Sarah Plano , LCMHC

Sarah Plano is a licensed clinical mental health counselor with 17 years of experience in North Carolina. She focuses on stress and anxiety, relationship and intimacy concerns, coping with grief and life changes, and career-related strain. She works with people affected by addiction, depression, ADHD, and LGBTQ issues, and she pays attention to body image and eating concerns. Sarah approaches each person with respect, sensitivity, and compassion.

Sarah uses straightforward conversation to tailor care to each person's needs. She draws on client-centered ideas to listen closely and build on a person’s strengths. She often adds practical tools from cognitive behavioral therapy to help change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. Solution-focused techniques are used when people want brief, goal-oriented work that targets what changes next.

In sessions she aims to create clear goals and simple steps people can try between meetings. That might include tracking patterns, testing new behaviors, or practicing communication skills. She supports people facing caregiver stress, blended family challenges, or commitment and codependency struggles.

Sarah also helps those dealing with trauma, loss, forgiveness work, and feelings of isolation or shame. She integrates coaching-style ideas for clients who want help with career decisions and life transitions. Her approach is practical and collaborative, with an emphasis on small, achievable changes.

People who choose her can expect an adaptable plan that changes as progress is made. She encourages honesty about what’s working and what isn’t so the plan stays useful and realistic.

Approaches that guide online sessions

Client-centered therapy focuses on listening and building on the person's own strengths. It gives space for someone to set priorities while the therapist offers reflective feedback and support for personal choices.

Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, uses clear steps to identify thought and behavior patterns that increase distress. It helps with anxiety, depression, stress, and eating-related problems by testing small behavior changes and shifting unhelpful thinking.

Solution-focused therapy centers on practical goals and the next steps toward them. This approach can be useful for people who want targeted work on career moves, relationship communication, or short-term coping strategies.

The therapist works collaboratively to find the best mix of these approaches based on your needs and preferences. Together you will set goals and try different techniques to see what helps most, adjusting the plan as progress is made.

Online sessions offer flexibility to fit therapy into busy lives. Video calls let you use visual cues and hold longer conversations, while phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited. Live chat and text-based messaging are useful for brief check-ins, quick coping guidance, or staying connected between longer sessions. These options make it simpler to try different formats and find what works for your schedule and comfort.