About Me:

SHIRLEY JOHNSON, MFT

“The best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray.” - John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men

Hi! I am Shirley. I am a middle-aged mixed Black woman native New Yorker (Bronx & Brooklyn) therapist based in Oakland,CA and seeing clients across the state of California.

I never thought I would become a psychotherapist. I am a recovering “gifted and talented” student from the hood. I was taught to follow the rules and that would give me a good life. I followed the rules - I did well in school, got a scholarship to a private school in Manhattan, went on to an Ivy-league college, and got a job at a well known finance corporation. I lived in a nice building, had friends, went on vacations and to nice dinners. And yet I felt extremely dissatisfied and often would have deep spells of depression.

Those rules did not work for me. Those were someone else’s rules. I didn’t know what my rules were. But I did not that it was not going to work for me to try to keep following someone else’s guidelines for life.

So I set on the journey of what one may call healing to learn, study and become in touch with the me who was buried under trying to do the right things.

I completed my first 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training in India in 2010 with the hopes that I would stop suffering from low self-esteem and depression. But yoga just woke me up to feeling more emotions and my body.

I started my own personal therapy and realized that I had repressed emotions deep down in my body - anger, sadness, and disappointment. I was fine on the outside, and inside I was a ball of grief of rage.

Each day, I remember healing is a journey - it is not linear. The goal is not to be perfect or to fit into anyone else’s idea of success. Everyday is a chance to meet myself as I am and love up on her in new ways and give myself permission to grow and change.

Over the last 20 years, I have studied, practiced and explored a variety of healing modalities with teachers from around the world. I am a dedicated yoga practitioner who has also taught for the last 15 years. I have apprenticed within herbalism programs and am passionate about the natural world and it being an ally to mental health. Currently I am devoted to Tantra and journeying deeper into the sensual arts as a tool for healing.

I bring all of this into the seat of being a therapist, most importantly the experience of being human and experiencing life wildly.

A smiling woman with dark hair, wearing a white shirt, sitting outdoors with her hands crossed over her chest, in an urban environment.

Education & Experience

Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist,
CA# 114378

M.A - California Institute of Integral Studies, Integral Counseling Psychology, 2015

B.A - Brown University, Modern Culture & Media and Ethnic Studies, 2004

PSYCHOLOGY TRAININGS:
Certified Sex Therapy Training - California Institute of Integral Studies, 2021

2-Year Relational Pscyhodynamic Depth Oriented Psychotherapy Training - Women’s Therapy Center, 2014-2016

ADDITIONAL HEALING TRAININGS:
Spirital Herbalism Level 1 + 2 Training - Sacred Vibes Apothecary, 2023-2024

Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training - 10th Gate LA/ Krishna Kaur, 2015

Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training - Golden Bridge NYC/Gurmukh, 2013

Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training - Reflections Yoga NYC/Paula Tursi - 2010

“It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly then to live an imitation of somebody else's life with perfection.”

  • The Bhagavad Gita

A woman with long dark hair lying on a bed, wearing a yellow top, reading a book titled 'The Heart of Every Day' by Margaret Atwood. There are white and red roses placed on the bed next to her.

let’s connect

What is bringing you to your healing path right now? Let’s see if I may be a match for this part of your journey,