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About Sarah, Therapist in Salt Lake City, UT
Meet Sarah, LCSW, Anxiety and Couples Therapist in Salt Lake City.
Helping individuals, couples, and first responders move beyond stress, emotional disconnection, and survival mode to build healthier relationships with themselves and the people they love.
Before you know anything about my training, approach, or credentials, I want you to know this:
You do not have to wait until things are falling apart to deserve support.
Therapy can be a place to slow down, understand yourself with more compassion, and begin changing the patterns that keep pulling you back into anxiety, self-doubt, disconnection, or survival mode.
Many of the people I work with are thoughtful, capable, and highly self-aware.
They know why they overthink.
They know they people-please.
They know they keep falling into the same relationship dynamics.
They know they are exhausted from carrying too much.
What they want now is not simply more insight.
They want something to actually change.
My role is to help you move beyond understanding your patterns and begin responding to yourself, your relationships, and your life differently.
That may look like setting boundaries with less guilt, trusting yourself more, quieting the constant mental noise, communicating more openly, feeling more secure in your relationships, or simply feeling more present in your own life.
The goal is not to become someone else.
It is to feel more like yourself.
You Don’t Need More Insight. You Need Something That Creates Change.
Many of the people I work with have already done a lot of reflecting.
You may have read the books, listened to the podcasts, journaled about your patterns, or even been in therapy before.
You may already know that you:
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Overthink decisions long after you have made them
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Feel responsible for other people’s emotions
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Struggle to rest without feeling guilty
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Tie your worth to achievement or productivity
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Say yes when you really want to say no
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Repeat relationship patterns you already understand
Self-awareness matters.
But knowing why you do something does not always make it easier to respond differently when the moment actually comes.
That is where therapy can become more than insight.
Together, we can slow down what happens when you feel anxious, disconnected, overwhelmed, or pulled into an old pattern and begin creating new ways of responding.
Why This Work Matters to Me
Long before I became a therapist, I understood what it felt like to live in high-performing environments.
As a former professional ballet dancer and longtime yoga instructor, I spent years in spaces where discipline, achievement, perfectionism, and pushing through discomfort were often rewarded.
Those experiences taught me resilience and commitment.
They also taught me how easy it can be to lose touch with yourself while everything looks successful from the outside.
That understanding shapes the way I work today.
I often work with people who are incredibly capable.
They are the dependable one.
The high achiever.
The person who keeps the peace.
The one other people turn to.
And underneath all of that competence, they are tired.
Tired of performing.
Tired of carrying.
Tired of believing they need to do more before they are allowed to feel okay.
My work is not about helping you become more productive, more impressive, or better at pushing through.
It is about helping you feel more grounded in who you already are.
Helping Couples Find Their Way Back to Each Other
I also work with couples who care deeply about one another but keep getting pulled into the same painful patterns.
Usually, one person is not the problem.
The cycle is.
One partner reaches.
The other withdraws.
The more one tries to reconnect, the more overwhelmed or defensive the other becomes.
Over time, both people begin to feel lonely.
My role is not to decide who is right or wrong.
It is to help you slow those moments down, understand what is happening underneath them, and create new ways of reaching for one another that build emotional safety, trust, and connection.
Because beneath so many arguments is a much more vulnerable question:
Do I matter to you?
Supporting First Responders and the People Who Love Them
As the wife of a firefighter, I also have a personal understanding of the rhythm first responder work can create for a family.
I know the long shifts.
The disrupted routines.
The missed holidays.
The emotional compartmentalizing.
The dark humor.
The way the job can quietly follow someone home.
I also know that loving someone in this work comes with its own pressures.
While I do not know what it is like to do the job firsthand, I understand how first responder life can shape stress, relationships, and family dynamics.
Whether you wear the uniform or love someone who does, therapy can be a place where you do not have to explain the basics before we begin talking about how the work is affecting you.
What Working With Me Feels Like
My style is warm, direct, collaborative, and honest.
I will make space for what you are feeling.
I will also help you notice the patterns, beliefs, and reactions that may be keeping you stuck.
I am not interested in therapy that feels vague or endlessly analytical.
I want our work to feel connected to your actual life.
That means paying attention to what happens when you leave the therapy room:
The boundary you almost did not set.
The conversation you usually avoid.
The moment you started second-guessing yourself.
The argument that usually goes the same way.
The day you noticed you handled something differently.
I believe change happens when people feel safe enough to be honest and supported enough to try something new.
The goal is not to turn you into a different person.
It is to help you feel more secure, connected, and at home in yourself.
Education, Training, and Approach
I’m a Licensed Clinical Social Worker serving individuals and couples in Salt Lake City and throughout Utah through in-person and secure virtual therapy.
My work is trauma-informed and integrates evidence-based and relational approaches to help clients work through anxiety, emotional overwhelm, relationship patterns, life transitions, and past experiences that continue to affect the present.
My education and training include:
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Master’s Degree in Social Work — Fordham University
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Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) — Utah
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Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) — fundamentals, externship, and core skills
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EFT Fundamentals — 6.25 hours
Foundational training in understanding emotions, attachment, and the patterns that shape how we connect with ourselves and others. -
Emotionally Focused Therapy Externship — 28–30 hours
Specialized couples therapy training focused on helping partners understand their negative cycles, communicate underlying needs, and build greater emotional safety and connection. -
EFT Core Skills — 48 hours
Advanced couples therapy training focused on helping partners move beyond repetitive conflict, express deeper emotions and needs, and create more secure, connected relationships.
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My work also draws from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), IFS-informed parts work, mindfulness, attachment-focused approaches, and other evidence-based strategies depending on each client’s needs.
You do not need to know which approach you need before starting therapy.
We will figure that out together.
Outside the Therapy Office
When I’m not in session, life is usually pretty simple.
I love teaching yoga, lifting weights, cooking, trying new restaurants with my husband, and taking long walks to clear my head.
And I am a firm believer that sometimes the best way to end the day is with a good reality show or whatever series everyone is currently talking about.
I value a life that feels full without needing to be constantly productive.
That is something I try to practice personally, too.
