Hi. I'm Sarah Blake. I founded Sarah Blake Psychotherapy after 15 years as a therapist in a variety of eating disorder and other mental health treatment facilities and organizations.  Throughout my years of practice, I have specialized in treating eating disorders, domestic violence, mood disorders, stress management, managing lifes transitions, emotion disregulation, body image disturbance, relationship issues, social issues, career issues, and trauma.

I obtained my B.A. from the University of Maryland at College Park and my Masters in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania. Some of my extensive experience with eating disorders was obtained from premier eating disorder facilities such as six years at the Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt, four years at the Renfrew Center in Philadelphia and two years at the Belmont Center on the Eating Disorders unit.  Additionally, throughout my career I have obtained specialized experience working with domestic violence. I have also worked contractually for an outpatient counseling center and an EAP program in the past, working with a plethora of issues, not limited to only eating disorders and abuse. 

I work with individuals age 13 and above, helping them to find positive solutions to life's challenging problems. I work with individuals, couples, families and groups. I also provide community outreach services and am available to speak at schools, universities and conferences about eating disorders, body image and presentation skills. 

Throughout my practice I have learned many theories and techniques some of which I have incorporated in the work I do. I utilize Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and  group therapy to name a few. Foundationally though, my work began with the Functional or Penn Approach as created by a gentleman by the name of Otto Rank (who we heard about constantly at  The University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work, where I obtained my Social Work degree!)  This theory states a few important concepts that I have always based my work on. The first is that "the force for change had to come from within the individual, from an active, self-assertive Will."* A therapist's job is then to help an individual to better use this "Will" towards positive change. This also means that I always start where an individual is. Where ever that may be! We start there and then work together to move forward to the goal that we mold together in therapy. We work through each phase of treatment -- a beginning, middle and end phase -- together, in collaboration, to continue to move forward to the end goals that you have in mind, or that we continue to set as we go along. Each individual's length of treatment is going to vary, depending on the issues a person comes into treatment with and the work they desire to do. This is also something we will decide on together. One final piece of important information about how I work: I do not believe that psychotherapy happens in a 50 minute session in my office. Be forewarned! There is often homework to do between sessions. This helps tremendously in the journey. It allows the process to be more continuous.  

*http://www.sp2.upenn.edu/about/approach.html