As revealed in the novel "Mr. Monk on Patrol", one of the criteria that the SFPD had for employing Monk as a consulting detective was that he had to have Sharona with him, in case he has a breakdown. Sharona helps out, sometimes doing independent investigations and sometimes even using her sex appeal to get information that Monk cannot. She also does all kinds of things that Monk's OCD and phobias prevent him from doing as she has few such reservations herself. However, in the season 2 episode "Mr. Monk Goes to the Circus," Sharona is revealed to have a fear of elephants, due to seeing a girl falling into an elephant pit when she was seven years old. She takes up smoking after Monk reacts insensitively to her fear of elephants, telling her to "suck it up".