MY BACKGROUND & PHILOSOPHY

Welcome to Sarah Strom counseling and yoga. For seven years, I owned a yoga studio where I taught a variety of yoga classes including therapeutic and mindfulness based classes. After teaching for many years, I felt called to be able to hold even more space for people on their healing journey. It became clear that my path was leading me back to school where I received my Master’s degree in Clinical and Mental Health. I know, personally, that making the decision to begin counseling is a big one. Not only is it a big decision, it’s a commitment to yourself. My job is to meet you where you are and honor it. You’re the one doing the work, I am just here to remind you that you have everything you need inside of you to live the life you want to live. I believe that this is the most important work we will ever do for ourselves.

Together, in session, I will assist you in identifying patterns and programs that are preventing you from living out your most authentic and fulfilling life. I will help give you the tools to assist you in re-discovering the gifts you already have and help you to turn towards the parts of yourself that need compassion, forgiveness, and love. Initiating counseling provides you a safe environment to peel back the many layers in order to rediscover your whole self, not just part of you, but all of you. No matter the symptom, whether it be anxiety, depression, disordered eating, anger, grief/loss, fear, etc., the root cause is often held in the truth of our pain and discomfort. Counseling is an invitation to work through the pain and discomfort that keeps us stuck in the powerless feeling of our fear that in some way tells us that we are unsafe or not enough— when in truth we are.

“So many of us are living our lives as if the beliefs, thoughts, and stories we hold about ourselves are true. We’re so intertwined with what we’ve learned about ourselves and the world, how we needed to be growing up, what others wanted us to be, what would happen if we were actually ourselves, and what we’d lose by being honest. We cling onto passing thoughts as if they represent reality. We grasp old stories that have long felt comfortable but painful. We look for proof of our stories everywhere— proof that how we feel about ourselves is actually true, because facing that we are good, whole and enough underneath what we’ve believed about ourselves is too scary, too uncertain, too new. I can’t convince you that you are good, worthy, and whole right this second. I can’t force you to unravel the stories you’re carrying about yourself that are untrue. I can’t make you remember the truth of who you are. What I can do is remind you of what’s underneath the pile of pain and heaviness you’ve collected over the years. I can remind you of how good you are. I can remind you that nothing about you needs to change before you can become worthy (you already are). I can remind you that just because you believed something about yourself doesn’t mean it’s a fact. I can remind you that the weight of repeating old stories, patterns, and beliefs that aren’t serving you is harder than remembering who you actually are and showing up for the truth of you. I can ask you: Who might you be beyond your story? What in you is waiting to be noticed? What parts of you are desperate for compassion? What beliefs are begging to be let go of? What needs remembering? What needs acknowledging? What needs to be forgiven, allowed, received, released, restored, renewed, and remembered? The work of unlearning our stories, thoughts, and beliefs that aren’t supporting us is hard, but continuing to live a life out of alignment with the truth of who we actually are is harder. May you remember this as you continue moving forward, and remembering the truth of who you are.” Lisa Olivera