Sarah Downer, LICSW

I am an experienced psychotherapist who specializes is work with Highly Sensitive women and to live more fully and authentically. I specialize in working with both women who are hoping to become parents, mothers who may have experienced a difficult pregnancy and birth, and individuals who find themselves repeating patterns in that are rooted in childhood wounds.

Hello, I am a Highly Sensitive Person and really enjoy working with individuals who have this trait. It has been my experience that people with this trait are often told that they are too sensitive or emotional, and have received this messaging most of their lives. Often, as children, individuals forgo authenticity in order to be accepted and loved. In suppressing authenticity feelings, we formed adaptations or parts that enabled us to survive in our families. It is my intention that through our work together, I will honor your feelings, and the adaptations that arose out of necessity. While respecting these adaptations and bringing more awareness to the purpose behind them, we can start to develop a more trusting relationship between parts and self. Through this process, we can address the early imprints that have necessitated the need for those adaptations, and restore the system to balance and authenticity.
The modality that I have found most effective in healing is a combination of Compassionate Inquiry (Gabor Mate's process), Internal Family Systems, and Somatic Trauma Resolution, and EMDR. I also consider myself a life long learner, and am always taking additional trainings to increase my knowledge of the most effective therapeutic approaches.
I specialize in both women who have had early imprints (trauma), and new mothers who have had a traumatic birth experience.