hi, I’m SARAH

My Approach to Therapy

My approach is warm, collaborative, and active. I want therapy to feel like a space where you can slow down, become curious about yourself, and explore experiences that may be difficult to make room for elsewhere in your life.

I work from an attachment-focused and trauma-informed perspective. This means we'll often explore how earlier relationships and experiences shaped the ways you've learned to connect with others, respond to emotions, protect yourself, and make sense of who you are.

At the same time, I don't believe therapy should stay entirely in the past or in the realm of insight. Understanding why a pattern exists can be incredibly valuable, but sometimes understanding alone isn't enough to change it.

Depending on what you need, I integrate EMDR, experiential therapy, parts work, somatic awareness, mindfulness, and cognitive approaches. I am also working toward certification in Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT), an attachment-based approach that helps clients work more deeply with emotions, relational patterns, and their relationship with themselves.

Our work is individualized rather than driven by one particular technique. Together, we'll pay attention to what is happening beneath the patterns that brought you to therapy and what may help create meaningful, lasting change.

What It's Like to Work With Me

I see therapy as a collaborative process. I'll listen carefully and give you space to explore, but I won't simply sit back and leave you wondering what I'm thinking.

I'll ask questions, offer observations, help you notice patterns, and gently challenge you when it may be helpful. We'll make connections between what you're experiencing now and the experiences that shaped you, while also paying attention to what is happening emotionally in the present.

I value curiosity over judgment. The patterns we struggle with often developed for understandable reasons, even when they are no longer helping us in the ways they once did.

You don't need to arrive at therapy knowing exactly what you want to work on or having the right words for what you're experiencing. We can figure that out together.

Who I Work With

I primarily work with adults navigating anxiety, relationship and attachment concerns, trauma, self-worth, family-of-origin experiences, and significant life transitions.

Many of my clients are thoughtful, driven, and highly capable in other areas of their lives but find that relationships, emotions, or old patterns are harder to simply “figure out.”

I have particular experience working with women during pregnancy, postpartum, motherhood, and other identity transitions, as well as adults who want to understand how earlier experiences continue to influence their relationships and sense of self.

EDUCATION AND ADVANCED TRAINING

Licensure

• Licensed Clinical Social Worker — California

• Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker — Washington

Advanced Training & Certifications

• EMDRIA Certified EMDR Therapist

• Working toward certification in Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT)

• Advanced Training in Perinatal Psychotherapy — Postpartum Support International

• Meditation Teacher Training — Pilgrimage of the Heart Yoga

Education

• Master of Social Work — California State University, Fullerton

• Bachelor of Arts in Psychology — University of Portland

Clinical Supervision

In addition to my therapy practice, I provide clinical supervision for associates in California.