“Whatever you have to say, leave the roots on, let them dangle
and the dirt
just to make clear where they come from.”
-Charles Olson
Therapy Approach
I don’t like therapy, or therapists, or maybe even myself. Why should I come see you?
You may have tried therapy before but felt that your therapist just didn’t “get it,” that she was more like a polite cardboard cutout than a real person, or that he thought he knew you better than you know yourself when in fact he was just dead wrong about you. Or perhaps you’ve never tried therapy because that’s for crazy people, because talking about it doesn’t do any good, or because the last thing you need is another item on your to-do list.
I’ve been studying and working in mental health for over 20 years and I can tell you that something powerful happens when two people choose to sit down and be honest with each other. When they choose to take themselves and each other seriously, when they create a space for what they’ve always thought but never said, when they find the openness to see themselves anew. It’s a revelation.
Therapy is hard work, for both of us. But it’s also rewarding, fulfilling, life-giving, and inspiring, for both of us.
I don’t know… will I have to talk about my mother for ten years?
Do you know the one about the six blind men? (I love to answer a question with a question!) They are walking down the road and bump into an elephant walking by. One feels his trunk and shouts that it’s a snake, another feels his tail and shouts that it’s just a rope, another feels his leg and shouts that it’s a tree trunk, etc. In fact, of course, they are all just responding to different parts of the same elephant.
The world of therapy can be a bit like this. You can lay on an analysis couch four times a week for ten years, or fill out CBT sheets for 6 sessions, or sit in a comfy chair and talk to me for as long as it takes to get you where you want to go. I’m familiar with the full alphabet soup of clinical approaches (I’m open to anything with a strong evidence base; scroll down for a brief description of my favorites) but these are each just different ways to access and understand the same essential whole.
If I haven’t been clear, you are the essential whole (and, I suppose, the elephant in the story). We will move towards what matters to you from whatever approach feels right to you, because there are countless different ways of making sense of your self.
All right, you got me. I’m in! But just to be sure, you are a real therapist right?
Yes indeed. I have a BA in Psychology from Amherst College and an MS in Mental Health Counseling from the University of Massachusetts. I have lived in Vermont for the past 20 years and in that time I have worked in inpatient, outpatient, residential, and college settings. I am licensed in the state of Vermont, which means that in order to work together you also must be located in Vermont. Whether your struggle expresses itself in worry, anxiety, isolation, overwhelming emotion or total emptiness, fear of taking the next step or confusion about what the next step should be, I can be your ally.
I’m ready to give this a shot. Where do I sign up?
I can’t wait to meet you! Go to the Contact page and let’s plan a time to talk.
“Sarah is an engaging, thoughtful, empathetic, firm, and caring therapist. She makes sure to get to the root of your emotions and struggles and is able to connect them together in a clear way that can help you see anything you are grappling with from a new perspective. Offering several different coping methods, skills, or solutions, Sarah works together with you to make sure you are able to feel comfortable and confident while also offering compassion when challenging your established limits, assumptions, or perspectives. In all of our sessions, I always felt heard and like I had an advocate that could help me in finding a solution and breaking long-standing thought patterns and spirals. Her ability to help you process depression, anxiety, and family issues is invaluable.”
-former client
A brief dip into the alphabet soup…
Any number of these approaches (including 0) might come into play in our work together, depending on what you are looking for and how you think.
CBT
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy tends to be a short term treatment with a focused target. We look at thoughts you have about yourself and the world (cognitions) and unhelpful patterns you’ve learned along the way (behaviors), and identify and practice specific changes to both that can relieve distress.
DBT
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy is similar to CBT, but DBT puts much more emphasis on learning skills designed specifically to increase mindfulness, emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness. DBT is a structured and practical approach to addressing sometimes overwhelming emotional difficulties in your life.
ACT
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is a no nonsense approach to changing your life. Often combined with mindfulness, ACT asks you to stop fighting your emotions, accept yourself as you are, and commit to making changes regardless of whether you feel ready. We focus on finding what matters to you and plunging ahead!
EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is a treatment designed specifically to address trauma. It asks you to identify troubling memories, thoughts, feelings, and sensations in a highly structured format. It has been shown to offer relief from intrusive symptoms of trauma more quickly than many other approaches.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a part of just about every therapeutic approach in the alphabet soup and is likely to appear in our work at some point. It allows us to develop the ability to be fully present in the moment, in our bodies, relationships, and lives. It takes more practice than you would expect, but offers rewards you wouldn’t believe.
Long Term Support
Some people are not looking for a quick fix or to address one specific problem, but rather looking for an ally to help navigate the ongoing challenges of life. A long term relationship with a therapist can be a profound one, and seeking (and building) that type of connection is also a great use of therapy.