01 · Who Sara works with

Sara works with stress, Anxiety, relationship issues and trauma and abuse

Sara lists 16 specialisms and 58 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Sara chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

02 · In Sara's own words

What Sara says about the work

Reproduced in full and unedited - not summarised, not tightened, not rewritten in a house voice.

Sara Jane Tinker, MS, MSW, LCSW, EMDR, SEP (SE) is a licensed Clinical Psychotherapist and trauma counselor licensed in the state of Tennessee with over twenty-five years' experience, offering trusted, confidential, personalized, and effective research supported interventions. An interesting mix of professional training, skills and life experience adds a unique richness to what I offer clients. Crossroads experiences in my late teens got me onto a path of self-discovery that led to my present career, which I love and consider my true passion. I love to stay up to date and learn new techniques that can help clients, so more recently I trained in EMDR through the Personal Transformation Institute and am enrolled in the two-year Advanced EMDR Certification program approved by EMDRIA. I am also enrolled in Dr. Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing, gentle and effective treatments for trauma resolution. I am a member of the Southern Sandtray Institute Group and work with all ages in sandtray therapy as well as family & couples therapy. Psychodynamic, Self-Psychology, Object Relations, Systems & Family Therapy are my foundational lens while utilizing Somatic Experiencing (SE), EMDR, Person Centered, DBT, and Attachment work. My counseling style is warm , interactive, and engaging and I believe a trusting, therapeutic relationship is the foundation for the therapy. I treat everyone with respect, dignity, sensitivity, and compassion. I view people as more than stigmatizing labels, diagnoses, past "mistakes" and instead, build on your strengths, your hopes, and the possibilities. In the 1980’s my love for the mind-body-spirit connection led me to a graduate degree in Exercise Physiology & Wellness, completing my research thesis on Aerobic Fitness & Stress Perception. Next, I studied Yoga & Meditation at the Pennsylvania Himalayan Institute, later traveling & studying in India and Nepal. My graduate training at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville included stints at a clinic for victims of sexual abuse, community mental health, and later after working in acute adolescent psychiatric/A & D and in-home adolescent/child treatment, I opened a private practice in 1992. More recently, I had the opportunity to train with Rev. Becca Stevens, Founder of Magdalene in 1997, now called Thistle Farms, designed to heal, empower, and employ female survivors of human trafficking, prostitution, and addiction. I also worked with Mending Hearts, whose mission is to provide shelter, hope and healing to women who may be homeless due to addiction and co-occurring mental health disorders. Other common issues brought to therapy: Depression, Anxiety, Bipolar Disorders, Trauma, Relationship problems, Mood Swings, Stress, Chronic Pain, Communication issues, anxiety, depression, premarital counseling, spiritual or church trauma, gender identity issues, family problems, raising teens /children, and chronic pain due to autoimmune disorders such as fibromyalgia, lupus, arthritis, Crohn’s, and Sarcoidosis.

One of the reasons I connect so well with my clients is that I’ve had such a diversity of experiences. I know the stress of the work, a long-distance relationship, losing family, career confusion and change, chronic pain, loss, dealing with a loved one’s addiction, recovery, blended families, spiritual crisis & searching, divorce after a long marriage, and dealing with aging loved ones and dementia. I have experienced the healing of therapy, support groups and body-energy work, and can offer hope from my own experience, as well as from my professional training. I help clients create a life of joy despite the challenges. I genuinely enjoy helping people, and have both the tools and the experience to help guide you through better communications, deeper connections, family issues, healthier boundaries, major decisions, health problems, becoming your authentic self, and most importantly the healing process.

It takes courage to pick up the phone and call when there is this feeling "I should be able to handle this myself." Being strong doesn't mean you don't get help; it means you know when to ask for help, you can face your fears and anxieties about actually asking for help, and you're willing to look at yourself, your relationships, and your life honestly. Just give me a call; we can see if we are a good fit and if we think we can work together to help you make the changes you want to see in your life.

Sara Tinker, on the BetterHelp listing · read 7 Oct 2026

03 · How Sara works

The 11 approaches Sara lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods Sara lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not Sara's - a general explanation of what each method is, so the list means something before you have spoken to anybody. They are not a claim about how Sara runs a session.

Attachment-Based Therapy

Reads present-day relationship difficulty through the lens of how safety and closeness were learned early on. The therapeutic relationship itself is treated as part of the work, because it is where the pattern tends to show up first.

Client-Centred TherapyPerson-centred · Rogerian

The therapist does not steer toward a technique or a diagnosis. They offer sustained, non-judgemental attention and reflect back what they hear, on the premise that people find their own direction when they are genuinely listened to. Often what people mean by “someone who just gets it”.

Dialectical Behaviour TherapyDBT

A structured skills-led adaptation of CBT built around holding two things at once: accepting yourself as you are and working to change. Teaches concrete skills for distress tolerance, emotion regulation and relationships. Developed for people whose feelings arrive at overwhelming intensity, and strongest-evidenced there.

