Sarah Kate Wilder, LMFT

I'm Sarah Kate Wilder, trauma and anxiety specialist, long-time FL beach lover, now CO mountain adventurer, and forever ocean documentary enthusiast. Why I Became an Anxiety and Trauma Specialist Growing up in a religious space is a nuanced experience. While I have many positive memories, I was also taught that there were scary consequences to believing or doing the wrong things. Without knowing it, I adopted the "I'm not good enough" belief as a child and that became a driving force in my life. After several turning points as an adult that caused me to question my worldview, I began to feel the weight of shame that message carried. I also became aware of the anxiety I was holding. For me, it was terrifying to deconstruct my belief system. But I was between a rock and a hard place- try to go back to what I was taught and that not enough message or face the terror of going down an unexplored path onto a new view of myself and the world. After years of feeling stuck, I took a shot at counseling in the hopes that I wouldn't feel so anxious. This was my turning point. My counselor created a safe space and named the anxiety I was experiencing. This led to braving my past and giving myself permission to deconstruct and evolve. I learned how to cope with the anxiety. I began to sit with the existential questions that arose from my beliefs changing. I no longer am afraid of questions or feel scared of not knowing all the answers. I know how to shift away from that "I'm not good enough" message to a place of self compassion that even in my messiness "I am worthy, right here, right now". You Too Can Move Through As a trauma specialized counselor, my expertise centers on how our bodies hold harmful experiences and beliefs. I am passionate about helping people from diverse backgrounds overcome the harmful messages they were given, so they too can move past their past and become their authentic self. Just as the identities I hold (ciswoman, white, pansexual, evolving from evangelical christianity, grew up in Florida) impact my story, the context of your story and the identities you hold matter. I offer online counseling where you can explore your backstory in a private judgement-free space. It can be scary to face our past and the harmful messages we believed. Like in my story, if you too find yourself stuck between a rock and a hard place and are ready to brave the past, reach out for your free 20 minute phone consultation to see if I'm a good fit for you. Shame researcher Brene' Brown says, "You either walk inside your story and own it, or you stand outside your story and hustle for your worthiness." Together, I hope to create a space to hold the harm, shame, and anxiety in a way that allows you to move through it unbound by your past, free to own your story and your worthiness.