About Sarah Hagedorn
Hi, I’m Sarah, and Clarity Somatic Therapies is my practice at Portland Family Health. I am both a mental health counselor and a craniosacral therapist with a “license to touch” in the state of Oregon (LMT-24587). This gives me the unique opportunity to offer my clients somatic therapies that are both talk-based and touch-based.
My clinical approach to therapy is three-fold: 1) I meet you where you are with mind and body tools that feel safe and supportive, 2) I work with you to become more resourced and resilient in your thoughts, emotions, and sensations, and 3) I help you integrate and heal from adverse and traumatic experiences so you can make the changes you desire internally and externally.
I also work with clients exploring spiritual and existential matters on a mind-body level. You can read more about the themes I work with and some of my clients here.
A Somatic Approach
Working somatically means including the body—our sensations, our nervous system, our physical boundaries—in the work we do together. The body does not hold onto story the way our mind does, but it can get stuck in incomplete patterns of fight, flight, and freeze that disrupt our ability to show up in our lives, feel our bodies, and feel safe. When we work somatically, there is less need to go into our stories and traumas as we heal from them. We attend to what the body is experiencing in the moment and allow it to move through its innate process towards balance and regulation, and then our thoughts and emotions shift too. If we do go into past trauma, we go slowly and only a little at a time, letting the body lead the way.
Being in our bodies means more access to sensation, boundaries, resources, grounding, and our own inner clarity.
Working with me: What’s it like?
Somatic therapy can be accomplished through talk therapy or hands-on bodywork. Including both talk and touch can be particularly effective for lasting change and shifting fight-flight-freeze patterns that affect us on all levels. You can choose therapies according to your comfort level, or I am happy to offer recommendations once I know a bit about you.
Education
60-credit Master’s degree in counseling psychology, Lesley University in Cambridge, MA (2015-2018)
Over 1,400 hours of bodywork training (since 2005)
Craniosacral therapist in state of Oregon, LMT-24587 (LMT since 2009)
Practitioner-in-Training of Somatic Experiencing, Peter Levine's three-year training in trauma resolution (2019-2021)
Psychosynthesis Transformational Life Coach Training (2012-2013)
Master Level Usui Reiki, Medicine Buddha Reiki (2005-2012)
Why I do this work
My own journey of embodiment and healing arose through 10+ years of mind-body study and working with wonderfully kind and insightful teachers and healers (counselors, chiropractors, craniosacral therapists, doctors, etc.) I consider it an honor to share what I have learned and the skills I have honed with others. I view the work I do now as a collaborative partnership. Out of that co-intentional space arises healing, creativity, connection, and inspiration. I am continuously awed by the capacity my clients have to heal and to grow.
about Clarity Somatic Therapies
Update May 2020:
For the time being, Clarity Somatic Therapies is operating as a telehealth counseling practice open to anyone in the state of Oregon. Portland-area clients will be welcome to see Sarah in person at Portland Family Health once it is deemed safe and supportive to do so.
Clarity Somatic Therapies has a unique physical home—a 20-foot yurt on the property of Portland Family Health. This round, expansive space allows for fluid movement between traditional talk therapy and table-based bodywork that clients love. Clarity remains a dynamic practice with space to integrate new therapies and populations. By 2021 Sarah hopes to begin offering services to children, including infant craniosacral therapy sessions.