Hi!

I’m Shelby Beierl (pronounced like viral but with a b). I have been in this field for over a decade now…time flies when you are having fun!

First, a bit about my background: I received my Masters in Psychology with a specialization in Clinical Psychology at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. During this time I was also working full time on the opening shift at Starbucks (hence my impressive caffeine tolerance) and completing over 1000 hours at my internship at an Outpatient Mental Health Clinic. Safe to say I got rather good at making schedules, but I digress. It is at this internship that I found my love of working with children and teens. This population challenged me to look outside of the traditional talk therapy I was taught in school to connect and encourage growth and healing in other ways. I started using games, crafts, and slime (much to the dismay of my office mate), whatever the person loved. I find that when exploring what people love or are passionate about, you can help them discover bits about themselves that they never knew.

With this in mind—and after discovering how therapeutic Table Top Role Playing Games can be (I did meet my spouse during a campaign)— I decided to make the leap and get certified as a Therapeutic Game Master so I could share those experiences with others. Although I am trained in a variety of therapeutic modalities (ACT, CBT, DBT, Humanistic, to name a few) and am happy to accommodate, Geek Therapy is very much where my heart lies.

In my spare time I enjoy working with fiber arts; right now I am focusing on felting. I enjoy plenty of nerdy things, playing board games, TTRPG’s, cozy video games, puzzles, and I have once again started on my reading journey. I will never be able to top reading five books per week, like I did before I started college, but I can hope. You may even see my family and me at the Maryland Renaissance Festival, most likely dressed up and with face paint. I love stuffed animals, Lego, and anything I find adorable. I embrace things that I enjoy with my whole heart and soul.

I truly love my job. Being able to help people see their own potential, to continue to foster their own sense of hope even when they feel like there is none is amazing and awe-inspiring. My goal is to help others build their confidence in order to make this world we are living in a better place for everyone.