Shayna Barksdale is the creator and owner of Austin Therapy for Girls, an 80s music lover, horror film aficionado, and she is obsessed with the color pink.

Shayna has been in the social work game since her early twenties, fresh out of Our Lady of the Lake’s Worden School of Social Work with a master’s degree under her belt. While she has racked up quite a few credentials—LCSW-S, CDWF Consultant (aka Brené Brown’s Shame Resilience), EMDR trained, EFFT trained, and more—her proudest accomplishment is her thirty-plus years of experience watching young women, teens, tweens, and the people who love them grow and blossom. Seeing someone take control of their mental health and own their power is the ultimate reward.

Shayna’s journey began with foster care kids, and from there, she worked at community mental health centers with a team of psychiatric nurses and doctors. She went on to become a program director and worked with AISD and Eanes ISD on federal substance-abuse prevention grants and writing grants for mental health services. However, she realized she was missing the direct work with families, so she launched Austin Therapy for Girls (ATFG) in 2012.

After introducing ATFG, the necessity for specialized care for mothers and daughters became evident. Consequently, Shayna and her mother created a presentation derived from this book: “Pink Chaos: Navigating the Mother/Daughter Relationship with Tweens.”

Shayna, a proud Austinite, has spent most of her life in this community. During her free time, you can often find her and her husband, Brook, enjoying one of the scenic trails while running or walking their dogs, Bagel and Ella.