Emotionally Focused TherapyEFT

Built for couples and rooted in attachment: the recurring argument is treated as a cycle two people are stuck in rather than as one person's fault. Sessions work to interrupt the cycle and get to what each person is actually asking for underneath it.

Eye Movement Desensitisation and ReprocessingEMDR

A structured trauma protocol in which you hold a distressing memory in mind while following a repeated side-to-side cue. The mechanism is still debated; the outcome data in post-traumatic stress is strong enough that it appears in national treatment guidelines.

Mindfulness-Based TherapyMBCT

Trains attention on what is happening right now - body, breath, the thought as it arrives - so distress can be observed rather than automatically acted on. Strongest evidence is in preventing depression from recurring, and it is usually taught as a practice you keep doing outside the session.

Motivational InterviewingMI

A way of talking about change with somebody who is genuinely in two minds about it. The therapist does not argue for the change; they help you say your own reasons out loud, which is the part that predicts whether it happens. Common around substance use and health behaviour.

Narrative Therapy

Treats the story you tell about your life as something that can be examined and retold rather than as the plain facts. Separates the person from the problem - “the anxiety” rather than “your anxiety” - to make room for the parts the current story leaves out.

Psychodynamic Therapy

Works on the assumption that current patterns - in relationships, at work, in how you treat yourself - have a history, and that seeing the history loosens the pattern. Less structured than CBT, usually longer, and more interested in what comes up unbidden than in a weekly agenda.

Solution-Focused Brief TherapySFBT

Starts from where you want to end up rather than from how you got here. Sessions look for the times the problem is already smaller and work out what is different about those, so the number of sessions tends to be short and the work concrete.

Trauma-Focused TherapyTF-CBT · trauma-informed

CBT adapted for people whose difficulty is rooted in a frightening or overwhelming event. Pacing is the point: safety and stabilisation come first, the memory itself is approached gradually and only when you are ready, and the aim is that recalling it stops hijacking the present.

Also listed

• Existential Therapy
• Somatic Therapy

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

Sara practises through BetterHelp, so the route in is BetterHelp's. This is that sequence, written by Maker Therapy from the platform's published process - not a description of Sara's own practice, and not a promise about how quickly anything happens.

1. A questionnaire, not a booking form

   BetterHelp opens with a set of questions about what you are dealing with, what you want from therapy, and any preferences on the therapist. You are not booking Sara at this point.

2. Naming Sara specifically

   BetterHelp matches algorithmically by default, so asking for Sara is a step you have to take. There is a field for requesting a specific therapist during sign-up, and you can switch afterwards from your account. Starting from a link on this page does not by itself assign you to Sara.

3. If the caseload is full

   You will be offered somebody else rather than put on a waitlist. Worth knowing, because it is easy to assume a match is the person you asked for.

4. The first conversation

   A first session is typically history and orientation: what brought you, what has been tried, what you want to be different. It is also where the questions in the next section belong.

5. If the fit is wrong

   Changing therapist on BetterHelp does not need a reason. A first session that does not click is common and is not a verdict on therapy. That option existing is the main practical difference between a platform and a private practice.

05 · Before you commit

4 questions worth asking Sara

Built from what Sara actually lists, so they are answerable and specific rather than generic. Maker Therapy's, not Sara's - Sara has not seen them and is under no obligation to answer any of them.

• “You list both Dialectical Behaviour Therapy and Attachment-Based Therapy. Which do you lean on with someone like me?”

  Those two point in different directions - one structured and led by the therapist, the other led by you. The answer tells you what the sessions will actually feel like.

• “How do you decide when someone is ready to work on a traumatic memory itself?”

  Pacing is the biggest safety question in trauma work. A clear, unhurried answer here matters more than any credential.

• “With 26 years in, what has changed most in how you work?”

  Long experience is only an advantage if it has been examined. This tends to surface whether it has.

• “How do you handle the gap between sessions if something comes up?”

  On BetterHelp this varies a great deal by therapist. Better to know the rhythm now than to discover it on a bad week.

06 · Practical details

Credentials and licensing

Credential

LCSW

Licensed in

Tennessee

Licence

TN LCSW 1046

Licence number

1046

Licence expires

30 Apr 2028

NPI

1578905204

Years in practice

26

Gender

Female

Languages

English

International clients

Not accepted

Listed since

9 Jun 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Sara's name, credential, state, subjects, approaches and biography are read from BetterHelp's therapist roster, which Maker Therapy re-reads once a day; this page reflects the reading taken on 7 Oct 2026. The licence number and NPI are cross-checked against public registers.

The plain-English method descriptions, the first-session walkthrough and the questions are written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such wherever they appear.

Maker Therapy is not BetterHelp, does not take bookings, and has not met Sara. There are no reviews or ratings on this page because we have no way to verify one. If you start therapy through a link here, we may be paid a commission - it does not change your price and it does not affect who appears here or in what order.

Something on this page wrong or out of date? Report it and it will be checked against the source.