Getting to know Shanita Glover-Mangam
Have you ever felt like you were a step behind navigating life’s major moments, starting school, changing jobs, building a relationship, or facing personal loss? For marginal communities, these big life transitions often come with an extra weight of not having the built-in support or resources others seem to rely on. It can be very confusing and disorienting. You might be carrying the impact of a clear traumatic event, or perhaps it’s the chronic, quiet toll of past neglect or abuse that leaves you feeling exhausted. If you are struggling to establish yourself in a world that feels unevenly balanced, please know that this is a safe space to acknowledge that struggle and make progress! I aim to help people to heal both the loud and silent wounds, and gently empower you to move toward a future of wholeness and reach your potential!
What should a new client know about working with you?
You should know that our work will be a journey of deep self-discovery and internal negotiation. Shanita’s practice is grounded in the understanding that the pain you carry is often rooted in having to adapt to difficult circumstances, which can leave you feeling fragmented or at war with yourself. She uses a blend of therapeutic approaches, primarily Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Internal Family Systems (IFS). This means we won’t just talk about your past; we’ll actively work to heal it by understanding your internal ecosystem. Expect to learn about your “parts”—the different thoughts, feelings, and impulses that make up your personality. We’ll identify their motives (even the difficult ones!), understand their protective roles, and teach you how to negotiate with them when they are in conflict. This process helps you unblend from the protective parts, allowing your true self to emerge as the compassionate leader of your life. You are not broken; you are complex, and we will work to bring you into harmony.
What is your typical process for working with clients?
Our process begins by establishing a safe, trusting, and non-judgemental alliance, dedicating initial sessions to truly listening to your story, understanding your core challenges, and mapping out your internal landscape and external context. We focus early on identifying the specific traumas or chronic struggles that impact your present-day life transitions and your ability to feel equipped for them. From there, we dive into the core work of Parts Identification and Mapping by learning the language of your internal system—identifying your different parts (like the anxious perfectionist or the inner critic) and understanding their primary roles and fears.
The goal is to help your “Self”—your core of clarity, compassion, and courage—become the primary agent of healing and leadership within your system. We continually practice techniques from IFS and ACT to help you unblend from protective or reactive parts, understand their positive intent, and respectfully negotiate new, healthier roles for them. Finally, we anchor this work using ACT principles, constantly orienting our efforts toward your core values to ensure that the changes you make are not just about reducing distress, but about building a life of meaning and vitality, despite life’s inevitable challenges.