up for everyone else — because I've lived it too.
My practice, Cheerful Heart Mental Health Counseling, was created to offer the kind of trauma-informed, EMDR-focused care that many women of color need but rarely find. A space where chronic illness is taken seriously, medical trauma is defined and treated as real trauma, and faith is welcomed rather than ignored.

Many of the women I work with are high-achieving, deeply capable, and the person everyone else leans on. They're also quietly navigating endometriosis, autoimmune conditions, or other chronic health challenges that have left them emotionally exhausted, spiritually shaken, and wondering if anyone actually sees them. EMDR therapy gives us a way to work with what the body has been holding — not just what the mind can articulate — so healing goes deeper than coping strategies alone.

In our work together, I use EMDR alongside other evidence-based approaches to help you process what's been weighing on you, reconnect with your sense of self, and move forward without always carrying the full weight of what happened to you.

I also offer EMDR group therapy for women with endometriosis and for women's health professionals experiencing vicarious trauma. These are smaller, structured spaces with 3 to 4 other people.