Sharmen Kimbrough, MA Professional Counseling

Meet Sharmen Elaine Kimbrough, Identity Strategist

No labels. Just strategy, together.

Everyone else will tell you what he is. Sharmen helps you decide who you are.

Sharmen Kimbrough is an Identity Strategist and consultant to women who lead in boardrooms, ministries, and homes, and who have quietly woken up to coercive control and spiritual bypassing in their closest relationships. She doesn’t hand you a label. She hands you language, footing, and a strategy, so you can show up well in your story while it’s still being written.

Earlier in your healing journey? Lauren Rose on my team works 1:1 and leads Identity Recovery Groups too, and she’s wonderful.

specialties

pairs well with

Ways to work with me

What Happens in the Room

I have a knack for deep-diving into the nitty gritty and rooting out the dysfunctional coping mechanisms we use to get through life, which end up as self-sabotage when it comes to relationships.

Here’s what clients tell me they can’t get anywhere else. You tell me what happened, and I hear what’s underneath it. The belief system that wrote the rule you’ve been following. Where control of your life has quietly drifted, and into whose hands. The trauma response that’s been running the show and calling itself “just how I am.” Who’s claiming authority over you they were never given. And then the part almost everyone skips: what you can actually DO, starting now, inside the life you’re really living.

Most people will either listen and nod, or tell you what to do. I’m not doing either. I’m sorting it out with you, so you leave with clarity, language, and a real option you can act on. That’s usually when someone stops me and says, “Wait. Say that again.”

And you can say all of it here. Coercive control and spiritual bypassing are not topics you can run by your normal circles. In this room, nothing is too much, too messy, or too disloyal to say out loud.

I navigate life from a Christ-centered perspective and I bring a strong sense of optimism to the table: God is doing something here, and you aren’t powerful enough to screw Him up. I love speaking hope into complicated situations and watching people grab hold of that hope to find the life, freedom and joy they’ve been craving.

Hear It From Me

The woman who is staying already knows what she’s in. She has the vocabulary. She could teach the class. What she doesn’t have yet is a plan for the years she’s spending in that house while she’s spending them.

That’s what my newest series builds. Antidotes, not labels. Things to DO, and not one of them needs his cooperation.

Staying is a housing decision. It is not a surrender document.

From The Woman Who Is Staying, Episode 1: Staying Is Not Consenting. New episodes are rolling out now.

Why a Strategist

When I was emotionally forging a trail with no good leadership to follow, leadership material became my lifeline. I needed to know how to think, and reason, and find wisdom as if it was all up to me.

That’s why I’m a strategist, not a cheerleader and not a label-maker. I don’t hand you a script or a diagnosis. I sit with you inside the real context you’re living in, and we work out how you’ll think, decide, and show up. No labels. Just strategy, walked out together.

What I Believe

People are not a diagnosis.

The label doesn’t make the person. Every one of us is who we have LEARNED to be, and there is always room, should we accept that mission, to learn something different.

His change won’t heal your trauma.

It would certainly make things easier. But healing is its own process, and it comes with living: doing things differently, changing direction, making new experiences.

Life is not about waiting to see if he changes.

Living is the point of the story.

“Biblical grounds for divorce”?

The grounds are the destructive treatment.

Love ceases to be love when free will is removed.

Who I Work With

Most of the women I work with lead something: a team, a company, a ministry, a household. They’re intentional about their relationships and their leadership. They have full lives and places to be, and they want someone in their corner to sort through the emotional underbelly of it all, so they can show up confident and build relationships that mean something. I also work with couples, individuals, pastors, and coaches.

My approach

At the heart of my work lies a profound conviction: we are designed for connection. I believe that the fractures in our ability to attach—rooted in what I call attachment dysfunction—form the bedrock of soul-level trauma. To truly connect, we must embrace authenticity. And to be authentic, we must summon the courage to step out from the shadows of hiding.

