values + identity
I'm Sarah. I'm a lesbian and genderqueer person based in Los Angeles, California. As your therapist, I am myself. I lean very curious, sometimes funny (jury's still out), open-hearted, gentle, and expressive. I trust and honor you as the expert of your lived experience. When I am not seeing folks here, I work in addiction and recovery - so I am wildly familiar with advocacy, systems of power, deep grief, loss, and trauma.
To me, therapy is political. I move through the world with the unearned privilege of being cis-presenting and white, and I live in conscious refusal of patriarchy as a queer and lesbian-identified person. It is at this intersection that I choose to orient my life and practice toward unsettling the colonial and patriarchal systems that uphold my privilege. The process of decolonizing myself, my work, and the field of psychotherapy is central to my practice and ethics and is always growing, evolving, and teaching me. I am inspired by the work of adrienne marie brown, Audre Lorde, and Leslie Feinberg.
Some of the core themes I’ve grappled with in my own life include: religious trauma and deconstruction, sexuality, gender dysphoria, grief, loneliness, depression, anxiety, body dysmorphia, codependency and attachment wounds, shame, and a pervasive sense of not being enough. When I’m not in the therapist’s seat, I love to surf, read, play guitar, cook, collect records, be in community, and watch as many Bravo reality tv shows as humanly possible.
i work from a gestalt and somatic lens
Gestalt and somatics primarily inform how I sit with folks. These approaches help you tune into the present moment and notice your thoughts, feelings, and body to foster awareness and growth. I am anchored in feminism and decolonization, so I'll note the context of the systems of power you live within and tend to the impact those forces have had on how you move through the world.
My hope is that through this slower and more spacious approach, you'll gain greater access to choice, liberation, and agency in your everyday life - not by becoming someone else, but by becoming more fully yourself.i resonate most with:
queer, trans, and gender-expansive teens and adults & people navigating relational anxiety, codependency, loneliness, people pleasing, and religious trauma
other themes I work with are: anxiety + panic, family + community estrangement, depression + suicidality, complex trauma, sobriety, attachment, and body image + food relationships
we might work well together if:
you're looking for a therapist who's laidback, playful, and genuine. I bring humor, creativity, movement, humanness, and imagery into the room.
I care about consent, collaboration, and disrupting the oppressive hierarchy that therapy can sometimes replicate.
what it’s like to sit with me:
In session, we’ll follow what feels alive! We'll start with a check-in, and let whatever arises generate the next moment. Sessions flow freely, are grounded in the present moment, and oftentimes might include an invitation for a creative experiment. We might even have some… say it with me… FUN.
Most importantly, I want you to feel safe and comfy - kick your shoes off, grab a snack (I have an endless sour candy supply), lie down, check out my fidget toy collection, find your favorite emotional support pillow. This space is for you. I hope all parts of you will feel safe to fully show up as they are.