Sarah Betz, LCSW

01/11/2023

Happy New Year! We are starting a CBT/Somatic Therapy group in February for Young Adults (ages 18-24). This is an 8-week Virtual Group. 7:30-8:30pm Thursdays starting on February 2, 2023. $40 per session. See flyer for more information. Send any referrals to info@meadowtherapy.com

05/23/2022

It can be nerve-wracking to search for a psychotherapist in New York. These days, it seems like you reach out to 10 different therapists and only hear back from 1. But you finally get a consultation with them and book your first session! Now what?! I’m here to give you some answers about what to expect. Here are a few general ideas to get you started on your way to your first psychotherapy session in New York. Read blog through link in my bio.

05/17/2022

You googled some psychotherapists in New York and read through what each of them has to say. But now you have a ton of questions about psychotherapy itself. It can be confusing to know what therapy is and how it works. I’m here to help you save time and get answers before you even schedule a call with a therapist. https://www.sarahbetz.com/blog/Faqs-about-psychotherapy-in-ny . Link also in bio for my blog.

05/10/2022

05/10/2022

So, you’ve been googling psychotherapists in New York, and you’re ready to call them for their consultations to see if it’s a good fit. But what should you say? What information is helpful to know ahead of time? sarahbetz.com/blog/questions-to-ask-a-psychotherapist-in-new-york

I’m here to help you get clarity. Here are #6 questions to ask a psychotherapist in New York before you commit to working with them.

05/05/2022

My first blog in the series “How to Find a Therapist”. I’d love to help you find someone to work with. Check it out at the link in my bio or in my stories to read! I’d love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to contact me for a free 15 minute consultation to find out if we’d be a good fit! sarahbetz.com/blog/finding-a-psychotherapist-in-new-york

10/14/2021

I spoke with James on the Practicing Polyamory Podcast this week. We had a fun yet deep conversation about reducing shame and how that can lead to healthier relationships. Watch live on Facebook or YouTube and audio on iTunes or Spotify.

07/24/2020

I've been thinking a lot lately about the things that have helped get me through the ongoing pandemic...gardening and getting my hands in the dirt has been an incredible one. Watching plants grow, flower and bear fruit is a huge gift. One that I've been in awe of and so happy to watch. I've been an indoor plant mom for a while now but this year really gave me a chance to get out and see what else I can do. Indoor plants and fire escape gardens were my first foray -- so a lack of space never has to mean a lack of plants!

07/22/2020

Trauma symptoms are more complex than one Instagram post can convey but it's important to know some things to look out for.These symptoms involve the mind, body, emotions, and memory. Trauma reactions can include:
1) Intrusive symptoms (flashbacks, unwanted memories of the event, dissociation); 2) Avoidance (avoiding people, places, things that remind you of the traumatic event); 3) Negative Changes in Thinking/Mood (difficulty remembering aspects of trauma, negative self-image, elevated self-blame, feeling detached from others, losing interest in things you used to find pleasurable); 4) Physical and/or Emotional Reactions (hyperarousal ["being on edge"], difficulty sleeping, difficulty concentrating, irritability, easily startled)
These are some of the primary symptoms that might occur after trauma. Getting to know how trauma reactions look for you is an important part of healing from trauma. Education is power.

07/20/2020

One of the many things that happened during this pandemic is that my backyard has accidentally become a wildlife refuge. It all started with one groundhog...
Which became one groundhog and four babies...
Which also meant we had lots of cats stalking around...
And then suddenly there was a marooned baby possum we had to have animal rescue come get so the cats didn’t eat it...
Oh nature!

07/17/2020

Something I think is a critical part of trauma recovery and healing is education. Books are one of my first loves - I ate them up as a child and continue to use them as a tool for education, pleasure and enjoyment as an adult.
My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem is one of those educational tools. It is important to continue to educate ourselves. Anyone in the trauma field needs to also understand how trauma shows up in different contexts (race, s*x, gender, s*xuality, class, disability) and how the dominant narratives within the field have been centered around white heteros*xual cisgendered men.
You can find a full list of books and resources on my website: sarahbetz.com/resources

07/15/2020

More nature to calm your nervous system. Sound on!

07/13/2020

What is “Grounding”?
Grounding is a set of tools or strategies (a “toolbox”) to help you regulate intense emotions and to calm your brain and body when they are in fight, flight or freeze. It is possible to cope with and find recovery from trauma responses.
Grounding is not to get rid of emotions or to avoid them but to bring your emotional state to within the “window of tolerance”. On a scale from 0-10 (0 being completely calm; 10 being in fight, flight or freeze), the window of tolerance (4-7) allows for feeling states to occur without them necessarily activating the fear response.
There's "mental grounding", "soothing grounding", "physical grounding" and a whole host of other coping tools we can add to our individual toolboxes. I'll add more specific grounding exercises in future posts.

07/10/2020

This pandemic has made it difficult to get much needed access to green space. I love hiking and am grateful for any opportunity to get out into the woods. Just me, some trees and whatever beauty I can find.
Studies have shown that even looking at videos and photos of nature can have a calming effect and can help us de-stress. When we calm ourselves, we calm our nervous systems and can help to calm trauma symptoms or reactions.
Where would you or can you go if you are able to safely (socially distanced) get out into nature today?

07/08/2020

So what do these things look like in practice? Here's a list of different events that I consider to have the potential to be or that are inherently traumatic events:
Racism, community/collective trauma, r**e, in**st, s*xual assault, unwanted and/or non-consensual touching, forcing children to hug/be intimate with adults/relatives, emotional/verbal abuse, neglect, relational trauma (e.g. growing up in a dysfunctional household or a household with addiction, parent/sibling with chronic illness where that becomes the center of the family and inhibits child’s development, growing up with a narcissistic parent), attachment trauma (disruption in the bonding process between children and caregivers), war, natural disasters, domestic violence, identity-based oppression (s*xism, transphobia, etc.), religious trauma...
Sadly, this list is not exhaustive. I use a broader definition of trauma than some but I find it helpful to understand just how many things can be traumatic - much more than people think of.

07/08/2020

This pandemic has brought with it huge shifts and changes for everyone. Sometimes it's a mental shift, sometimes a policy shift, a social shift, a physical shift, an emotional shift. Wearing a mask might feel like a big shift but it's one that makes a huge difference.
Even in these hot summer months, it remains important to maintain social distance and continue to wear a mask. If you don't have one, check out to get one (donation-based and super cute!).

06/01/2020

Racism is trauma. White supremacy and institutionalized racism (the policies, governments, institutions, laws, societal structures we have in place to keep white people in positions of power) use fear, hatred, silence, guilt and the policing of bodies and policing of space to keep Black people oppressed and traumatized. .
All of the physical, mental and spiritual responses to trauma that occur due to experiencing, witnessing or hearing about a traumatic event are occurring to BIPOC on a daily basis. Having to fear for your life when you walk out the door, when you get pulled over, when you interact with police, when you're hanging out in the park, when you're sitting at home, when your child goes out to play, when you see the media post images and videos of the murder of black people that they would never post of white people being killed...the list goes on and on. It all takes a huge toll. .
Being trauma informed means understanding the ways that societal structures benefit from keeping BIPOC traumatized. It means reading not just the books that are written by white men and women in the trauma field. It means having conversations with therapists about how their whiteness and/or your own whiteness impacts the work. It means understanding that it will not be perfect every time you speak out or take action and being willing to listen when someone tries to educate you on something you have done or said. It means so much more than an instagram caption can contain. Feel free to DM me with questions around this or to understand actions you can take or for more information.