I built this because you deserve clarity about love — not more guessing.
- MEET YOUR THERAPIST
Shenelle Jackson, LCSW, LICSW, LCSW-C — nearly 20 years of clinical experience, a Howard MSW, and a private practice built specifically for people who are done living in the gray about love, life, and what they actually want.
~ 20
YEARS IN THE FIELD
5+
SECTORS— victim services, child & family, community MH, CSEC, nonprofit
3
LICENSES — DC · MARYLAND · VIRGINIA
6
SPECIALTIES — financial · forensic · trauma · grief & loss · FMLA · Relationship
MY BACKGROUND
Nearly 20 years of sitting with real people carrying real pain.
I got my Master of Social Work from Howard University — one of the most respected MSW programs in the country — and spent the years that followed working with people across every sector of social work practice. Victim services. Child and family systems. Community mental health. Commercially sexually exploited children.
I have sat with people carrying every kind of pain you can imagine. People navigating impossible situations. People who had choices taken from them. People who made choices they regret. People who just needed one honest conversation with someone who was not going to flinch or minimize or redirect.
In 2018, I launched my private practice because I wanted to create something more focused — a space specifically designed for the part of life that most therapy spaces skip over or handle badly: love, relationships, identity, and the deeply personal question of what kind of life you actually want to build.
WHY THE SINGLES THERAPIST EXISTS
I am tired of people living in the gray.
Too many people are guessing about who they should love, unclear about what they want, and never finding their true happiness — because nobody ever gave them a space to ask the real questions and get honest answers. I built The Singles Therapist to be that space.
The questions I hear in my practice are the ones people have been carrying alone for years. Is it okay if I never get married? Am I allowed to grieve not having children? What does it actually mean to be in a polyamorous relationship and is that really what I want? Did choosing my career mean I gave up on love? How do I co-parent with someone I cannot stand? Where is this relationship actually going?
These are not small questions. They are the questions that determine the entire shape of your life. And most people are trying to answer them alone — or worse, are letting other people answer them for them.
You deserve a therapist who will sit in those questions with you. Who will not flinch when you say something that feels taboo. Who will not push you toward the conventional answer when the conventional answer is not right for you. Who will help you figure out what you actually want — and then help you go get it.
That is what this practice is. That is what I am here to do.
WHAT WORKING HERE GIVES YOU
Three things you will leave with.
01
Clarity about what you actually want
Not what you think you are supposed to want. Not what your family wants for you. Not what society says you should be pursuing. What is actually true for you — about love, about your life, about what happiness looks like on your terms.
02
Healing from what love has done to you
The wounds from dating, infidelity, coercion, loss, and complicated relationships do not just go away on their own. We do the actual work of healing them — so they stop showing up in every relationship that comes after.
03
Permission to go after your version of happiness
Whatever your version of a good life looks like — whether that includes a partner, children, marriage, or none of those things — you deserve to pursue it without shame, without apology, and without second-guessing yourself at every turn.
WHAT SESSIONS ACTUALLY FEEL LIKE
Honest. Direct. Focused on you.
You will not have to explain yourself
You do not have to justify your choices or your identity before we get to the work. We start from where you are.
Progress is the point
I do not keep people in therapy longer than they need. We review your goals regularly. The objective is always for you to need me less — not more.
Nothing is off the table
Whatever the real question is — polyamory, childlessness, staying single, reproductive coercion, co-parenting — we talk about it directly. No redirecting to safer ground.
Everything is confidential
What happens in session stays in session — with the standard legal exceptions you will be informed about at intake.
You will be challenged
I will push you when you are ready to be pushed. I know when you are avoiding something and I will name it — with care and without apology.
You are an active participant
This is collaborative. You ask questions, you disagree, you drive the direction. You are not a passive recipient of therapy. You are a person doing the work.
Let's get you clear.
Book a free 15-minute consultation. No forms, no commitment — just an honest first conversation about where you are and what you actually want.
READY TO STOP GUESSING
Insurance accepted · Telehealth & in-person · DC · MD · VA