Sarah Pearsall

MA, LCMHC

Sarah Pearsall is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC) with a Master’s in Counseling from New Mexico State University, and a B.A. in Psychology from UNC-Chapel Hill. She has prior experience working with clients in in-patient psychiatric, community mental health, intensive in-home for at-risk youth and their families, high school and university settings. Before becoming a counselor, Sarah worked as an English and ESL teacher with students of all ages in U.S. public schools. Sarah also worked in Asia for 9 years, teaching English to adults in business, community, and university settings. She is culturally sensitive, culturally competent, and enjoys working with diverse populations and people of all backgrounds.

Providing empathy, encouragement, support, and hope in a relaxed and open atmosphere ~ as well as gently challenging as needed ~ are Sarah’s strengths as a therapist. It is Sarah’s hope that with each session, the client can come away with a new insight, skill, or area of practice to work on outside of therapy so that they can not only feel relief, but also begin to create a life they enjoy.

Sarah uses a person-centered, strengths-based approach, while combining insight/depth and directive therapy. Her work with clients is individualized and experiential according to their needs and interests. She typically draws from the modalities of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Adlerian Therapy, Motivational Interviewing (MI), and Solution Focused Therapy. Sarah also believes strongly in the ability for anyone to change their brain in ways that will enhance their mood and strengthen their resilience with simple exercises practiced consistently. She is currently working on becoming a Certified Mindfulness Teacher through the Mindfulness Training Institute at Berkeley, California.

Her interests include, but are not limited to, individuals dealing with anger, anxiety, ADD/ADHD, depression, relational issues, self-esteem issues, and life transitions. She is also passionate about working with first and second-generation immigrant populations who may be struggling with dual identities or intergenerational conflict, as well as international populations who may be temporarily living, studying or working in the U.S. to help bridge the cultural gap.