“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation.”
— Audre Lorde
Shalandra Hollins, PhD, LMFT
Dr. Shalandra Hollins is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Board Certified TeleMental Health Provider, counselor educator, and founder of Serene Life Counseling & Wellness.
Her work is grounded in creating compassionate, culturally affirming spaces where individuals can slow down, exhale, and begin healing from the emotional weight they have carried for far too long. Dr. Hollins works with individuals navigating trauma, chronic stress, burnout, perfectionism, difficult life transitions, relational wounds, and the emotional exhaustion that can come from constantly living in survival mode.
She is especially passionate about supporting high-achieving Black women who are often expected to carry everything for everyone while quietly neglecting themselves in the process. Her work honors the emotional, relational, cultural, and systemic realities that impact Black women’s mental health and wellness. Dr. Hollins believes Black women deserve spaces where they do not have to over explain, perform strength, or minimize their experiences in order to feel seen, safe, supported, and emotionally held.
Dr. Hollins also enjoys working with young adults navigating the early stages of adulthood, as well as individuals and families experiencing challenges related to dating and relationships, separation and divorce, single parenting, co-parenting, and blended family dynamics.
Her therapeutic approach integrates culturally responsive and evidence-based practices, including Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT), attachment-based approaches, and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). She also incorporates EMDR in Color, a culturally adapted framework designed to support healing from racial trauma, racial fatigue, identity-related stressors, and complex lived experiences often overlooked in traditional therapeutic spaces.
Grounded in the belief that healing involves the whole person, Dr. Hollins values a holistic approach to wellness that honors the connection between the mind, body, spirit, and emotional well-being. Her approach creates space for clients to reconnect with themselves, deepen emotional awareness, strengthen relationships, and establish healthier patterns in ways that feel more grounded, compassionate, authentic, and whole.
-
Anxiety
Depression
Chronic Stress and Burnout
Adjustments and Transitions
Low Self-Esteem and Self-Worth
Shame and Perfectionism
Boundary Setting
Procrastination and Difficulty Making Decisions
Relationship Stressors
Difficulty with Vulnerability and Intimacy
Separation and Divorce
Intergenerational Trauma
Racial Trauma and Racial Fatigue
Cultural and Identity-Based Stress
High-Achieving Women and Imposter Syndrome
-
Adults 18+
Individual Therapy
Couples Therapy & Family Counseling
Support Groups, Healing Retreats, & Wellness Workshops
-
Dr. Hollins believes therapy should honor the unique experiences, identities, and needs each client brings into the room. Because healing is not one-size-fits-all, she utilizes an integrative and culturally responsive approach tailored to each individual’s goals, lived experiences, and stage of healing.
Her work is grounded in meeting clients with compassion, curiosity, authenticity, and care while creating space for deeper emotional understanding, healing, and restoration.
Dr. Hollins has extensive training and experience in working with trauma, culture-specific trauma, relational wounds, chronic stress, and other trauma-related concerns. She integrates evidence-based and holistic approaches designed to support emotional wellness, nervous system regulation, relational healing, and greater self-awareness.
Her clinical approaches include:
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) & Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT)
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR in Color, a culturally adapted EMDR approach addressing racial trauma, racial fatigue, identity-based stress, and complex cultural trauma
Psychodynamic Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Narrative Therapy
Solution-Focused Therapy
Person-Centered Therapy
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
As part of her holistic philosophy of wellness, Dr. Hollins also offers Reiki and energy healing services by request as separate wellness services outside of psychotherapy and counseling. These offerings are designed to support relaxation, emotional balance, stress reduction, and overall restoration for individuals seeking integrative healing and support.
-
Dr. Hollins is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a minor in Social and Economic Justice. She earned her Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling at Capella University.
Dr. Hollins earned her PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision from the CACREP-accredited program within the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Capella University. Her dissertation, A Qualitative Analysis of Black Counselors’ Experiences in Racially Matched Counseling Dyads with Black Women, examined relational dynamics, culture-specific treatment approaches, and culturally responsive care within racially matched therapeutic relationships with Black women through the lens of Multicultural Counseling and Therapy (MCT) and womanism. Her research contributed original scholarship on cultural resonance, emotional labor, and counselor sustainability to the field of counselor education.
-
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT #2179)
Board Certified TeleMental Health Provider (BC-TMH #3261)
AAMFT Supervisor Candidate
Certified Prepare/Enrich Facilitator
-
Dr. Hollins is a member of the following professional organizations:
American Counseling Association
Association for Counselor Education and Supervision
Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision
Chi Sigma Iota Counseling Honor Society
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), Clinical Fellow
Dr. Hollins is an AAMFT Clinical Fellow. This distinction is granted to AAMFT Professional Members who have met the highest level of Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) licensure in the United States. AAMFT Clinical Fellows have met AAMFT standards for education in MFT systemic family therapy as well as rigorous standards of training in marriage and family therapy.
