Sarah Catherine Golden

My work as a therapist includes providing support with creating meaning rather than feeling stuck searching for it, naming and shifting internal narratives, and identifying the tensions that result when our values and behaviors do not align. As we move through life, our relationships with ourselves and others inevitably change; naturally these transitions are not always smooth or comfortable. I aim to help my clients see themselves in the larger contexts and systems in which we all collectively exist, to externalize and de-pathologize perceived individual challenges, and to deepen relational connections.
It is crucial that our work together be centered on your needs, beliefs, background, and culture(s). We cannot fully envision where we would like to go without solidly acknowledging where we come from, and there is no homogenized way to do this. I most prefer collaborative and transparent work and seek to create space for and work with whatever you choose to bring into our sessions.
I recognize and honor diversity and inclusion in my life and work. I am a part of the LGBTQIA2+ community and am happy to support trans and gender nonconforming humans with gender-affirming care, including letters of support. I am sex and kink positive, supportive of all relational styles, and am allied with sex workers. Social justice and mental health are inextricable to me, and my work as a therapist is and will always be rooted in the principles of accessibility and equity. With that said, I recognize my privilege as a white, able-bodied clinician and am committed to ongoing anti-racist and anti-oppression education and practices.
I earned my Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in 2018 from Vermont State University, and I have been working in mental health and social justice since 2015 in Vermont, Los Angeles, and Oregon. I also have photojournalism, studio, and fine art backgrounds and am a published writer and editor. I have additional degrees in anthropology, sociology, and art and am internationally certified to teach English as a foreign language. I have lived in the US, several countries in Western Europe, and Mexico, and completed portions of my graduate studies in Nicaragua, Ireland, and Russia. As such, pluralism and multiculturalism are built into and inform my theories and methodologies.
I am formally and comprehensively trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), EMDR, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Narrative Therapy, and Art Therapy and facilitation. I have specialized training in Sex Therapy, as well as in working with people with complex trauma, anxiety, depression, personality disorders, ADHD, and autism. I have also spent all of my career working with individuals with dual diagnoses of intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and mental health disorders. Based on the treatment plan you and I devise, we will mutually decide how to best point you toward your goals and what interventions feel most appropriate. I am most passionate about postmodern and existential humanistic theories and practices, and I also use psycho-education and practical skill-building in my work, as both are empowering and help to dismantle divisive power dynamics in counseling relationships. Humor, authenticity, creativity, and sincerity are indispensable to who I am and how I work.