Sara Darling, LICSW, LCSW

Sara Darling is a licensed clinical social worker with eight years of experience helping people cope with stress, anxiety, grief, depression, and major life changes. She works with individuals facing relationship problems, addiction concerns, sleep trouble, anger, low self-esteem, and career crossroads. She also supports people dealing with trauma and abuse, compassion fatigue, and ADHD. Sara holds an LICSW and an LCSW and practices from Louisiana. Her style is warm and straightforward. She aims to create a nonjudgmental space where people can talk about what’s hard and decide what they want to change. Sessions focus on practical steps, clear goals, and small experiments to try between meetings. She encourages people to notice what matters most to them and take doable action toward those values. Sara uses several evidence-informed approaches to guide sessions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, mindfulness, motivational interviewing, and a client-centered stance shape her work. These methods help people recognize unhelpful thought patterns, build new coping skills, and increase psychological flexibility. Many clients come with complicated life stories, including adoption and foster care issues, aging or caregiver stress, divorce or separation, grief tied to hospice and end-of-life, and challenges around forgiveness, guilt, or isolation. Sara tailors the work to the concern at hand and the person in front of her. If someone prefers online formats, Sara offers video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. The process begins by selecting Start Therapy, completing a short matching questionnaire, and scheduling based on availability.

How her approaches translate to online therapy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people clarify values and take committed action even when uncomfortable thoughts or feelings appear. It is useful for anxiety, depression, grief, and life transitions where someone wants to build meaning and direction. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thinking patterns and testing new behaviors to reduce distress and improve daily functioning. It often helps with anxiety, sleep problems, mood, and stress. Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes a trusting, empathetic relationship where the therapist listens closely and follows the client’s lead to support personal growth.

Finding the right approach is part of the process. The therapist will discuss goals and preferences with each person and then choose or adapt methods together. That collaborative process makes it easier to try practical tools that match what the client needs and wants.

Online work can be done by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. Video sessions allow face-to-face conversation and screen sharing for worksheets. Phone sessions can be helpful when bandwidth is limited or a quicker check-in is needed. Live chat and text messaging let people send short messages or check in between sessions and can fit into busy days. These options make therapy more flexible and easier to fit into real life.