Sarah Spaltro
I'm a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and Registered Art Therapist (ATR) with a warm, curious, and deeply relational approach to psychotherapy. Growing up across different cultures shaped my understanding of how identity, family, relationships, and belonging influence our lives. Along with my graduate research in cultural humility, these experiences inform how I listen—with genuine curiosity, openness, and respect for your unique perspective, without assumptions or judgment. I work with individuals across the lifespan, helping clients navigate anxiety, trauma, grief, relationship difficulties, family conflict, identity, and major life transitions, including medical diagnoses, hereditary cancer risk, survivorship, and previvorship. I also bring over a decade of advocacy within the hereditary cancer community. My approach integrates attachment theory, multigenerational family systems, trauma-informed care, cognitive behavioral strategies, and clinical art therapy. I look beyond symptoms to understand how past experiences, relationships, and cultural influences may shape your present challenges. I'm collaborative and attuned, but also actively engaged in our work. I ask thoughtful questions, offer honest observations, and gently challenge patterns when helpful. I believe therapy should provide both emotional safety and opportunities for meaningful growth. My background in fine arts offers additional ways to explore experiences that may be difficult to express verbally. Art is always optional, and no artistic experience is necessary. **Services and payment:** Individual psychotherapy is available through select insurance plans and private pay. Couples and family therapy are offered exclusively on a private-pay basis. Please inquire about fees and availability before scheduling these services.
First session
I see the first session as a conversation, not a test you have to pass. We will explore what brings you to therapy, what is happening now, your history, relationships, strengths, and what you hope to change. I will ask questions, but you control the pace and decide what feels important to share. Together, we will begin identifying patterns, priorities, and realistic goals. You do not need to arrive with perfect words or a complete story. By the end, we will have a clearer sense of what you need, how I can help, and whether working together feels like a good fit.
Strengths
One of my greatest strengths is combining deep listening and emotional attunement with an active, collaborative approach to therapy. I pay attention not only to what you share, but also to the patterns beneath it—how attachment, family relationships, cultural experiences, and intergenerational dynamics may influence your thoughts, emotions, and choices. I believe therapy should offer more than validation. I bring warmth, genuine curiosity, and compassion, but I'm also comfortable asking difficult questions, offering honest observations, and gently challenging patterns when they may be holding you back. I encourage accountability without judgment, always respecting your autonomy and emotional readiness. I'm also adaptable. Some clients benefit from structured strategies and practical tools, while others need more space for reflection, emotional exploration, or creative expression. I adjust my approach as your needs and goals evolve. As a Registered Art Therapist with a lifelong background in fine arts, I can also incorporate creative approaches when words alone may not fully capture your experiences. Art is always optional, and no artistic experience is necessary.
Ideal clients
I work especially well with adolescents, adults, couples, and families navigating a developmental transition or feeling stuck at an important stage of life. This may include adolescents exploring identity, young adults seeking direction or intimacy, couples working to improve communication and connection, adults managing relationships, parenting, career, caregiving, or purpose, and older adults facing changes involving health, independence, grief, legacy, or meaning. I also support multigenerational families whose concerns are shaped by culture, family roles, and changing expectations. Clients can expect a warm, collaborative, and active approach using reflection, practical tools, family-systems thinking, and creative exploration when helpful. No artistic experience is needed.
Treatment methods
Attachment-based
Attachment-based therapy helps us understand how early and current relationships shape the ways you seek closeness, protect yourself, respond to conflict, and communicate your needs. Together, we identify patterns that may once have helped you feel safe but now create distance or distress. We work at a pace that supports trust while strengthening self-understanding, emotional regulation, communication, and more secure ways of connecting with yourself and others.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
I use CBT tools to help clients notice how thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and relationship patterns affect one another. Together, we identify beliefs and habits that may keep distress going, examine them against experience, and practice more helpful responses. The work is collaborative and practical rather than formulaic, with strategies adapted to each client’s developmental stage, culture, relationships, and goals.
Couples Counseling
In couples work, I help partners slow down recurring conflict, understand what each person may be protecting or needing, and recognize the interactional cycle that keeps them stuck. We clarify shared goals, strengthen communication and emotional safety, and practice new ways of responding. My approach draws from family-systems, attachment-based, EFT-informed, and Gottman-informed principles without assuming either partner is “the problem.”
Experiential Therapy
Experiential therapy moves beyond talking alone. Depending on your needs, I may use clinical art therapy, visual mapping, timelines, genograms, role-based exercises, or structured interactional activities to help clients and families notice patterns, express experiences, and practice new ways of relating. Art is never required, and I do not treat images as diagnostic answers. We explore your meaning, test our understanding together, and use what we learn to guide treatment.
Family Therapy
In family therapy, I look beyond identifying one person as “the problem.” We consider each family member’s needs while examining communication, attachment, roles, boundaries, developmental changes, and patterns that may keep distress going. Treatment may include individual assessment, caregiver work, family conversations, skills practice, visual mapping, or structured experiential activities. Together, we clarify goals, change unhelpful interactions, and regularly assess whether improvements are carrying into everyday family life.
Location
Virtual sessions