Attachment dysfunction manifests in many forms: shame that silences, fear that paralyzes, neglect that starves, abandonment that wounds, rejection that isolates, and deception that distorts. When we retreat into hiding, we sever our capacity for genuine attachment. My calling is to walk alongside adults who find themselves trapped in these patterns—whether through isolation, self-protection, or the tangled webs of narcissism and codependency. Together, we chart a course toward authentic living, where relationships deepen and connections flourish. I work to unravel the lies, dispel the chaos, and heal the scars trauma leaves on the soul, restoring the ability to attach meaningfully within relationships.

Consider this: we enter this world as fragile, self-focused beings—little bundles of codependency and narcissism, shaped by the relational landscapes of our childhoods. Depending on those early experiences, we lean toward one end of that spectrum or the other, crafting self-protective coping mechanisms to survive. Yet, as adults, these once-vital strategies become maladaptive, obstructing the freedom and aliveness we yearn for. My approach is practical and constructive, peeling back the layers of these ingrained habits to reveal their impact on interpersonal connection. At its core, this journey is a soul-level inquiry: to whom does your heart turn for purpose, meaning, security, and life—yourself, or something greater? The fruit of this recovery is a life lived boldly out of hiding—authentic, free, and rich with mutual, vibrant relationships.

I bring this perspective to my work with men and women, whether individually, as couples, or in group settings, fostering spaces where transformation can take root and thrive.

My Story

While my credentials provide a framework, it is the crucible of personal experience that truly shapes my voice. I’ve walked through the fires of dysfunctional and destructive behavior, emotional abuse and unavailability, divorce within the “Christian” container, and the challenges of single parenting. These trials have not broken me; they have forged me. They’ve taught me resilience, sharpened my insight, and gifted me a rare ability to speak wisdom into the lives of others with empathy and clarity. My own story is not just a backdrop; it’s a wellspring of understanding that informs every conversation, every session.

Education & Experience

I hold a Master’s degree in Professional Counseling from Liberty University, earned in 2012, a milestone that formalized my commitment to this work. My training spans diverse and formative experiences: two years of peer counseling at a Pregnancy Care Center, a year-long internship at Walter B. Jones Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Center, and more than three decades of volunteering with teens and mentoring groups, beginning in 1995. That same year I completed my graduate studies, I founded my own coaching practice, a space where I’ve since guided countless individuals toward healing and wholeness. Alongside my private practice, I served as a key contributor at the Marriage Recovery Center (Dr. David Hawkins) for more than 10 years, where I helped couples and individuals navigate the complexities of relational restoration and individual identity recovery, playing an integral part in developing the women’s Redeemed group program.

I also founded the Renovida Initiative, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that funds access to LiveFound’s services for women who can’t reach their own money because of financial control, or whose spouses are punitive about them getting help.

Speaking practical truth into dark places so people can apply it to their own hearts, story, and relational shenanigans.

Questions Women Ask Before Reaching Out

Are you still with the Marriage Recovery Center?

No. I spent more than ten years developing and leading the women’s programs at the Marriage Recovery Center, as well as 1:1 and Intensives (for both couples and individuals) alongside Dr. David Hawkins. LiveFound is now fully independent. If you found me through MRC, you’re in the right place.

Is your coaching faith-based?

Yes. Christ-centered, and never the kind that tells you to submit to harm. We’ve been taught that God is love. What has been hijacked is what that even means. Christ-centered means that we ground the work in seeking truth that leads to life, freedom, agency, and connection.

Is this coaching or therapy?

There is a difference between therapy, counseling, and coaching. Most therapy focuses on fixing what’s been broken, or understanding the underlying factors that impact who we’ve become. Coaching takes all that and forges the trail ahead. The starting point is who you are now, even if we have to take time to name it. The focus is where you are trying to go, who you are trying to become. And we strategize how to get there.

Do you work with women outside the US?

Yes. All sessions are virtual, and it’s my honor to work with women worldwide. I love that God sets me before people who might not otherwise have local options to journey together like this!

What if I’m not ready to book?

Start with the free chapter of Tools for Healing, or join my Friday email. No pressure, no countdown timer. But, lots of thought provoking moments to awaken your heart back to life.