About

I see therapy as a practice of turning toward your experience with compassion and curiosity. Together, we slow down and make space for what’s here—especially the parts of your inner life that feel confusing, overwhelming, or difficult to face alone.

My approach is grounded in psychodynamic and person-centered therapy and is always tailored to your unique needs. I’m interested not only in what is happening in your life now, but also in the deeper emotional patterns, relationships, and internal worlds that shape how you experience yourself and others. I trust that meaningful change unfolds when experience is met with steady attention, openness, and care.

My work is also informed by my personal meditation and Buddhist practice. When it feels supportive, I integrate mindfulness and body-based awareness to help you reconnect with your internal experience in a more direct and compassionate way—especially in moments when things feel overwhelming or unclear.

I am also dually trained as an interfaith hospital chaplain, with experience supporting patients and families in hospital and hospice settings through serious illness, grief, and profound life transitions. This work continues to inform how I sit with uncertainty, loss, and complexity, and I bring deep respect for each person’s identity, values, and way of making meaning.

My work is informed by training in:

  • Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
  • Existential Psychotherapy
  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
  • Narrative Therapy
  • Buddhist Philosophy
  • Dream Work
  • Mindfulness and Meditation
  • Ecotherapy
  • Polyvagal Theory

If something here resonates, you’re welcome to reach out to see if working together feels like a good fit. You can contact me by phone at 872-205-6099 or email at sara@oceanmindpsychotherapy.com. I typically respond within 1–2 business days.

Education

University of Chicago, AM, Clinical Social Work, 2019

University of Chicago, M.Div, Buddhist Studies, 2019

Harvard University, BA, The Comparative Study of Religion and Psychology, 2013

Training

Grief and Loss Support, David Kessler, 2021

Fellow with the Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis, 2019-2021

Clinical Pastoral Education Residency, Northwestern Medicine, 2019-2020

Trauma-Informed Practice Certificate, University of Chicago, 2019

Reiki Level 1 Practitioner, 2013

Licenses

Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Oregon, Tennessee, and Illinois