Specialized Therapy for Special Interest Populations
During the course of my 15 years working in the field of mental health, I have also developed therapeutic specializations in working with more dedicated sub-sets of populations that cross diagnostic boundaries.
This is the result of a combination of factors including my geographic location, my values, and in some part, fate. Every year, I find myself feeling incredulous at how many clients I receive both by referral and by independent client search efforts, who are such a compatible and also unique match with my therapeutic approach, skills, training, and the knowledge I have acquired via my lived experience. I have had the privilege of working with many clients who ultimately have felt “meant” to be my client, and I am so grateful for this, and for them.
If you would like to learn more about Sara Watts, please follow the link to About Sara Watts →
Therapy for Northwestern University Students, Faculty, and Alumni
My therapy practice routinely upholds a client caseload comprised of 30-40% Northwestern University students, faculty, and alumni. I consider my decade of experience working specifically with individuals sharing this institutional and cultural commonality a therapeutic specialization in and of itself. 50% of my private practice NU clients have reached me via word of mouth (client/family referral). I am so appreciative of the trust and willingness to share my name, as I know making a referral involves putting your own name on the line.
I highly value and adore working with this population, and I prioritize NU client admissions into my practice. My clients appreciate that my office is located a short walk from many campus facilities. The NU population directly impacted my decision to become licensed in the state of NY, being a city where many NU students come from, return to, or move to upon completion of their NU degree. I am so grateful to be able to work with individuals throughout their NU journey, and beyond.
Therapy for TTI Adolescent and Young Adult Alumni
The “troubled teen” industry is a long-standing and complex system involving a wide array of therapeutic services, programming, and educational offerings. Over the course of my years working at treatment centers providing higher levels of care, I gained experience working with and around individuals holding TTI histories or upcoming transitions into a TTI facility. Being a therapist who is savvy about the TTI world can be helpful for working with this population that present with notably unique lived experiences and recoveries.
In my private practice, I have been entrusted with many TTI “step-down” clients and alumni. I have also personally toured 40+ HLOC/TTI programs throughout the United States, including wilderness programs, residential programs, sober living programs, transitional living programs, and therapeutic boarding schools. My experience working with more complex diagnostic presentations / co-occurring conditions works well for receiving referrals from this lived experience. I hold a soft and intentional space in my heart for this incredibly resilient population of young people and alumni.
Therapy for LGBTQIA+ Persons
The LGBTQ+ population is a specialized community of individuals that remain therapeutically under-served, in spite of the well-documented mental health vulnerabilities associated with this population. However, therapists can also make presumptive and uneducated errors in over-valuing sexual orientation or gender identity as the source of mental health issues, thereby missing the whole person and holistic clinical picture.
Mental health issues in a heterosexual cis-individual are never attributed to their sexual orientation or gender identification. It is important to consider the harmful impacts of stigma and discrimination when working with a member of the LGBTQ+ population, and also to recognize that all mental health conditions have both environmental and genetic components that are entirely separate from sexual or gender identity. I make an intentional practice of never assuming an LGBTQ+ person presents to me for therapeutic support because they are LGBTQ+.
I am honored to serve as a therapist for the LGBTQ+ community, who represent at least 50% of my client caseload at any given time. Exclusion, hate, ignorance, fear, and marginalization are disgracefully being aggressively and regressively resurrected, resulting in exacerbated mental health conditions for some members of the LGBTQ+ community. If you are part of the LGBTQ+ population, please know that regardless of why you are seeking therapeutic support, I can assure you an experienced and non-judgmental therapeutic space that is safe for you to enter, be authentic, and be affirmed.
Therapy for Neurodivergence
As a therapist motivated by working with the neurodivergent population, I make personal extensive investment in continuing education/learning and even more importantly, in an ongoing practice of humility. Because there is a vastly wide spectrum of neurodivergent presentations, each client I serve within this population teaches me what is uniquely most supportive for them.
Neurodivergent individuals include those who are autistic, or have diagnoses of ADHD, Tourette’s, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, dyspraxia, and according to some recent research, the OCD population. Neurodivergent brains are not a deficit and are not producing a “wrong” way to think, behave, or be. They are simply a different type of brain. Within these brain differences come notable strengths valuable to a wide range of professional and social environments. Some examples of neurodivergent strengths are creativity, alternative perspective-taking, attention to detail, and problem solving skills.
Historically, the neurodivergent population has mistakenly been asked to modify their behaviors and mask their symptoms in order to accommodate the Allistic (non-autistic) population or the neurotypical population. Fortunately, the “right/wrong” stigma of brain type is being actively challenged and therapeutic treatment and interventions have been corrected in order to accommodate the neurodivergent population.
As a therapist working with neurodivergent individuals, I have made a commitment to fostering a strong understanding of modified treatment options and interventions, including within ERP applications. Modifications and accommodations offered within my therapeutic practice include providing a sensory-friendly therapeutic setting, allowance for soothing/regulating object presence during exposures, communication adaptations during session including the incorporation of typing, dry erase board accessibility, AAC devices (not provided but welcome in my practice), and session “breaks” to regulate, re-set, or pivot to more approachable content.
