Shari Kim, PhD

Trauma, DID & EMDR Expert

Shari Kim, PhD, is a licensed psychologist, EMDRIA Certified Therapist and Approved Consultant, trauma educator, and clinical consultant specializing in post-traumatic stress, complex trauma, dissociation, dissociative identity disorder, human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and LGBTQIA+-affirming care. Her official professional website also identifies work with people living with vision loss and lists active psychology licenses across Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, Delaware, New York, Washington, Michigan, and Maryland.

Shari Kim, PhD, provides individual and group psychotherapy, EMDR therapy, consultation for EMDR-trained clinicians, and evaluations related to gender-affirming surgery. Her approach recognizes that traumatic experiences may affect memory, identity, emotional regulation, bodily responses, relationships, trust, coping, and the ability to remain connected to the present. Treatment is adapted to the person’s history, culture, stability, goals, resources, and response to care rather than delivered through a single standardized formula.

Shari Kim, PhD, also brings experience from community mental health, schools, outpatient programs, services for justice-involved youth, disaster response, and anti-trafficking advocacy. Across these settings, she has emphasized survivor agency, careful assessment, and the importance of understanding behavior in context. Her professional education helps clinicians balance compassion with sound boundaries, informed consent, consultation, and realistic attention to the risks involved in advanced trauma work.

Professional Background

Shari Kim, PhD, began providing therapy as a master’s-level clinician in 2005, working with justice-involved young people before moving into broader community and outpatient practice. She earned a doctorate in clinical psychology with a concentration in forensic psychology from Fielding Graduate University in 2013. Her undergraduate education was completed at Goucher College, followed by graduate study in developmental psychology at Johns Hopkins University.

Shari Kim, PhD, previously co-founded and led Susquehanna Valley Community Mental Health Services. An official Goucher College alumni profile documents her work there, along with earlier service as a regional disaster mental health leader with the American Red Cross and leadership in behavioral-health responses to human trafficking in Pennsylvania. Because organizational and volunteer appointments can change, these roles should be described historically unless Dr. Kim directly confirms that they remain active.

Shari Kim, PhD, now operates a private psychology practice in Baltimore, Maryland, with in-person and telehealth services. Her official website lists treatment for dissociative identity disorder, PTSD, complex trauma, human trafficking, sexual exploitation, LGBTQIA+ concerns, and psychological issues connected with vision loss. The same site displays EMDRIA Certified Therapist and Approved Consultant credentials, which are also supported by the EMDR International Association’s professional directory.

Shari Kim, PhD, has more than 25 years of experience in the mental-health field and currently provides EMDR consultation in addition to psychotherapy. Consultation may support clinicians with case conceptualization, treatment planning, target selection, preparation, pacing, dissociation screening, and decisions about when to pause or seek additional expertise. The treating clinician remains responsible for assessment, informed consent, documentation, scope of practice, and the safety of the services delivered.

Dr. Kim has also contributed to peer-reviewed research. Her coauthored publications include an article clarifying the differential diagnosis and phases of exercise addiction and an article examining lessons from research on intimate-partner violence in same-sex relationships. These publications reflect earlier academic interests in addiction, forensic psychology, and the impact of identity and social context on assessment.

Areas of Expertise

EMDR Therapy and Professional Consultation. Shari Kim, PhD, practices and consults within EMDR’s structured eight-phase model, which includes history taking, preparation, assessment, desensitization, installation, body scan, closure, and reevaluation. Her work stresses that EMDR is more than bilateral stimulation and that readiness, stabilization, target selection, informed consent, and follow-up are essential. Clinicians can review Clinical Events’ complete guide to EMDR therapy alongside the EMDR International Association’s eight-phase overview.

Complex Trauma, Dissociation, and DID. Shari Kim, PhD, specializes in presentations involving memory gaps, depersonalization, derealization, shifts in self-state, emotional numbing, and other disruptions in identity or awareness. She approaches dissociation as a protective adaptation that requires careful differential assessment rather than sensationalism. Treatment may prioritize safety, internal communication, improved functioning, grounding, and greater cooperation among self-states before intensive memory processing. Clinical Events’ Dissociation Explained provides related guidance on recognition, stabilization, and pacing.

Trauma-Focused and Integrative Care. Dr. Kim’s current practice profile identifies EMDR and ego-state work as primary approaches while also listing DBT-informed, person-centered, Jungian, eclectic, and trauma-focused methods. Integrative care should not become an unstructured collection of techniques. Each intervention needs a clear rationale, attention to evidence and competence, and ongoing evaluation of whether it is helping the client. Clinical Events’ Trauma Therapy for Clinicians offers a broader overview of trauma assessment and treatment options.

Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation. Dr. Kim’s official practice site identifies trafficking and sexual exploitation as central specialties, while her Goucher College profile documents anti-trafficking leadership and professional training. Survivors may face coercion, threats, financial dependence, housing instability, stigma, legal concerns, and fear of institutions. Effective care protects agency, avoids pressuring disclosure, explains confidentiality limits clearly, and coordinates medical, legal, housing, and community services only with appropriate consent and attention to safety.

LGBTQIA+-Affirming and Gender-Affirming Care. Her practice includes affirmative services for LGBTQIA+ clients and evaluations connected with gender-affirming surgery. Affirming care does not assume that identity is itself a disorder or the source of every concern. It considers the effects of discrimination, rejection, violence, concealment, healthcare barriers, and family or community stress while allowing clients to define their own identities, relationships, and treatment priorities.

Trauma, Disability, and Vision Loss. Dr. Kim identifies living with vision loss as a specialty area. Accessible trauma care may require compatible digital platforms, readable documents, clear verbal descriptions, flexible exercises, and direct discussion of the accommodations a client prefers. Clinicians should not assume that disability automatically causes psychological dysfunction or that every disabled client wants therapy centered on loss.

Socially Responsive Practice. Her professional history includes anti-trafficking, disaster-response, and social-justice work. This perspective recognizes that trauma and access to recovery are shaped by poverty, racism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, criminalization, housing instability, and unequal healthcare access. Socially responsive treatment combines clinical skill with humility, attention to power, and respect for the client’s understanding of their own experience.

Authored Publications

The following peer-reviewed articles are supported by journal and bibliographic records.

• Clarifying Exercise Addiction: Differential Diagnosis, Co-occurring Disorders, and Phases of Addiction
• Lessons from Examining Same-Sex Intimate Partner Violence