To schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation, please send an email to sarahbsimpson@protonmail.com. For more information about me, read on…

I’ve been a therapist in private practice since September of 2016. I earned my Master of Arts (MA) in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Goddard College in Vermont. I also have a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from NC State University. I am paneled with Blue Cross Blue Shield, and my private pay fee is $125 per session.

My approach to therapy is informed by aspects of modern psychoanalysis, attachment theory, neurobiology, Buddhist philosophy, and mindfulness-based practices. I believe that psychotherapy is essentially spiritual work, as its ultimate goal is to get us beyond our conditioning. So much of “who we are” has been learned! And thanks to the brain’s ability to change, we can learn new ways of being.

I agree with Zen Buddhist priest Norman Fischer, who said, “Regardless of what has happened or why, this is your life and you are the only one equipped to deal with it.” As a music lover, I’ll also quote Angel Olsen here: “No one can ever be you for yourself.” My primary objective as a therapist is to help my clients become more of themselves.

And the best way to ensure that I’m effective on this path is to become more of myself. American spiritual teacher Ram Dass (one of my heroes) said, “I have to work on myself to become more spacious in order to be available to you, to free you to be able to do what you need to do.” I work on myself through regularly meditation, yoga, and group therapy, and through frequent professional trainings.

What i’m currently reading

  • I and Thou

    This long-acclaimed philosophical and spiritual classic by Martin Buber emphasizes the importance of interpersonal relationships in contacting the sacred side of life. “We are resolved to tend with holy care the holy treasure of our actuality that has been given to us for this life and perhaps for no other life that might be closer to the truth.”

  • Some People Don't Want What They Say They WAnt

    This collection of 100 unconventional interventions in group therapy is full of lucid, concrete examples that anyone interested in leading interpersonal process groups would find invaluable.

  • Hua Hu Ching

    Brian Walker’s presentation of the unknown oral teachings of Lao Tzu is the kind of book I could read over and over again and glean something new every time. Taoism sets me at ease in its assurance that everything in this world is proceeding just as it should, in the only way it can.

what’s with all the field pictures?

On January 1st, 2024, I took a photo of the field that my husband and I pass by every morning when walking our dogs. Then I took a photo of that same field from the opposite side, vowing to take these photos every morning for the next 365 mornings (accounting for Leap Day). I call this project “The Year in a Field.” It’s a way for me to document time and pay homage to its passing. Plus I just love a good field!