Say With Sarah: Not just another therapy blog
RE: About Me
I am an artist, therapist, dog parent (with some lacking boundaries) + human who deeply cares about people and mental health!
Hi there!
I decided to re-work my initial post “What If …it all works out?” to explain a little why I’m here, what I have to say, and how I intend to post writings.
SAY WITH SARAH is the name of my business. Almost a full year ago, I transitioned from group practice into private practice. When I was thinking about a business name, I asked friends and colleagues to help me create something with meaning that I could use in more than my counseling practice. I hoped to metaphorically, and literally, say something important with it. So here I am, composing, and re-composing, a blog post for the first time during a time when there’s an abundance of mental health providers doing the same. There are already many therapist social media profiles and blogs that exist. I also believe in the unique quality that every person has to offer the world through being themselves. There’s a reason why therapist fit is one of the leading factors of therapy efficacy. The writings here will offer information on a few specific topics, personal therapy reflections, literature reviews, and the only thing that sets me apart from others: my perspective.
The majority of therapists find a niche area in the mental health field that they are most passionate or skilled at working with and name it as their speciality. Most providers also come to this field for a reason: they, themselves have experienced conflict, hardship, loss, mental health issues, trauma, etc. and/or have people in their lives impacted by mental health issues. Therapists, in general, are taught not to disclose much about themselves to clients. There are some interesting reasons behind disclosure beliefs, which I may blog about in future posts, and yet, people need to know enough to assess a good therapy fit of their therapist. We’re also living in a time where people are really benefiting from connecting to therapists online in nontraditional ways. Through blogging about the topics I care most about, I hope that my fellow peers, prospective clients, and people interested in mental health will learn something new, think deeper about their experiences or the experiences of others, and grow more compassionate. By interacting with my blog, I hope people can learn to say something, too.
The topics I’m most passionate about in my practice include:
Anxiety: Anxiety is one the most common experiences and creates so much pain. I have lived with GAD for a long time and understand from a personal place the nuances of anxiety. I really love empowering kids, adolescents, adults, and families on how to manage the worries as they come up in life.
OCD (OC-Spectrum): Anxiety and OCD are interrelated. I learned deeply about OCD for the first time through my therapy mentor and through working at Rogers Behavioral Health. This was the first time in my therapy career where I felt so intrigued and excited to learn. Relating to anxiety helped me understand the obsessive-compulsive cycle. Since then, I’ve dived into the OCD world and truly enjoy helping people get back time, freedom, and joy. What excites me about OCD is how obscure yet predictable it works, that there is a clear path on how to navigate it, and the role of the therapist is much more active.
Parenting: Parenting is such a big topic and such an important one. We are all parented and have special knowledge of what it’s like to be a child. Parent coaching, parent training, family therapy are all areas that I care about deeply. I’ve worked with children for a long time: from being a kids yoga teacher and nanny pre-therapy life, an art therapist for children on the Autism Spectrum, and mental health counselor for children and families in crisis in community based settings. There is a lot of beautiful change that can happen at the parent level and sometimes the best way to help a child/family is by supporting the caregivers.
Trauma: It’s an honor and privilege to be a trauma therapist. There are big T and little t experiences, both are valid and worthy of spending time processing and healing. Being trauma-informed means a therapist has specialized training and knowledge about how to interact and support folks who have lived through trauma. Supporting and helping people and their families recover and thrive after trauma is both rewarding and heavy.
The areas that I specialize in are also topics that co-occur in the lives of people. Across the board what I notice the most in therapy is the ability to be super compassionate towards others and a real absence when applied to the self. I look forward to diving more into these areas in the future and offering my say.
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah
*Disclaimer: My posts here are not intended to be a replacement for individual psychotherapy; the content is my opinion based on my life experiences and education; and, the content is not going to be ‘a one-size fits all’ model. If you are suffering, please reach out to your supports, seek out a therapist of your own, and contact crisis lines like 988 if needed.
