About Sarah

I offer somatic psychotherapy for adults seeking to better understand themselves and make more conscious choices.

I have been working with individuals and families for over 15 years; providing care, understanding and professional knowledge.

I am a qualified Mental Health Social Worker, with additional specialisation in mindfulness-based somatic psychotherapy and sensorimotor art therapy.

I am also the practice manager of the therapy space; Inside this River: Somatic and Art Therapies, based in Northcote, Naarm. Taking its name from this beautiful Rumi poem.

As a therapist, and person, I am interested in questions of:

·        authenticity

·        finding one’s purpose

·        listening to body wisdom

·        dreams/nightmares

·        improving emotion regulation

·        post traumatic growth

·        existential concerns

·        anxiety/panic/flashbacks

·        repairing early attachment wounds

·        legacy gifts and burdens

·        bad trip integration

·        the role of art and nature in healing

·        loneliness/confusion/stuckness

·        responsibility to the natural world

·        mindfulness as a form of ethics

·        compassion for self and others

·        releasing what no longer serves us

·        engaging more fully with life.

My training includes Hakomi, Internal Family Systems and Sensorimotor Art Therapy. Read here for further information about my professional background and qualifications. I have specialised training in complex and acute trauma, and am passionate about facilitating post-traumatic-growth.

As an AASW Approved Mental Health Social Worker sessions are eligible for a Medicare rebate.

Common requests which sit outside of how I work

While I have past experience in clinical roles, and can skillfully support people who have engagement with psychiatric services, social workers and psychotherapists cannot provide diagnoses. If you are seeking diagnosis I would recommend engaging with a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist.

Recently there has been increasing interest in the skills-coaching aspect of ADHD and other neurodiverse experiences. I believe this is very important work, however it is not my area of training. I would strongly recommend an occupational therapist for executive function skills development (eg. time-management, focus, decision-making etc). The aspects I may be able to help with is building mindfulness skills, emotion regulation and healing of early sensorimotor dysregulation.

While I have training in CBT and this may briefly weave into sessions, if this is your primary interest, other therapists will be a better fit. My therapeutic approach focuses on mindfulness-based somatic and art psychotherapy.  

I respectfully acknowledge the Wurundjeri woi wurrung people of the Kulin Nation as the traditional custodians of the land on which I live and work. I pay respect to their Elders past and present.

I am committed to embracing diversity, in the provision of a respectful and welcoming therapeutic space.