Therapy for Survivors of Narcissistic Abuse
During the course of my years working in private practice, I have unintentionally acquired a great deal of experience working with this vulnerable population of individuals. I now deeply value the therapeutic opportunity to support the healing journey of those in recovery from narcissistic abuse. Individuals who have been in relationship with narcissistic individuals or systems often experience disorders of grief, anxiety, depression, PTSD, C-PTSD, or other trauma presentations. Symptoms might include identity confusion, hyper-vigilance, sleep or appetite disturbances, social and relational withdrawal, and obsessional thinking or rumination. Emotional states of being outside of the stages of grief include shame, betrayal, bewilderment, and distrust.
Narcissistic systems can range from corporations to schools to churches. A particularly insidious type of narcissistic abuse results from systems or individuals who are “covert” in their presentation. They are “passing” as positive institutions and people, while simultaneously enacting harmful behaviors rooted in control and manipulation.
The narcissistic cycle of abuse follows a consistent and predictable trajectory of idealization (“love bombing”), devaluation, discard, and re-engagement (“hoovering”)...and repeat. This cycle of behaviors is often maintained at a relatively subconscious level, resulting in a notable lack of accountability, awareness, and ability to repair or reconcile the impacts of the abusive behaviors.
Sufferers and survivors of narcissistic abuse are often highly empathetic, genuine, compassionate, and relational individuals. They tend to see the best in others, and to discount the negative, which plays a large part in why they become targeted by individuals or systems with deep-seated agendas rooted in power, control, attention, and admiration. Having a therapist with a true and comprehensive understanding of narcissism can be notably helpful during the healing process. Therapeutic support is indicated to support the array of negative mental health impacts encountered during the course of involvement in and subsequent recovery from engagement with narcissistic relationships.
Therapy for Religious Deconstructionists
As a therapist who genuinely respects and embraces the vast diversity of faith backgrounds, working with this special interest population has been a valued source of challenge and critical thinking in my therapeutic practice. Religious deconstruction can be traced back to the 1980’s, but has emerged much more prominently over the past decade, most specifically within the population identifying as “exvangelicals.” Individuals who are deconstructing their religion are re-evaluating previously unchallenged and established tenets of their faith and lifelong accepted beliefs.
Religious deconstructionists have recognized problems and inconsistencies within their religious teachings. They are reconsidering indoctrinated scriptural interpretations with a critical mindset that is more of a blank slate than one with an agenda. The mindset of a blank slate creates an openness to alternate possible truths than those that have been pre-determined and prescribed by their respective faith systems.
A new identity is developed when the former religiously-adhered self is foundationally altered by a disillusioned self. An individual experiencing a deconstructionist journey often traverses emotional states comparable to Kubler-Ross’ stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance).
This is not dissimilar from that which also occurs within many other mental health conditions as individuals come to terms with a changed and holistic perspective of mind and body that is not always easy to navigate or accept. Therefore, the deconstructing individual represents a vulnerable population who can benefit from therapeutic support during a time of exploration, internal conflict, shifting worldview, and searching for peace within a new realm of understanding and identity formation.
Therapy for Highly Sensitive Persons
I developed a therapeutic special interest in the HSP population during covid, not only because I had the extra time to learn more about something I knew nothing about, but also because once I learned about HSP’s, I found a much appreciated understanding and compassion for myself. Highly Sensitive Persons are a type of person, not a personality type. This population is represented in 20% of the population and equally across gender. Being an HSP is lifelong and can even be identified as early as infancy, using markers such as sensory sensitivities, high attunement to their caregivers’ mood and emotional state, or being easily startled. In this predisposed and chronic way, HSPs are similar to personality, and yet are still distinctive due to the specific criteria required to fall under this typecast.
The four foundational and essential sub-traits for meeting criteria of being an HSP are:
Thought and feeling processing at a deep (introspective, reflective, meaning-making) level
Higher predisposition to being environmentally over-stimulated
Heightened levels of empathy or emotional responsiveness (regardless of relatability to self)
Heightened sensitivity to and observance of detail and external stimuli
Most people will not meet the criteria of all four of the above foundational HSP pillars, which is why consistency across all of them is required for demographic inclusion within the HSP person type. All four of these HSP pillars will be fully represented within and throughout your lifespan as an HSP. It is important to understand that a person is not “kind of” HSP, does not learn how to be an HSP, become an HSP, or stop being an HSP through any form of practice, therapy, or medication.
Being an HSP is fundamentally a foundational part of who you are. However, similar to many formal diagnostic presentations, HSP’s often develop high functioning masking traits and behaviors. Masking efforts require a great deal of energy, and can result in a variety of mental health compromises. This is why HSP’s represent an under-served and specialized population in the therapeutic realm.
As a therapist with a special interest in the HSP population, I strive to understand and acknowledge who you are and help differentiate you from overlapping clinical symptoms and behaviors that might be mistakenly generalized as avoidance, rigidity, or hyper-emotional responsiveness.
(https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/highly-sensitive-person)
Learn More About Therapy for Special Interest Populations with Sara Watts
If it would help, I would be pleased to offer a 15 minute complimentary call to introduce myself and my approach to therapy for special interest populations.
Please feel free to contact me today.