Liza Shaw,MA, LMFT, ACHT

I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and an Advanced Clinical Hypnotherapist. I am also the Director and Therapist at Marriage and Family Therapy Services, a private Marriage, Family and Individual Therapy practice in Carolina Beach, N.C. I started my practice in Hickory, NC in 1999 and moved it to the beach in 2022.

I specialize in transforming marriages, and describe as my personal mission: to significantly reduce the epidemic of "disposable marriages" and provide couples a brand new paradigm to resolve conflicts, ultimately allowing them to create the marriage they have always wanted but never knew how to have. My style in the therapy room is directive and challenging, with a heavy dose of empathy and understanding of all parties. MarriageFamily Therapy can only be effective in an environment in which each party feels heard, respected, and honored for their experiences and their "truth." Many therapists who claim to offer "Couples Therapy" are not actually Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs), and I warn potential clients to be very careful when putting their relationship into the hands of someone who is not well-trained to handle this most complicated and challenging form of therapy. MFTs are required to have a minimum of 2 years of course work as well as direct supervision hours, practicing with couples and families. Many "Non-LMFTs" (LPCs, MSWs and NBCCs) were not given any educational or supervisory experiences in working with family systems. Without this training and expertise, those therapists can do more harm than good when they are attempting to navigate the conflict-laden terrain of having multiple participants in the room at the same time. I am also a TedX Talk speaker and a writer. I offer personal empowerment workshops designed to assist people in creating thriving lives. I have co-authored professional journal articles, published as a guest-columnist for a variety of newspapers, and co-authored books, published a poetry book, and am currently working on a book based on my TedX Talk, "Marriage 2.0: A System Upgrade for Your Long-Term Committed Relationship."