Sara J Demetry LICSW

WHO AM I ? I am a psychotherapist in private practice for more than 15 years with more than 30 years of clinical experience working in outpatient mental health as well as hospital social work and the care of geriatric patients and their families. The clients who initially came to me were needing trauma treatment, and this prompted me to deepen my understanding and skill for working with both big T and little t traumas using EMDR and IFS modalities of therapy. My interest, from the start of my private practice, has been to provide transformative work that frees up long held beliefs and patterns and enhances wellbeing and enlivenment. When I am at my best, the work is not happening in the head but in the mind-body and in the attuned space between client and therapist in partnership. WHAT IS CLIMATE AWARE THERAPY? In recent years, the climate crisis has challenged me personally, and inspired me to offer “climate aware” therapy, which provides space to explore emotions and draws on various frameworks to work with the emerging planetary crises. I am also a Disaster Mental Health volunteer with the American Red Cross, providing psychological first aid following disasters. I have a deep interest in developing my practice to offer both group and individual early trauma interventions, which are effective at reducing symptoms following a traumatic event. WHAT IS EARLY TRAUMA INTERVENTION? Following an overwhelming event, information can be held in a non adaptive way in our nervous system leading to symptoms of avoidance, intrusive thoughts and images, anxiety and hypervigilance. It can be helpful, to avoid the development of PTSD, to process the event with EMDR which can reduce distress quickly and help information to be stored more adaptively, leading to a positive belief about the event or one's coping This can occur in one or two sessions. WHAT DO I OFFER? I offer individual and group therapy to adults and older teens, as well as consultation to therapists individually and in group formats. MY MISSION My goal as a therapist is to become unnecessary in my clients’ lives. This happens when together we strengthen the inner pathways that make the client’s core Self more accessible and available for healing and resourcefulness. When this happens, the healing of our wounds, patterns, and symptoms comes from within, in the light of compassionate inquiry and presence. My intention is to move into more collective healing spaces with my work, and that this increases access for more clients to engage in therapy and to the power of collective healing. For information about EMDR treatment for trauma, visit this Youtube site (copy the link into your browser): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkfln-ZtWeY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKrfH43srg8&t=17s For information about IFS therapy: https://ifs-institute.com/resources/videos For information about Climate Aware Therapy, you might like to read blog articles on the Climate Psychology Alliance of North America website: https://www.climatepsychology.us/blog I use she/her pronouns. I am grateful to be living and working on land stewarded for centuries by the Abenaki tribal people, territory which is unceded.