About Shannon

Shannon Shy is a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist and an attorney who retired from the United States Marine Corps Reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2007 and from federal civil service with the Department of the Navy in 2022 after thirty years of total service. Diagnosed with severe OCD in 1997 while on active duty as a Major in the U.S. Marine Corps, Shannon underwent treatment and developed a strategy to successfully overcome OCD. Shannon was the Keynote Speaker at the 2010 Annual International OCD Foundation (IOCDF) Conference in Washington DC and served on the IOCDF Board of Directors from 2011 - 2018, when he resigned his position as President to go serve in Afghanistan as a Senior Civilian Advisor to their Ministry of Defense.

Shannon has authored three books on overcoming OCD, produced an online course about his strategy and peer support methodology (which includes modules from Dr. Jenny Yip, Dr. Jon Abramowitz, and artist/OCD Advocate Sean Shinnock), posts regularly about the nuances of OCD recovery on social media, has posted over 300 short videos on YouTube about the nuances of OCD recovery, produces a series on YouTube called Rise Beyond OCD, where he interviews the icons of the OCD recovery community, posts Daily Affirmations to motivate and educate the recovery community, operates a website dedicated to OCD recovery at ocdrecoveryturningpoints.com, and has successfully provided peer support to OCD sufferers worldwide since 2016.

Shannon received his Peer Recovery Support certification in 2016 from the State of Virginia. Since then, he has worked one-on-one with hundreds of clients around the world, mostly virtually.  He must be recertified every two years through continuing education.

Shannon’s one-on-one peer support relies on both his personal experiences and credentials as a certified peer recovery specialist to teach OCD sufferers how to summon the power and strength within to transform their perspective and get to a place where OCD does not adversely affect their lives. He provides a roadmap of hope that shares valuable information about the growing discipline of peer support, insight into how to build a recovery foundation, insight into his strategy to overcome OCD, motivation, encouragement, and tips for sufferers to self-motivate in order to become indifferent to the intrusive thoughts and resist giving in to compulsions.