Sarah Bickle
(she/her)
Registered Psychotherapist, Masters of Psychology
For the past ten years, Sarah has shared in discovering the unfolding of many individual's personal journeys. In doing so, her compassion has grown for discussions of meaning-making, interpersonal relationships, attachment, trauma, spirituality, and sexuality.
Her initial work with trauma began with Haitian refugees in the Dominican Republic, advocating for access to government care, providing education, and caring for basic needs. After training to be a yoga instructor in Bali, she expanded her experience easing distress through leading meditation and yoga classes at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), as well as through accepting crisis calls at The Distress Centres. She has worked with a wide range of populations from the Geriatric Day Hospital at the Royal in Ottawa, to supporting young adults along the autism spectrum at Blooming Acres on the outskirts of Barrie. Her most recent work was at the Centre for Interpersonal Relationships (CFIR), where she deepened her practice by providing psychometric assessments and long-term individual therapy. See more past experience here.
One of Sarah's recent academic pursuits focused on how pathways in the brain re-map during times of overwhelming stress, thus presenting an opportunity for powerful change and potential growth. Her current work involves exploring the benefits of utilizing tantric meditation for enhancing sexual satisfaction among sexual assault survivors.
Sarah holds a B.A. (Hons) in Psychology with a concentration in Social and Personality Psychology, as well as a minor in Philosophy, from Carleton University. She also holds a Masters of Psychology at Adler Graduate Professional School (Toronto) with a concentration in Couples and Trauma Therapy. She is a member of the Ontario Psychological Association (OPA) and the College of Registered Psychotherapists (CRPO).
Sarah believes that there is perhaps no greater gift you can give yourself than that of a healthy inner world. Like physical health, this exists across a spectrum and requires great care. She views pursuing therapy as a powerful and rewarding journey, and believes that those who seek it out demonstrate a great degree of courage, honesty, and self-awareness.
Sarah believes that personal growth flourishes in an environment that is empathetic, accepting, and authentic. She strives to offer this in all of her therapy sessions. During your first session together, the space will be open to discuss any questions, concerns, and unique preferences that you may have for therapy. You will discuss topics such as your background, expectations, obstacles, goals, as well as business-related matters, in order to come to an agreed upon initial treatment plan which will be fine-tuned throughout the course of therapy.
The integrative and holistic nature of Sarah's therapeutic approach provides flexibility, while her trauma-informed and psychodynamic training provides structure. Sarah continuously strives to expand her knowledge of evidence-based theories and techniques to better her ability to tailor treatment plans to meet the specific needs and goals of each client. She integrates these techniques with the underlying philosophy that one’s experiences shape their nervous system, sculpting a focused lens through which one experiences their life. In therapy, your patterned ways of existing in the world are explored, and you undergo the empowering journey of coming to understand why these patterns may have served you when they were first formed. During this process, you will also unearth how these patterns may have come to create problems over time, revealing a path to alternative ways of being and relating.
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Attachment
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Dialectical-Behavioural Therapy (DBT)
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Emotion(ally)- Focused Therapy (EFT, EFFT)
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Existential-Humanistic
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Integrative Therapy
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Mindfulness and meditation
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Relational Therapy
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Parts Work