Individual Therapy
Working with chronic people-pleasers, adult children from dysfunctional families, and high achievers looking for new direction.
My therapy clients are burned-out peacemakers.
My clients are givers. They tend to be high achievers and have a lot of external successes under their belts, but they suffer from anxiety, depression, and/or self-esteem issues. They put others before themselves and struggle to set boundaries. Some had tough childhoods where their emotional needs weren't fully met. They may have to navigate tricky family relationships. They may have a history of childhood trauma, which we address with EMDR.
My clients feel deeply and that can be overwhelming. Together, we work on new ways to process emotions and make space for the discomfort. We also learn to move through it.
Therapy for chronic people-pleasers in Dallas, TX & Philadelphia, PA
Our work is a process of learning who they are and what they need, and undoing the unhealthy patterns that keep them trapped.
Themes that arise in therapy include:
People-pleasers / Boundary Setting / Burnout
Family conflict / Dysfunctional family relationships
Undoing Generational Patterns (“I want to learn new ways to handle X”)
Childhood emotional neglect (CEN)
Feeling dissatisfied and stuck
Helping empty-nesters figure out what’s next
Read Sarah’s articles on therapy in Psychology Today:
Dad has a temper. Everybody in the family knows that to keep a calm house; nobody can upset Dad. Mom frequently reminds the kids not to upset their father and hides potential sources of stress from him like a bad report card, a car dent, or a financial setback. The kids know how to read his moods from little details—like the pitch of his voice or how loudly the front door closes. When they sense their father’s stress increasing, the kids walk on eggshells, taking up as little space as possible.