Sarah Buckingham (she/her)

MSW, LSWAIC
Accepting Clients

Therapy for real humans figuring out relationships, identity, stress, survival patterns, and what actually works for them.

Associate Clinical Social Worker in , WA
Supervised by Jonathon Douglas, LMHAC

Services
  • Individual
  • Couples
  • Family
  • Child
  • Adolescent/Teen
  • Group
  • Neuropsychological Assessment

About My Clients

I work with teens, young adults, adults, couples, and parents who feel stuck in patterns they understand intellectually but can’t seem to change. You may be dealing with anxiety, depression, trauma, burnout, self-harm, impulsivity, relationship stress, parenting overwhelm, identity questions, or just the sense that something isn’t working anymore. You do not need therapy language here. Raw, honest, confused, sarcastic, unsure, or “I have no idea where to start” are all welcome.

My Background and Approach

I’m a social worker and therapist with more than a decade of experience in behavioral health and crisis-focused work, including suicide and self-harm intervention, crisis stabilization, supervision, and work with children, teens, adults, and families. That background means I’m comfortable sitting with complicated situations without immediately trying to label, judge, or “fix” you. My approach is collaborative, creative, practical, and individualized. I draw from CBT, DBT, ACT, motivational interviewing, narrative work, attachment and family-systems perspectives, trauma-informed care, mindfulness, and expressive or experiential approaches when they fit. I’m interested in understanding why your patterns developed, what purpose they may have served, and whether they still work for the life you want now. Therapy should fit you — not the other way around.

My Personal Beliefs and Interests

I believe people make a lot more sense when we understand the context around them. Behaviors that look irrational, unhealthy, avoidant, impulsive, or “too much” often developed for a reason. That doesn’t mean we have to keep them forever — it means we can get curious before we get judgmental. I value authenticity, autonomy, humor, creativity, and treating clients like full human beings rather than diagnoses. You can swear. You can say the thing you think sounds terrible. You can tell me a coping skill is useless. You can disagree with me. Therapy does not need to sound polished to be meaningful. Outside of traditional talk therapy, I’m interested in creative and experiential approaches, movement, nature, symbolism, mindfulness, and finding unconventional ways to understand ourselves. I care deeply about creating spaces where people can explore who they are without being told who they are supposed to be.

Techniques I Use

Specialties
Addiction Counseling Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Other Techniques
  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
  • Addiction Counseling
  • Anger Management Therapy
  • Art Therapy
  • Attachment Theory
  • Coaching
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
  • Culturally Sensitive Therapy
  • Dance / Movement Therapy
  • Expressive Art Therapy
  • Gestalt Therapy
  • Harm Reduction Therapy
  • Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)
  • Motivational Interviewing
  • Narrative Therapy
  • Psychodynamic Therapy
  • Person-Centered (Rogerian)
  • Trauma Therapy
  • Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP)
  • Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT)
  • Music Therapy
  • Schema Therapy
  • Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)

Issues I Treat

Specialties
Addiction Anxiety Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Other Issues
  • Abuse
  • Addiction
  • ADHD Therapists
  • Anger Issues
  • Anxiety
  • Attachment
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder
  • Bipolar
  • Body Image Issues
  • Burnout
  • Career Counseling
  • Child Issues
  • Codependency
  • Depression
  • Dissociative Disorders
  • Divorce
  • Domestic Violence or Intimate Partner Violence
  • Eating Disorders
  • Family Conflict
  • Gambling Addiction
  • Grief or Loss
  • Immigration/Acculturation
  • Marriage Counseling
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
  • Parenting
  • Personality Disorders
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Pregnancy and Postpartum
  • Psychosis and Schizophrenia
  • Racial Identity
  • Relationship Issues
  • Self-Esteem
  • Self-Harm
  • Sexual Abuse or Assault
  • Suicidal Thoughts
  • Teen Issues
  • Women's Issues
Insurance Plans Accepted
  • Out of Network
  • Aetna
  • Cigna
  • Kaiser
  • First Choice Health
  • LifeWise
  • Optum
  • Premera
  • TRICARE
  • United Behavioral Health (UBH)
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS)
  • Oxford Health Plan
  • United Healthcare
  • Regence Blue Shield
  • Government Employee Health Associations (GEHA)
  • Premera Blue Cross
  • Amerigroup
  • Meritain Health
  • Lyra Health
  • Evernorth
  • Spring Health
  • UnitedHealthcare
  • Carelon
  • Healthcare Management Administrators
I offer online counseling in the following states:
I have experience with the following
  • Buddhism
  • Christianity

At A Glance

  • Experience: 13 years of practice
  • Rate: $150 - 170/session

Reach out to Sarah