Hello – I am a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) and have several years’ experience working with individuals navigating severe and persistent mental illness in their adult years. I have several certifications and trainings completed specific to mood and thought disorders as well as within perinatal/maternal mental health. With my professional experience so far, I believe that I offer a wide variety of perspectives and insights that can be utilized to help meet diverse needs and goals, while continuing to learn and grow as a clinician with each client that I meet. I will provide support and encouragement as we work together to achieve your uniquely desired goals. In any unexpected challenge or life change, we can feel any number of complicated emotions or a confusing mix of emotions. My goal is not to push away or avoid these painful feelings but rather to validate, support and navigate these emotional experiences. I hope to support you in acknowledging your thoughts and feelings and how they relate to your experiences. Through this we can find ways for you to cope that you feel are genuine. We all deserve someone in our corner, someone to be our unbiased sounding board, to challenge us and to provide a space to air out our thoughts- let’s do this together.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
Entering the therapeutic space can be challenging and anxiety provoking as well as exciting and rejuvenating. I understand the strength and commitment-to-self it takes to enter this first session. In our first meeting I also acknowledge the essence of ‘being strangers’. I find it an imperative time to support rapport building, establishing the foundation for trust and safety. I am here in this first session to learn, to take time to hear you and understand where you are at as you enter the therapeutic space. I will provide guidance as we explore your history, any present challenges you are navigating and understanding any goals you have at this time.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
Throughout my years as a clinician, I have been able to continually examine my strengths and my needs as a provider. I work diligently to understand myself, my role, and my skillset in order to be the best version of myself during our time together. I have worked in settings that have varied from inpatient (hospitalizations, incarceration, etc.) to outpatient (school settings, community-based treatment centers, shelter sites, etc.) and I have worked with individuals of all ages (children, adolescents, adults), experiences and expressed needs. My largest takeaway that I bring forth with me is that despite where we are mentally, physically, or emotionally; our core needs are aligned. I will support meeting you where you are at, following a pace that feels safe and supported and be a presence in your processing. My goal is always that you will be able to transition out of this space when you are ready, that you will have skills, security in yourself and trust in your future. Until that time, I will be myself – I will be empathetic, compassionate, humane, respectful and quite funny.
Describe the client(s) you are best positioned to serve.
As humans, we all experience seasons of change; these seasons can feel empowering and exciting however they can also feel disorganized or unexpected. If you are experiencing symptoms of anxiety, depression, pregnancy related concerns, or other life stressors and/or transitions; I am here to help. Our time together can be a space to not only identify root causes of negative thought patterns, self-doubt, and low self-confidence but to then work towards independently navigating these experiences. My goal is to provide therapeutic, non-judgmental support and guidance as we explore both vulnerability and strength. I love working with individuals with a variety expressed needs and present circumstances. Based on my education, training, and present skills I am best suited to support individuals who are experiencing anxiety or mood symptoms as we work to develop coping mechanisms that will best support them during periods of heightened distress and symptom exacerbation. I feel truly honored to be a presence for those who have experienced loss and are moving through their grieving process, to be a support during painful moments as we explore pathways forward towards further healing. I love working with women in the perinatal space. This is a vulnerable and underacknowledged time in a woman’s life that I feel it is imperative to support. This is a time where we are adjusting our expectations of ourselves and those around us, navigating our identity and changes to our idea of ‘self’, as well as adjusting to changes both within and outside ourselves. I also feel strongly regarding young adulthood. This is a time where we are managing expectations, exploring and defining independence, developing our identity and navigating our larger existence in the world (roles, pressures, relationships). I feel it is a critical, yet vulnerable, timeframe that is often misunderstood.
About Sarah Coppenrath
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VirtualMy treatment methods
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a widely used intervention that supports identifying thoughts, feelings, and behavior patterns and how these are impacting the ways in which we engage in our daily lives. CBT is based in core principles including concepts that our psychological problems are based (in part) on unhelpful ways of thinking or learned patterns of unhelpful behavior. Individuals can develop skills in identifying unhelpful ways of thinking or learned patterns of unhelpful behavior which will support efforts towards change as well as support the use of problem-solving skills to cope with difficult situations. Identifying thought patterns and behaviors that are not supporting our present functioning is the first step in reparative work to work towards reframing or challenging these thought patterns and developing new ways of thinking. In our work together, you will begin to gain a greater sense of confidence in your own abilities to overcome challenges, navigate uncomfortable emotions and calm your body and mind.
Strength-Based
The Strengths Based approach is a foundation to my interventions and overall treatment. I believe this is fundamental in establishing and furthering both trust and safety within a therapeutic partnership. Identifying the strengths of the client, observed by the clinician and also what the client believes about themselves, is a necessary part of treatment as it fosters a strong relationship, and also enhances empowerment and belief in themselves. Maintaining a strengths-based approach allows for us to have your internal strengths, skills and potential for growth as a primary aspect of our work together in order to support your outlook, ability to develop problem-solving strategies and goal attainment. This will also allow for a safe treatment environment where you can be challenged and encouraged to push through difficult aspects of your experiences, while maintaining feelings of safety and security.
Motivational Interviewing
Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a modality that can be utilized throughout our treatment as it is a collaborative and goal-oriented approach to behavior change. MI is designed to empower change through eliciting your individual meaning, importance, and capacity for change. MI is rooted in collaboration as you are the expert of your own life and experiences and we, as providers, are supporting your goals and motivation for change. Together, we will work to strengthen your internal/personal motivations for change and commitment to your goals through eliciting and exploring your intrinsic reasons for change within a therapeutic environment supported by acceptance and compassion. Throughout this process you will be supported with my upmost respect for autonomy as an individual who has the right to make informed choices about changing or not changing.
Person-centered (Rogerian)
Person-centered therapy is a non-directive therapeutic approach to support you as your partner in the therapeutic space. This approach is rooted in our individuality, the understanding that we are the experts in our own life and experiences. Its founder suggested that we as individuals have a self-actualizing tendency or a desire to fulfill our potential and become the best we can be. His development of this approach is intended to support individuals in fulfilling their potential by accessing their strength to change. This approach is rooted in understanding, respect, and acceptance. This engagement allows you to feel empowered as an individual and work towards improved self-acceptance and self-understanding. Through this process you will further your trust with yourself, live authentically and make positive change.
Attachment-based
Attachment-based therapy is a treatment that is centered on understanding and healing the impact of our early childhood attachment experiences has on our present functioning and relationship development. It draws heavily on Bowlby’s attachment theory which suggests that our early interactions with caregivers significantly influences our we form relationships throughout our lifespan. This work aims to support individuals in developing secure and healthy attachments by addressing past traumas that may have disrupted their ability to form such bonds. It will examine how your relationships have evolved during your lifetime through reflecting on how you engage in relationships, either friendships, colleagues, romantic partners, or spouses, as well as identifying how you share and receive love and care; and engage in and resolve conflict. Do you feel like you relate more to feeling confident and secure in your relationships? Do you feel like you experience a fear of abandonment or rejection? Do you feel like you are very independent and more often rely on yourself rather than others? Understanding these aspects of us can help support resolution in attachment bonds and what we can do to support where our attachment style may impact our relationships and engagements with the world. This work is supported with skills work including coping mechanisms and communication skills. The overarching goal is to support development of a secure attachment style which is characterized by trust, intimacy, and the ability to regulate emotions in relationships.