Sarah Stanley

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT SARAH STANLEY

I\'m a graduate student in NYU\'s Counseling for Mental Health and Wellness program, on a path toward a career in mental health support — but my journey here has been anything but linear, and I think that\'s what makes me the kind of counselor and mentor I\'m becoming.Before graduate school, I spent over a decade in marketing and communications, leading teams and departments for organizations ranging from Spotify to political campaigns. At the core of that work, what I found most meaningful was always the people — mentoring team members, investing in their growth, and helping them find their confidence and direction. That through-line eventually led me to ask a bigger question: what if I made that the whole job?Today, I\'m building the clinical foundation to do exactly that. My studies focus on evidence-based counseling practice, psychopathology, and multicultural and social justice approaches to mental health — an orientation that shapes how I understand clients\' lives within their broader cultural, systemic, and relational contexts. I previously assisted with research at The New School\'s Center for Attachment Research, an experience that deepened my understanding of how early relational patterns shape psychological development across the lifespan. I also volunteer as a crisis counselor with Crisis Text Line.As a counselor, I am drawn to the relational and humanistic dimensions of the helping relationship — the belief that healing happens within a genuine, collaborative connection between client and clinician, not merely through technique. My clinical interests include trauma-informed care, somatic approaches such as Somatic Experiencing and other body-based interventions, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and the integration of neuroscience research into clinical practice. I believe effective therapy lives at the intersection of evidence, embodiment, and social awareness.