Services
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In the day-to-day of living our lives, of coping with difficult experiences, we may sometimes need to hide our true feelings — even from ourselves. Burying our authentic emotions can make us functional in a chaotic world, and often carries a heavy cost: emotional discomfort, distress, disconnection we don’t quite understand and can’t quite explain. Individual therapy is a journey back to yourself – the things begging for acknowledgement, naming, feeling.
In my practice, I work from a relational, strengths-based, and insight-oriented framework. I believe the therapeutic relationship can be an amazing catalyst for change and a container to hold the multiplicity of your experiences. Our work is centered around you, your understanding of yourself, and your personal story. My approach is trauma-responsive, focused on understanding how trauma and stress affect both the mind and the body. I use evidence-based techniques to help clients build resilience and develop effective coping strategies to manage overwhelming emotions – or to get back in touch with feeling altogether. My practice centers the work of congruence – allowing our conscious, expressed feeling to mirror our inner life – so that you feel more attuned to yourself and aligned with your needs and values. We meet shame and self criticism with acceptance and embodiment.
Because our work centers your experience in process and content, individual therapy is uniquely tailored to what you bring. Whether you want to dive in deep through long-term therapeutic work or just need brief support during a transition or particularly turbulent time in your life, the scope of our work is up to you. Together, we will explore feeling and develop practical tools to help you move towards a more fulfilling, congruent, and joyful life.
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Family therapy can be an amazing, generative space to have vulnerable conversations with people you love. We slow down communication and relational dynamics to better understand individual and shared experiences during difficult moments. We pay close attention to your family's unique story, roles, and tensions between boundary-setting and closeness.
My approach is rooted in attachment, family systems theory and trauma-informed care, and I hold particular attention to each person's story and its impact on the present. I welcome people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions, and support individuals and families in partnered, separated/divorced, monogamous, open, and polyamorous configurations.
Common family therapy topics in my practice include: connection and closeness, family stress and conflict, trauma and loss, coping with chronic illness, separation and divorce, limits and boundaries, major life transitions, child/teenager support, adoption and foster care.
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Young people live in a world that systematically disempowers them. Their choices often feel made for them, their days are mostly structured by the authority of adults. I believe that young people are best served by therapy that recognizes and cultivates their innate wisdom, encourages their developing sense of self, and empowers them to make changes they want in their lives.
With over a decade of experience working with teenagers and adolescents, I offer developmentally appropriate services for young people, grounded in exploring their values, story, and vision. For younger adolescents, we often incorporate play and expressive arts into our sessions. For teenagers, we might start with talking, with storytelling, and build on our work through somatic (body-based) mindfulness practice and art therapy. This diversity of approaches helps us to communicate through the unsayable, to express meanings that defy language – or are simply better said through another. Whether we're using words, art, or play, my focus is always on creating a safe and supportive space where young people can explore their innermost thoughts and feelings.
I believe in collaborating with my youth clients and their families to create a plan that works best for them. Often, my individual work with young people benefits from a plan that incorporates family therapy alongside our regular sessions. I encourage open communication between parents and their children, and seek to empower young people to make their own decisions whenever possible. In our work (even in family therapy), young people set the pace.
Some topics that come up a lot in my work with youth: gender identity and sexual orientation; identity development and values exploration; social anxiety and isolation; recent transitions (e.g. parent divorce, moving, change of school, new sibling); school stress; self harm, self injury, risk taking; depression, anxiety, attention; disordered eating and body image; trauma and abuse; family conflict.
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I offer one-on-one consultation and supervision services for other providers, specializing in:
— Interpersonal violence and complex trauma, including Intimate partner violence, sexual violence, childhood sexual trauma
— Person-centered harm reduction and safety planning for abusive relationships, self harm, suicidality, and other self-injurious behavior
— Effective clinical work with children, youth and young adults
I am trained in Culturally Sensitive Clinical Supervision, and work within a reflective, affirming style. I support my supervisees in learning to embrace ambiguity and complexity, using their intuitive knowledge to deepen their clinical practice, noticing and working through counter-transference, and centering client needs in context. Email me at therapy@sallywalstromlcsw.com or fill out my contact form to schedule or get more information about supervision or consultation.
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I provide trauma-responsive training for mental health professionals and health care providers. My training style integrates clinical experiences and case anecdotes with a deeply interpersonal and interactive style that holds vulnerability, fallibility and growth for participants. I situate content in larger contexts of systemic violence and oppression. I strive to create a training environment that is participatory and honors the wisdom and lived experience of all participants.
Recent trainings:
Expressive Arts Interventions with Youth
Oakland, CA | July 26, 2024
Trauma-Informed Assessment Skills
Oakland CA | September 13, 2024
Suicide Intervention and Prevention
Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services
Oakland, CA | November 15, 2024
