Therapists in Benton County, MO

I am licensed in Missouri with 10 years of professional work experience. I have experience in helping clients with stress and anxiety, trauma and abuse, & motivation, self esteem, and confidence. I believe in treating everyone with respect, sensitivity, and compassion. I will tailor our dialog and treatment plan to meet your unique and specific needs. Taking the first step to seeking a more fulfilling and happier life takes courage. I am here to support you in that process.

Passion Populations & Specializations: LGBTQ+, Couples of all varieties, Sex Therapy, Women-Empowerment, Teens. I'm in the business of story-shaping. I believe we become the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves. People are not defined by their problems. Are you stuck in a story that feels disempowering or defeating? Do you no longer feel like your own narrator? Let me be your co-author and collaborator in creating your counter story—a brand new, one-of-a-kind tale that aligns with your truest, most authentic self.

I am licensed in Missouri, Iowa, and Kansas with 20 years within the social work, mental health, and the medical fields. I have experience in helping clients with a myriad of mental health issues. I particularly enjoy working with those that are dealing with narcissism and the fall out it can have on our mental health and relationships. I believe in treating everyone with respect, sensitivity, and compassion. I pride myself in looking at people as a whole as well as their parts. You can expect empathy, honesty, humor, and most likely random movie quotes, TikTok's, or song lyrics during our sessions.

Do you feel alone, down, overwhelmed, or stressed out? Maybe your life has taken a sudden turn in a direction you were not expecting. Or maybe you feel your relationship is not what it used to be, or possibly, you're wondering if you're stuck in an abusive dynamic. In a world filled with challenges, uncertainties, and moments of self-doubt, finding the right professional counselor to accompany you on your journey of self-discovery is crucial.

Life can be hard sometimes and full of stress, but my goal is to help provide a sense of inner peace and increase in happiness. I am passionate about the body and mind connection and identifying ways to improve overall happiness to live your best life. Life is meant to be lived and to feel empowered. Finding your own inner strength through improvement in mood, cognitions, and overall well-being. Having a safe space to talk and improve self growth and awareness is critical to improvement in daily functioning. My favorite saying is happiness is good for the soul and finding out that you are capable of that is my motivation!

Let my office be a judgment-free, secure space to explore and get curious about what's happening for you and in your life. A place to ask and answer tough questions; like, how you got here, where you want to go, and what you need to get there. Let's work on coping skills, healing strategies, and building strong healthy connections with yourself and others. I invite you to listen to your inner guidance and give yourself permission to create the life you want to live. I'd love to walk along side you on this path.

Do you feel overwhelmed and stressed? For over a decade, I have specialized in helping clients with navigating transitions and cultivating hope.  My intention is to create an environment of compassion, connection, and healing, which allows you to grow and thrive. I have training and a passion for working with Perinatal Mood Disorders and specialize in EMDR for perinatal trauma. As an Approved Consultant, I also provide consultation to EMDR therapists completing foundational hours or seeking certification.

We are not meant to live life alone, but rather deeply involved in relationships. Some of these relationships are highly successful, while others have come with great loss, significant struggle or just the every day difficulty of learning to live and enjoy life with another person. I believe in the value of working through personal problems in the context of building stronger relationships. I will help you work through this on a personal level or with whomever you are needing to have a restored relationship with.

You wonder how things got this way, you used to feel connected with your partner. You feel alone, confused, frustrated, misunderstood, rejected etc. You reach out, you are trying…it turns to an argument or distancing. It often seems like a blame game with defensive reactions. How do you turn this around and feel safe with your partner again, or other loved ones? You are concerned about the outcome, yet it’s not getting better. Something needs to change but you’re unsure how to approach things.

Some clients seek treatment not because they have a mental health issue but because they are experiencing a situation, relationship, or life event that is causing them emotional distress. Therefore, I am a goal-oriented therapist that uses an eclectic approach to treatment. I do not believe that one size fits all as each human being is unique and so are their circumstances. I use many different theoretical frames of reference such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Solution Focused, Attachment Theory, Behavioral, Trauma Focused CBT, and others to assist my clients develop insight and change behaviors.

We all deserve to experience meaningful shifts in our lives. It is a deeply rewarding feeling to see our efforts for positive change show up in our relationships with ourselves, with our loved ones, and with the world around us. It is my goal to be your trusted advocate—creating an emotionally safe space to listen, to encourage, to strengths-build, and to help co-create desired shifts.

Feeling overwhelmed? Out of control? Dealing with major life changes? Or desiring a life change that you just can't quite grasp? Each of us is created with the ability to manage life's challenges but we don't always see clearly amidst the struggle. Connecting with someone in a safe, affirming, non-judgmental, and solution-focused environment can help you uncover your inner-strengths and see a way out from those feelings of suffering. With more than 20 years of practice experience, Sarah is well equipped to walk with you through any challenge.

I believe counseling is a partnership in which we work together in developing and implementing a plan to reach the clients treatment goals. Each client is unique and different, and I adjust according to the clients needs. I work well with clients who are ready to do the work to heal and grow. The client and I are active throughout the counseling process. I have found that this process is a journey towards healing and thriving in all areas of life.

I am passionate about educating clients and helping them rebuild their relationships with their bodies and food. I am adept at getting to the root of problems and helping clients develop effective coping skills for different life situations, triggers, and traumas.

If you are someone who is struggling with understanding the reason why behind certain behaviors & are wanting to learn how to heal, overcome, and succeed, you are in the right place. Many of the individuals who I work with are driven to feel better and have a growth mindset. You know that life is meant to be more fulfilling. Many of the individuals I see struggle with anxiety, trauma, and/or self-esteem issues. (Coaching! I specialize in working with moms to help them overcome anxiety, perfectionism and self-doubt so they can launch a profitable & fulfilling business/side-hustle; allowing them to have more freedom, flexibility)

Play is the place where children’s minds, hearts, and souls meet. Through Play Therapy, children are able to heal from distressing events such as, but not limited to, trauma, grief and loss, divorce, depression, adoption, foster care and attachment issues; and to improve in myriad areas such as impulse control, emotional regulation, ADHD, OCD, and ODD. As your child’s therapist, my goal is to enable children to heal, so that they are empowered to “rise and shine” to their highest potential.

If you have ever dealt with anxiety, panic attacks, or fears of letting others down you have been fighting a battle that you don't need to continue to fight. We help individuals control their anxiety by teaching them techniques and tools that will allow them to regain control over their emotions. These are the same skills that professional athletes use to deal with the anxiety and the enormous amounts of pressure they deal with on a daily basis.

People think you have it all together, but have no idea how much you struggle. You feel like an imposter. Exhausted & ashamed, your self-esteem sinks low. Alone, isolated in success, it feels fragile & being overwhelmed plagues you. Let’s change this refrain together! I work with perfectionist, high achieving people with a harsh inner critic that can’t relax, connect and enjoy the life they've worked so hard to build. Also, those navigating life transitions: marriage, parenthood, divorce, separation, new diagnosis, post medical weight loss.

How do we become proud of ourselves, feel self-love, confidence, calmness, & peace? These questions may feel familiar to you, & the truth is, the answer looks different for everyone. Simple tasks can feel like a mountain to climb & self-criticism consumes our day echoing "what's wrong with me?" This experience feel isolating. We have all felt self-doubt. Maybe we have even felt so lost we question our identity altogether. Living in a world of constant comparison, it's easy to doubt ourselves. Now we find ourselves wanting freedom from this pattern, we are hungry & eager for change. You want to thrive, not just survive.