| MEET SARA |

I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor Associate and I recently received my Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Bastyr University. Prior to entering the field of counseling, I earned a Master of Arts in Instruction from St. Mary’s University in Winona, MN and a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from St. Ambrose University in Davenport, IA. Counseling has always been my calling and I chose an adventurous and scenic path towards my passion.

I most recently worked at a community college providing counseling to students and community members. I worked with a wide variety of clients while there- from an adolescent running start student learning how to support her anxiety to a young adult addressing oppressive constructs in her life to an older adult navigating a divorce. I developed deeply compassionate and empathetic relationships while serving these clients and gained an array of experience while working in a community mental health setting.

Previous to entering counseling, I was a yoga teacher serving the Puget Sound community. I’m passionate about bringing clients back to their bodies to listen more closely to their minds and hearts. Mind and body are connected and breath, movement, and somatic work are essential to my practice and my own healing as a human being. I am a woman, a mom, a wife, a dog-owner, and a lover of nature. I come to this work having done my own healing and work with a therapist and I feel deeply driven and connected to supporting human beings in their own healing to create a more compassionate and just world.

| THERAPEUTIC APPROACH |

Given my work with a wide variety of clients in previous experiences, I use an integrative approach, bringing in tools from different modalities and theoretical orientations into my sessions. I utilize best practice after getting to know my client and tailor our time together to their needs. I operate from a strengths-based counseling lens, as research has shown that mental health symptomologies, however maladaptive, are actually basic survival skills. Recognizing these past behaviors can bring up deep pains and shame and I will hold you in the present moment to work with self-compassion and mindfulness. This can create new pathways in how we think about and hold love for ourselves, utilizing our strengths and the communities around us.

Therapy is a collaborative effort and I bring an empathetic and compassionate presence to facilitate your work, growth, change, and healing. Drawing from relational psychodynamics, the therapeutic alliance will be our strongest tool in our work together, which can create safety and space to bring up hidden or unaddressed trauma from the past. This theory highlights the importance of human connection in therapeutic work. I bring in mindfulness during these moments to help create new pathways for the brain to spark healing and change. Emotion-focused and value alignment work continue to inform my practice, as all emotions and values are valid, as well as useful in uncovering deep wounds and patterns in our lives.

I continue to draw from Liberation Psychology to provide best practice for my clients. I bring awareness to oppressive constructs, which can help clients liberate from harmful and oppressive ideals upheld by larger societal structures. I support work and healing within my client’s community, as support and relationships in our lives and spaces are an integral part to feeling more connected to ourselves and the world around us.