Sarah Nitschke, MFA, MA in Clinical Mental Health

Sarah (she/her/hers) counsels teens, young adults, adults and older adults. She is a graduate student in Naropa University’s Mindfulness-based Transpersonal Counseling program. Sarah holds an MFA from University of Colorado at Boulder. She has 25+ years studying and practicing mindfulness, meditation and other contemplative practices from various wisdom traditions. After 20+ years’ experience as a professor in higher education teaching art, design, and mindfulness and creativity she decided to bring her passion for being of service to others to the therapeutic path. Her successful career in the arts and higher education has provided her with the capacity to walk alongside clients as they navigate through the transformational process of self-discovery, insight, meaning making and healing—empowering individuals to learn new skills and tools for wellbeing. Leveraging her background in the arts, as an educator, a mindfulness and meditation leader, and an outdoor, exercise and nutrition enthusiast, Sarah develops approaches that are balanced, and unique to each client, helping individual’s address and resolve internal conflict and, incorporating a mind-body relationship.

Sarah’s capacity to gently create and hold a safe space imbued with compassionate, nonjudgmental attentiveness with a holistic presence is core to her approach to therapy. She believes in the innate goodness, beauty and wisdom that is always already present in each and every human being. Sarah is culturally sensitive and meets each client with authentic and deep curiosity about their unique personhood. Her approach is collaborative and highly integrative, with a focus on mindfulness techniques. Sarah’s style is a blend of person-centered and somatic/body-centered modalities. These include Positive, Existential, Internal Family Systems, ACT and Psychodynamic as well as the modalities of Transpersonal, Gestalt, Hakomi therapies. Sarah is a proponent of self-awareness and self-care, and believes that counseling can be a cathartic experience providing opportunities to recognize patterns or behaviors that may no longer serve the client. She works with individuals to address diverse forms of distress, challenges and goals, helping to guide clients in developing effective coping strategies, learning new tools and skills for a healthier lifestyle and enhanced wellbeing, in gaining fresh and/or novel insight and, finding psychological, emotional, and spiritual healing.

Sarah uses a variety of therapeutic modalities to work with clients struggling with:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Interpersonal Issues
• Identity Development and Acceptance
• Self-Esteem
• Life Transitions and Challenges
• Personal Growth and Spiritual Development

Billing under the supervision of Katherine Coutrakon, Sarah is an in-network provider for Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois PPO.