Sarah Weber Belka

Starting therapy can feel vulnerable, especially if you’ve been living with persistent “what ifs,” intrusive thoughts, compulsions, panic, anxiety, or experiences that leave you questioning yourself. You don’t need the “right” reason to begin—being human can be hard enough. I’m Sarah, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Washington and Licensed Professional Counselor in Oregon, and I specialize in helping people with anxiety disorders, OCD, panic, phobias, trauma, and related concerns.

I believe good therapy should feel human. I’m warm, collaborative, curious, creative, and not afraid to use humor when it fits. I want you to have a place where you can say the thoughts you’re afraid to say out loud without worrying that I’ll be shocked by them. I also believe therapy should do more than help you feel understood—it should help you make meaningful changes in your life.

I have extensive experience treating OCD and anxiety, including more complex and higher-severity presentations. My work draws from evidence-based approaches including Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Inference-Based CBT (I-CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), SPACE, self-compassion, and art therapy. Rather than assuming one treatment model works for everyone, we’ll work together to understand what is keeping you stuck and choose an approach that fits your symptoms, values, and goals.

A lot of my work comes back to rebuilding trust in yourself. Anxiety and OCD have a way of making people question their thoughts, memories, decisions, relationships, bodies, and even their own identities. Treatment isn’t about eliminating uncertainty or never feeling anxious again. It’s about becoming more confident in your ability to experience difficult thoughts and feelings without letting them decide how you live.

For people who need more support than traditional weekly therapy can provide, I also offer the Say With Sarah Anxiety & OCD Intensive Treatment Program, a three-week, 36-hour individualized intensive program for adults with OCD and anxiety. Unlike many higher levels of care, the program is entirely individualized: treatment consists of one-on-one work with me, with no required groups or time spent navigating exposures on your own. Depending on your needs, treatment can follow an ERP or I-CBT track and includes assessment, live skills practice, between-session support, progress monitoring, and relapse-prevention planning.

I’m licensed to provide therapy to clients throughout Oregon and Washington, with telehealth available in both states and in-person services available in Bellingham, Washington.

Most importantly, I don’t want therapy to become another place where you feel like you need to perform, say the right thing, or have yourself figured out. We can be curious about what’s happening, make room for the messy parts, and work toward a life that feels more like yours and less like one organized around fear.