Sarah Hartung, LPC, RDT/BCT
Welcome. I believe that all humans are creative and that accessing our creative impulse is an important part of healing and creating a life that is meaningful. This doesn’t mean everyone will be painting a portrait or writing a poem. At its core, I believe creativity is about being connected to authentic desire, awareness of what makes us feel alive, what repulses us, what interests us, what makes us afraid, and feeling safe enough to act upon these impulses. Many of us end up disconnected from this authenticity for many reasons. Family messages, trauma, systemic oppression, and physical pain (to name a few) are real parts of our world that often impact whether we feel safe enough to express ourselves and take action based on what we truly want and need. These experiences also make it challenging to trust others in our lives to support and connect with us on the journey where we all need community. I work with adults, adolescents, individuals, couples, families, and groups to reconnect to self and others and to develop your capacity to take action in your life.
Healing is the process, often lifelong, of restoring and reawakening the capacities for safety, belonging, and dignity on the other side of trauma – Prentis Hemphill
When was the last time you felt truly alive? My hope in therapy is support you in reclaiming and/or deepening your own capacity to experience your own innate wisdom, courage, joy, and to take action aligned with what truly matters to you. So often we get stuck in stories and responses we have needed to survive real challenges and injustice but that may limit our options now. I enjoy working with you to tell the truth of what happened in the past and to explore new embodied possibilities in the present even amid the very real challenges we also face as humans in an unstable world. I don’t have all the answers and I can’t fix you, but I believe in us together exploring what types of therapy will be most helpful to you and am open to change along the way. I utilize an integrative approach to therapy; no two human are alike, we all need different things on different days. I prioritize being present with you in the moment and offering options based on your particular needs and desires. I am deeply informed by humanistic, feminist, existential, jungian, and somatic psychological theories.
I am grateful to the many individuals and communities who have shaped my experience and outlook as a human and therapist. I have worked in residential, day-treatment, intensive outpatient, and outpatient practice settings since 2012. I have trained in Somatic Experiencing, Internal Family Systems, sandtray, and an intensive play-based drama therapy method called Developmental Transformations, along with many other expressive and embodied practices. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor, Registered Drama Therapist, and Certified Soul Collage® Facilitator. Many of my clients enter therapy seeking support around anxiety, depression, eating disorders, pregnancy & postpartum, infertility, complex trauma, relationship issues, life transitions, and grief and loss. I continue to seek consultation and collaborate with other healing practitioners who support, inspire, and hold me accountable to my values.
To explore working with me, please reach out to:
sarah@desertwillowtherapy.com or 623-282-4446
My office is located at 918 S. Mill Ave, Tempe AZ
I am in network with BCBS and United Healthcare.
Only one thing is more frightening than speaking your truth. And that is not speaking.
— Audre Lorde
Desert Willow Therapy LLC 