Sara Van Slyke
Practical, strengths-focused therapy with CBT influence
LMHC Washington
- Experience
- 13 years in practice
- Focus areas
- Stress, Anxiety, Addictions, Self esteem
- Approaches
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Client-Centered Therapy
- Languages
- English
About Sara
Sara Van Slyke is a licensed mental health counselor with 13 years of clinical experience who practices from Washington while holding LMHC credentials.
Background and approach
She draws on a background of helping people navigate stress, anxiety, addiction recovery, motivation, self-esteem, and depression, and brings an emphasis on recognizing each person's strengths as tools for change. Her training includes Cognitive Behavioral Therapy along with client-centered and mindfulness-informed methods that support practical problem solving and present-moment awareness.
Sara frames therapy as a collaborative process in which the client is the expert on their own life and the clinician offers guidance, skills, and gentle challenge when helpful.
She aims to make beginning therapy feel approachable, acknowledging the courage it takes to reach out while focusing on concrete steps toward coping with life transitions, relationship and family concerns, grief, trauma, and issues such as eating struggles, anger, career questions, bipolar mood management, and ADHD-related difficulties.
Her style blends evidence-informed techniques with an empathic, strengths-based stance to help clients build confidence and sustainable coping strategies.
Approach-Focused Online Therapy with Practical Skills
Client-centered therapy emphasizes empathy and collaboration, creating space for clients to explore personal values and goals while the therapist follows the client's lead to build understanding and trust. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying and testing unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, teaching practical strategies to manage anxiety, depression, and stress through structured exercises and skill-building. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) contributions include skills for emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness, which can be especially helpful for intense emotions and impulsive responses.Finding the right combination of approaches is part of the therapeutic process, and the therapist works together with each client to determine which methods best match their needs, preferences, and goals. This collaborative stance means techniques are tailored and adjusted over time as progress and priorities evolve.
Online therapy offers flexibility through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging, making it easier to fit sessions into busy schedules or to access care from home. These options allow for ongoing skills practice between sessions and make it simpler to maintain continuity of care when life gets hectic, while still receiving guided support from a licensed professional.
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Areas of expertise
Also works with
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
13+ years
Licensed
Florida, Washington
Languages
English