About Sara
Sara Van Slyke is a licensed mental health counselor with 13 years of clinical experience. She practices as an LMHC in Washington and focuses on helping people manage stress, anxiety, mood concerns, and life transitions. She speaks English and works with adults who are ready to make changes in their lives.
Sara centers sessions on the person's own goals and strengths. She views each person as the expert on their story and builds on what already works.
Background and approach
Conversations are straightforward and practical, aimed at small, manageable steps toward better day-to-day functioning. Her approach mixes client-centered care with skills-based methods. She uses tools that help people notice unhelpful thoughts, practice new coping skills, and manage strong emotions.
Sessions may include mindfulness and skills practice between meetings to reinforce progress. Sara has particular experience supporting people dealing with addiction, grief, trauma and abuse, and challenges with intimacy or relationships. She also helps those facing career stress, parenting strain, eating concerns, bipolar mood symptoms, ADHD, and anger.
Her work often focuses on restoring routine, motivation, and self-esteem. She encourages a collaborative style where goals are set together and adjusted as needed. People can expect clear explanations, practical exercises, and regular check-ins on progress.
Starting therapy is framed as a step-by-step process rather than a single event.
How therapeutic approaches fit into online care
Client-centered therapy focuses on listening, empathy, and working from the client's priorities. It helps when someone needs a respectful, nonjudgmental space to sort thoughts and set personal goals.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, uses clear exercises to notice and change unhelpful thinking patterns. It is often chosen for anxiety, depression, and stress because it maps to concrete skills and homework between sessions.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, teaches emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal skills. It can be useful for intense emotions, anger, and relationship difficulties by giving step-by-step skills to practice.
Finding the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will collaborate with each person to decide which methods match their goals, needs, and preferences, and will adjust the plan as progress unfolds.
Online therapy using video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text messaging makes it easier to fit sessions into a busy life. Video supports face-to-face conversation and practice of skills, phone sessions can be a simpler option when bandwidth is limited, and messaging allows short check-ins or ongoing support between meetings. These formats make therapy more flexible and accessible for people juggling work, caregiving, or travel.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- Family conflicts
- Grief
- Intimacy-related issues
- Parenting issues
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 13 years
- Licensed
- Florida, Washington
- Languages
- English