About Sarah
Sarah Spurling is a licensed clinical social worker who helps people feeling overwhelmed by stress and anxiety. She writes and talks plainly, so sessions tend to be direct and easy to follow. Sarah aims to create a calm space where people can slow racing thoughts and find a bit more steadiness in daily life.
Her approach centers on building a strong, respectful relationship. She focuses on listening first and meeting each person where they are.
Background and approach
Sessions are not about rushing change but about small, practical steps that fit real life. Sarah uses tools from cognitive behavioral approaches and acceptance-based work to help people notice unhelpful thinking and choose actions that matter to them. She also draws on client-centered and dialectical ideas to support emotion regulation and relationships with self and others.
These methods are used to address worries, trauma, grief, and questions about identity. She has three years of clinical experience and holds an Illinois LCSW - Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Sarah has worked with concerns such as self-esteem, attachment and abandonment issues, dissociation, and challenges related to chronic illness or caregiving stress.
People often come to her for help with trauma and abuse, grief, body image, and LGBT-related stressors. She offers conversations that focus on understanding patterns, building coping skills, and helping clients feel more grounded over time.
How therapy approaches translate to online care
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, focuses on helping people notice their thoughts and choose actions that match their values. It can be useful for anxiety, stress, and feeling stuck. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns and teaches clear techniques to alter them, which often helps with worry and low mood. Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes a warm, nonjudgmental relationship and listening so people feel understood and can explore their own goals.Choosing the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to try methods that fit their needs, goals, and preferences. That process can include trying different techniques and adjusting the plan as progress is made.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video is useful for face-to-face discussion and exercises, while phone sessions use less bandwidth and can fit into a work break. Live chat or text messaging can help with short check-ins, homework, or when someone prefers not to be on camera. These options offer flexibility to fit therapy into a busy life and make it easier to keep regular appointments.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Body image
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dissociation
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- First responder issues
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Immigration issues
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 3 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English
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