Sarah Spurling, LCSW

Sarah Spurling is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) based in Illinois who helps adults feeling overwhelmed by anxiety, stress, grief, or past trauma. She meets people where they are and focuses on making everyday life a little easier. Her approach emphasizes a calm, relational style so clients can be themselves without needing to perform or explain everything. Sarah centers the therapy relationship around trust and understanding. She aims to slow racing thoughts, rebuild motivation, and reduce the exhaustion that comes with persistent worry or low mood. Rather than pushing sudden change, she helps people try small, realistic steps that fit current routines. Her work includes supporting autistic adults and people exploring later-in-life diagnoses, and she leads autism support groups in addition to individual sessions. In those spaces she helps people better understand themselves and the ways they respond to stress. Sarah focuses on practical coping tools that can be used between sessions. Therapeutic conversations often combine problem-solving with acceptance of difficult feelings. Clients learn skills to manage intense moments and practice new ways to relate to their thoughts. Over time the goal is to feel more grounded and more connected to what matters. Starting therapy can feel like a big move, and Sarah treats that first step with care. She encourages people to take it at their own pace and to explore what kind of support actually helps in daily life.

Therapeutic approaches and how they work online

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice unhelpful thoughts and choose actions that reflect their values. It’s often useful for anxiety, low motivation, and chronic stress because it focuses on what matters rather than trying to eliminate difficult feelings. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors interact and teaches practical steps to shift patterns that maintain distress. It’s commonly used for worry, panic, and unhelpful thinking habits. Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist collaborates with each person to identify which methods fit their goals and lifestyle. Together they try techniques, reflect on what helps, and adjust the plan as needed. The original profile does not list specific session formats, so confirm available online options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy week, reduce travel time, and allow more frequent check-ins when helpful. Some formats also let people choose shorter check-ins or audio-only sessions when that better fits their day. Discuss scheduling and format preferences during the matching process to find a setup that works with existing routines and responsibilities.