Sarah Saffian


The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change. —Carl Rogers



VIDEOS:
How Can Providers Incorporate Therapeutic Writing Into Their Care? Interview with Dr. Wayne Jonas, Samueli Institute
Finding Identity within Chronic Illness through Therapeutic Writing
Interview with Dr. Wayne Jonas
Benefits of Therapeutic Writing (Self-reflection, self-knowledge, self-care) Interview with Dr. Wayne Jonas
Adoption and Narrative Interview with Barbara Freedgood, LCSW

PODCAST:
Sarah Saffian on Being a Memoirist, a Psychotherapist, and an Adoptee Adoption Talk, Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children

ARTICLE:
Putting Your Feelings on Paper
, Adoptive Families magazine

Sarah approaches her work as a psychotherapist with empathy, clarity, and humor. She maintains a hybrid psychodynamic style that draws from approaches including client-centered therapy, rational emotive behavior therapy, and mindfulness. Rather than a blank slate, she's a human being and a collaborator in the room, working together with the client toward the client's goals. To learn more about individual and/or group work with Sarah, you can reach out to her here.

Sarah counsels individuals, couples, and groups in private practice in Manhattan and virtually. Her clinical experience also includes counseling undergraduate and graduate students and facilitating CBT (cognitive behavior therapy) and DBT (dialectical behavior therapy) groups, at New York University's Counseling and Wellness Services; and counseling adoptees, birth mothers, and adoptive parents and facilitating support groups for all members of the adoption constellation, at Spence-Chapin Services.

Blending her two main areas of interest and expertise, Sarah has created a model called Therapeutic Writing, using memoir prompts as a frame through which to examine experiences, encouraging deeper, clearer self-reflection, processing, and discovery. When appropriate, she uses Therapeutic Writing with individual clients, in session and through take-home exercises, as well as with groups.