Sara Reed, MS

Therapist

Relationships

Relationships are the foundation of human existence and knowing how to navigate the space between relationships can be extremely challenging. As a systems-based therapist, Sara helps individuals work through difficult relationships and find meaning and contentment in the present moment. She provides systemic-oriented therapy to individuals and families, who present with a variety of psychological, emotional, and relational problems. She works with couples confronting issues of conflict, infidelity, domestic abuse, and other relationship difficulties. She also intervenes to improve the quality of parent-child relationships.

Evidence-Based Treatments

Sara has expertise with a variety of anxiety disorders, most notably obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), which she treats with a type of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) known as Exposure and Ritual Prevention (ERP) — the gold standard for this disorder. Other specialty areas include providing research-based treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, health anxiety, phobias, and distress surrounding gender dysphoria.

Discrimination and Trauma

Sara works extensively with individuals who have endured discrimination-related stress and trauma, particularly surrounding experiences of racism. Her approach includes detoxification from internalized racism, with a focus on validation, empowerment, mindfulness, and strengthening of ethnic identity. She also utilizes the gold-standard PTSD treatment prolonged exposure for the resolution of traumatic memories and intrusive thoughts.

Alternative Therapies

Sara's experience includes the roles of research Study Coordinator and Therapist for an FDA approved trial of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD at the University of Connecticut Health Center (UCHC) in the Department of Psychiatry, in Farmington, Connecticut. She received extensive training in the delivery of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy through the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), supervised by study director Dr. Michael Mithoefer and training from many other experts on the MAPS team.

Sara has also received training in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and is currently a Therapist for a psilocybin study at Yale for major depressive disorder. These are a cutting-edge treatments for people who have not responded to traditional therapies. Sara is available to assist people who are working to integrate and resolve experiences involving non-ordinary states of consciousness.

Background

Sara received her undergraduate degree in Bioethics and Philosophy from the University of Louisville in Kentucky, and her M.S. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Valdosta State University in Georgia. Prior to her move to Connecticut, she worked as a licensed marriage and family therapist associate at the Behavioral Wellness Clinic in Louisville. Sara has also been featured in the media and receives regular invitations to academic conferences to present her work.