Sarah (she/her) Smith, LCSW

Sarah Smith is a licensed clinical social worker with 14 years of experience. She centers therapy on practical strategies and a strong therapeutic relationship. Sarah uses clear, straightforward methods to help people manage stress, anxiety, depression, grief, and life changes. She also addresses concerns like addiction, self-esteem, career strain, and compassion fatigue.

Sarah focuses on building trust and rapport first. She treats the person, not just the problem, and invites clients to bring their own strengths. Sessions often include problem-solving, role play, and skills practice to help with communication and coping.

Her work draws on cognitive behavioral therapy to identify unhelpful thoughts and try new behaviors. She also uses attachment-based and client-centered approaches to learn how relationships and personal history affect current struggles. Motivational interviewing and solution-focused techniques help people find momentum and set achievable steps.

Sarah encourages exploring family history and life events that shape patterns of thinking and feeling. She is comfortable including faith, religion, or spirituality in sessions when clients want that to be part of care. Practical tools for stress and crisis management are offered alongside talking through painful memories and loss.

Sessions are offered in English and Haitian Creole. Sarah practices in Connecticut and holds LCSW credentials in Florida and Connecticut. She aims for clear goals and simple steps people can use between meetings.

To begin, Sarah asks people to describe what matters most and what they want to change. From there she and the client map out small, realistic goals and ways to try them between sessions.

Therapy approaches and how they work online

Sarah uses cognitive behavioral therapy to help people notice unhelpful thoughts and try new behaviors. CBT often involves short exercises, thought records, and real-life practice to reduce anxiety, lift mood, or change a behavior pattern.

She also draws on attachment-based work to look at how early relationships shape current reactions and patterns in close relationships. That approach helps people understand emotional responses and try different ways of relating. Client-centered therapy forms the backbone of her style by keeping the client's goals and perspective central and creating space to be heard.

Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. Sarah will talk with you about goals and preferences, try strategies together, and adjust the plan as needed. The aim is to find methods that fit your life and feel helpful, not to force a single way of working.

Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to make therapy more flexible. Video is useful for deeper conversations and exercises, phone works well when bandwidth is limited, and text or chat can be convenient for brief check-ins or quick coping tools. These options help people fit therapy into busy days and maintain momentum between meetings.