Hi! I'm Shelby Prendes.
(she/her/hers)
I'm a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), Certified Body Trust® Specialist, and the owner of Embodied Self Counseling. I'm truly honored to be considered for a role in your story.
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I'm so very passionate about body trust and self-compassion because I, like so many others, have also lived (and suffered) without it. I spent so much time in painful relationships with food, with my own body, and with myself before finding the concepts that I now embrace and embody in my work as a therapist. My own body story includes decades of trying to take up less space. Now, I am so grateful for the privilege of guiding and supporting others back to safety, comfort, flexibility, freedom, and peace with themselves.
So, why Embodied Self?
Being embodied means to be present and connected with the body you inhabit. To listen to its communications, signals, rhythms, flows, and truths - and to honor and respect them. To feel at home with your body.
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We are born with this trusting relationship with our bodies. We are able to ask for our needs to be met from the moment we arrive, no judgment, no "should"s. But individual and cultural experiences disrupt the awareness and attunement that was once natural and inherent. We learn we should have fewer needs, take up less space, deny ourselves. We learn we should rank and label bodies based on appearances or abilities. We get sucked into objectification and disembodiment.
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Some therapy approaches focus mostly on the cognitive stuff - your thoughts, your beliefs, your perspectives, etc. These things matter, and we will talk about them, but sometimes these approaches alone can leave your body and the rest of your nervous system out of the equation. Being your embodied self means acknowledging that you are not just a brain - your body, and your relationship with it, is an incredibly important part of how you experience the world. Happiness may be a lightness in your chest, a pleasant buzzing in your limbs, a swoop in your stomach. Sadness can be a crushing weight, a fatigue in your very bones, a slowness. Anger and anxiety can have an energy, an urgency. You can get a bad feeling in your stomach and change course. You can feel a warm sense of comfort with someone and decide to invest more deeply in the relationship. When we wind up disconnected from our embodied experiences, as so many of us do, we miss out on so much.
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The good news here is that the relationship with your body that you were born with is yours to reclaim.
So, let's work together to return you to your embodied self. I'd love to help facilitate such a homecoming.
About me
On those silly "are you right-brained or left-brained?" type quizzes, I have always gotten pretty even scores for both, and I think this is a big reason I so enjoy working as a therapist. Therapy is both an art and a science, a blend. Similarly, I am intuitive, sensitive, relational, and emotional, and I am thoughtful, intentional, logical, and rational. My favorite subjects in school were math and music/theater. With therapy, there is so much research and evidence behind various approaches that can help, and why, and how (science, left-brain). And yet, the research ultimately shows that the most important aspect of therapy, with the largest impact on outcomes, is the relationship (art, right-brain).
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I am deeply invested in building a relational foundation of trust and safety with my clients so we can do this vulnerable and often challenging work together. My goal is to make each one of my clients feel empowered and cared for. This is why I take a modern, humanistic approach. Talking to a therapist is different than talking to a friend or family member, but in many ways I hope for it to feel just as natural and comfortable to be in conversation with me. I want you to feel safe showing up as all of you. There is nothing you need to be "for" me but yourself.
I show up to session as myself as well. Myself as a therapist, but myself! What can you expect with authentic Shelby? Well, we will likely do some laughing together, and maybe some crying too. You will probably hear me curse sometimes, and you will almost certainly hear me rage about the various systems and -isms that cause so much harm and just generally really suck. I will get curious with you, ask questions, and invite you to do some detective work with me. Once we're comfortable, you can expect some gentle feedback, or maybe just an eyebrow raise here and there. If you would like, we can even chat a little about things we both enjoy, like shows or books - but don't worry, I'll make sure we stay on track.
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Speaking of things we enjoy - my rest, play, and self-care time is super important to me. Some things I enjoy include going to the movies or the theater, supporting Tampa Bay Lightning hockey, playing cozy video games, reading, collecting rocks and crystals, and otherwise hanging out with my spouse and my dog, Bagel. I do love routine, being a bit of a homebody, and re-watching comfort shows and movies. But I also love to travel, to try new foods, and especially to learn new things. We all contain multitudes.
My own therapy is also a huge part of my self-care. I know what it is like to sit in the client chair, and to challenge myself to say and hear and do things that are hard, but that I also know will help.
If you want to know my Myers-Briggs, my enneagram, my zodiac sign, or anything else, feel free to ask! Just know I'll ask you right back.​
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If you haven't already, be sure to read about my specialties and my approaches to therapy.
Contact
If it sounds like I might be the right fit for you, please reach out. I'd love to connect!