Renee A. Shutay, MA

Renée Shutay is an excellent therapist. I have been to numerous therapists, psychologists and psychiatrists over the past 41 years who subscribe to various methods of therapy or psychoanalysis. Some are stuck using specific therapies to the exclusion of others. Some left me feeling like an amoeba being poked at in a Petri dish. Renée takes an individual approach and is capable of using any number of methods. For me, conversational therapy works. Renée listens ... really listens ... and is great to converse with. I have seen her individually, as a couple with my husband and with my son as a family. My son also sees her individually. On subjects with which she's less familiar, she has an open mind and a curiosity to learn. Renée has a great sense of humor, she is smart, intuitive, and she has a lot of heart. Both my husband and my son respect Renée immensely as she has had real life experiences and does not place herself "above" in some ivory tower of glorified indifference, instead she gets in there to really understand. Renée challenges me to think critically about my own thoughts and feelings to see in a different way ... and it is freeing when an old pattern of thinking or doing can be changed for the better. Sometimes that takes a while and it doesn't always tie up neatly with a bow. By the time someone reaches my age, there's enough baggage to begin one's own experiential thrift store. My baggage is not some lovely matching high end set, it's a complicated mess. Honestly, I thought I wouldn't be able to find a therapist who could see, deal with, and help me organize and toss some of that baggage, but Renée has opened up every one and looked through it all with me unflinchingly. While not fun, it is necessary to understand ourselves, put things into proper perspective and heal. Yes, she is my favorite therapist ever, but it isn't without merit and it is for all the best reasons. Highly recommended.