Joe Shafer

MS, LPC

Email: joe@refugecounseling.com

As a counselor, my hope is to walk alongside those seeking therapy with empathy, patience, awareness, and hopefulness. I work from the counseling theory of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). This counseling lens focuses on growing the client’s awareness of their values and how that awareness can shape healthy behavior in the midst of life’s pains and joys. What draws me to this therapy is its non-judgmental assessment of what is important in the life of my clients, while also being open to engaging with competing values that may be interacting in invisible ways.

Personal Interests

I was born and raised in Nampa, and I love being part of the community here. I spend most of my free time with my wife and children playing games, reading books (novels and theology mostly), watching movies, and listening to records. I enjoy living near Lake Lowell and have spent many hours walking or biking the trails around it.

Qualifications

• Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Idaho

• Master of Science in Counseling, Northwest Nazarene University

• Bachelor of Arts in Religion and Philosophy, Northwest Nazarene University

• Trained in Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) trauma intervention

Specialties

• Spiritual wounding/confusion

• Anxiety 

• Depression

• Parenting concerns

• Couples

• Older teens

• Young adults