Sarah Garrison (She/Her)

I believe that each person is wonderfully unique, and worthy of living a full, happy, authentic life. I believe that you are the expert in you, and my job as a therapist is to act as a guide to help you explore yourself, your beliefs, and your experiences to find solutions to, or a better understanding of, the issues that you struggle with. I approach therapy with flexibility to tailor the sessions to meet the unique needs of each client.

CBT is the idea that the way you think about the things that are happening in your life has a huge impact on how you feel and how you respond. When you are struggling with mental health, it impacts how you interpret the things that are happening, and you are much more likely to see things in a more negative way than when you are not struggling. I use CBT to help clients identify and challenge unhelpful thought patterns to feel more in control of their emotions and responses to stressors.

I find that my clients often have a good idea of what they "should" be doing to feel better, but struggle with getting started or following through. Motivational Interviewing is an approach that utilizes theories of change to help clients identify and resolve barriers to change, build their readiness and motivation to change, and follow through on developing and taking actions toward change. I help clients identify their own goals and create plans to achieve them.

I work with clients struggling to adjust to many different circumstances, including unexpected changes, when life doesn't go as planned, life stage issues, divorce and grief and loss. I work with clients to understand their emotions, identify the things that are keeping them stuck and help them work towards a healthy adjustment to the change.

Anxiety can be a scary experience and sometimes the fear of anxiety makes it worse! I work with clients to identify their symptoms of anxiety, identify triggers, and manage their responses. I utilize cognitive behavioral therapy to identify and challenge thought patterns that escalate and reinforce anxious responses, and I help clients build their capacity to utilize positive coping skills, calming self-talk and mindfulness techniques to reduce the frequency and severity of anxiety symptoms.

When you're struggling with depression, it can feel like you're wading through mud. Everything seems harder and heavier, and it's difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I work with clients to identify and express their emotions in healthy ways, recognize and challenge unhelpful thinking patterns, develop positive coping skills, and address any issues that are contributing to the depression, both physical and situational.