Sarah Roe, LCSW

I am a licensed clinical social worker with over 30 years of experience helping adults heal and overcome problems related to depression, anxiety and trauma.

Welcome! I'm so glad you are here! It takes courage to make the decision to enter therapy. By the time someone enters therapy they have usually tried to resolve their problems on their own through self-help, the guidance of friends and family or ideas influenced by societal norms and beliefs, (ie. "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" or "just power through"). We tend to look outside of ourselves for the answers. While it is true that we often need to access help through means outside of ourselves such as community resources, many of us are not taught that our greatest strengths lie within. I grew up with 2 parents whose careers were based in helping others. My mother was, among several other things, a social worker with our county's Child Protective Services and my father was a doctor and researcher of rare genetic disorders in children. Both of my parents were passionate about helping those unable to help themselves. I was fortunate to be able to witness much of their work and, more importantly, their interactions with those they helped. Prior to working for the county, my mother co-founded and worked at an agency called Women in Action. I remember hanging out at their office in the afternoons after school and watching people amble in and out of my mother's office. Located downtown, often people who were homeless and/or mentally ill would wander in, curious about what was happening in there or hoping to find a bite to eat or a kind word. The thing I remember most is my mother's kindness and graciousness as she greeted and welcomed each person in. She always treated each person like the most important person in the room whether they were wearing a business suit or were dirty and bedraggled. And while I was certainly impressed with my mother, what I remember most is how those seemingly broken people, shuffling in with heads down would seem to blossom before my eyes when talking with my mother. They sat taller, lifted their eyes to my mother's eyes, and began chatting as if they were long lost friends. I realized then the importance of how we view ourselves and our experiences and that this view CAN CHANGE! As I continued to grow I became more and more fascinated by people and what "makes them tick" and I became more and more aware of and inspired by their resilience and capacity to adapt and/or overcome. For many years in my career, I worked with individuals who were homeless and/or had severe mental illnesses like Schizophrenia and people would often ask me, "How can you work with them? It must be so depressing." Certainly, their circumstances and challenges were often huge, but what stood out to me was all the ways these people found to adapt and cope with their challenges. With support, encouragement and hands-on guidance, many were able to do things that they and most in the community, thought impossible like hold a job. As my experience with other populations and problems has expanded, I have seen that same inner strength over and over again. I have had the privilege of working with people from all walks of life with a wide range of presenting problems. Some seek help overcoming past trauma or family of origin wounds. Others struggle with debilitating anxiety or struggle with relationship issues or self-defeating behavior. And still others need help learning new ways to cope with stress and overwhelm. Whatever the issue is that brings you to therapy, my goal is to help you find ways to heal from, overcome and learn new ways to navigate the obstacles preventing you from living your best life. I believe we all possess the ability to heal and recover, but typically we don't realize our own strengths or don't know how to access them. Through use of techniques from a variety of therapeutic models including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and others, I will help you to replace unhealthy coping strategies and mindsets with healthier perspectives and strategies that empower you to more successfully meet life's challenges and create the life you desire.