Sarah Cowan

Since I was young, I have had a curiosity with the brain and how mental health can impact our lives. I have watched very important people in my life struggle with their mental health, and also gain healing through therapy. Since graduating with my Bachelor’s in 2017 I have been searching for a field that felt like home but hadn’t found it. When looking at my values and what is important to me, I was drawn back to my desire to help. This desire became stronger as we entered the COVID-19 pandemic. I felt like I was sitting on the sidelines watching so many amazing frontline workers help people and really felt like I should be doing more. This led me to research counseling programs, and I finally felt that click that I was looking for. I began my master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Southern New Hampshire University in February 2021. Throughout my program, I have gained knowledge and experience that I am excited to utilize and look forward to continual growth. This internship will be the final step before being awarded my Masters. I am honored to be able to work with you all and grow and I enter this next stage in my training.

I am a strong believer that our life experiences have a big impact in our life. I utilize counseling theories such as Cognitive Behavioral Theory (CBT) and Adlerian Theory to get to know you better and create a plan for healing. However, I believe my approach is more appropriately defined as eclectic because I like to pull from various different theories to find the combination that is best for each client. We all come into life with a variety of backgrounds and experiences, I look forward to getting to know each unique client and collaborating on your wellness.

A little bit about my personal life: I was raised in Southern California but moved to Arizona for college in 2013. I met my husband in college and we stayed there until 2019 when we moved up to Portland for his job! We love living in Oregon, eating lots of amazing food and exploring the beautiful nature the Pacific Northwest has to offer. We have two amazing cats that we love to spend as much time as possible with!