Sierra Schaidle (she/her)

Every single person experiences anxiety at some point, but those with marginalized identities or those who have experienced trauma tend to bear more anxiety than others. I have experience guiding clients through anxiety management, including when it shows up as physical symptoms like chronic pain or nausea, skin picking or hair pulling, OCD-type behaviors, panic attacks, social anxiety, and self-esteem issues.

I am a member of the queer community and have significant clinical and research experience in working with queer clients, including trans clients. Issues related to coming out, exploring gender identity or sexuality, seeking gender-affirming care, finding support, or dealing with the negative experiences that can come from being a part of the community such as discrimination and family issues are common topics in my work with clients.

I believe that trauma is one of the most misunderstood and impactful experiences to work through in therapy. I use trauma-informed techniques and EMDR to treat trauma. I have worked with clients dealing with: complex family trauma, sexual assault, rejection/isolated related to gender identity and sexuality, medical trauma, grief, and single-incident trauma such as car accidents.

Every single person experiences anxiety at some point, but those with marginalized identities or those who have experienced trauma tend to bear more anxiety than others. I have experience guiding clients through anxiety management, including when it shows up as physical symptoms like chronic pain or nausea, skin picking or hair pulling, OCD-type behaviors, panic attacks, social anxiety, and self-esteem issues.

I have been trained in EMDR therapy, which uses back and forth movements to help us reprocess memories. It helps us think about our experiences rather than be overwhelmed by the emotion of them. It is a high-effective and highly-researched approach that is often faster than other therapy techniques. It is NOT hypnotherapy, and you do NOT forget your memories. It's especially helpful when working through trauma and anxiety.

I believe the language we use matters a great deal in how we understand the world. Narrative therapy pushes us to expand the language we use and question the words we choose. Do you call yourself stupid when you make a mistake? What does that say about you? What do you think would be different if you said "I made a dumb mistake" instead? This is a tiny example of how narrative therapy helps us rewrite our stories.

Relationships are a vital part of life, and sometimes things fall off the track a bit. Relationship therapy works best when you're still motivated to work on the relationship, because change doesn't happen overnight. I have experience helping partners dealing with big transitions, parenthood, sexual concerns, lack of satisfaction, grief, and infidelity. Affirming of open and poly relationships.

Working with partners is one of my specialties and was a big focus of my training in graduate school. I love working with partners who are dealing with a variety of issues and feel confident navigating relationship dynamics.