It’s important work to step into counseling as an individual or with your loved ones. I admire those who make this commitment to growth and well-being. I’m honored to come alongside clients, providing therapeutic space to be honest without judgment. I’m passionate about giving clients autonomy, providing clarity, and being open to their feedback. I believe therapy is a collaborative process where both client and therapist play important roles: the client bringing their holistic self, and the therapist empathizing, tracing patterns, providing curiosity and insight, and working together toward meeting goals and living out personal values.

I enjoy working with couples, families, individual men, women, and teens! I have experience working in non-profit outpatient counseling centers and addiction treatment centers in addition to private practice. I especially enjoy helping families affected by addiction, working with couples longing to get unstuck and to experience lasting connection, and empowering teens with space to process and skills to manage stressors. I’m also passionate about supporting individuals through transitions across the lifespan, and through personal and spiritual identity work.

You have arrived at this place wanting to explore deeper meanings of life, perhaps gain control over things that seem in disarray, or wish to make an internal shift to a place of peace, well-being, strength, and inner harmony. Pursuing therapy is a courageous decision. Whatever the challenges may be, I am happy to journey with you on this path of healing, overcoming, and anchoring. The counseling space that I offer will enable you to lean into your inner wisdom, strengths, skills, and capabilities.

I am a Licensed Associate Professional Counselor with over two decades of work experience in the mental health field. My work experience in the US and India has included weaving the intersectionality of equity, health, justice, and healing as an individual, a community, and a world.

A curious fact about me, which perhaps is rare, is that I worked in the corporate sector for ten years in leading technology companies before my immersion into the development and mental health field! The diverse background allows me to relate to a wide variety of people from all professions, backgrounds, and milieu.

I also speak several South Asian languages, including Hindi, Kannada, and Tulu.

In my work thus far, I have advocated for survivors of domestic violence and other forms of victimization alongside mental health counseling with trauma-informed approaches and mindfulness practices. Furthermore, I also worked as a counselor in a college setting, working closely with students and their families.

I weave person-centered therapy with holistic mindfulness approaches to healing and trauma-informed therapeutic interventions. As a clinician, I aim to support my clients in uncovering their own answers and their own truth, which offers access to their innate capacity for not merely healing but thriving!

I believe it is an honor to work with you. The work you do with me will be aimed at revealing a more authentic, happier, and healthier you! I look forward to meeting with you on your journey of overcoming.

Trauma has a way of disconnecting us from ourselves and others. And if you’re anything like my clients, that sense of disconnection feels impossible to shake. When they first start therapy, my clients feel dissatisfied and disoriented with where they find themselves. They struggle to trust themselves. They feel stuck in self-criticism and people-pleasing. They feel alone, longing for genuine connection belonging. And they feel broken. Like my clients, you deserve to untangle yourself from the trauma and harm you’ve endured. You deserve to feel at home within yourself. To feel authentic connection in your relationships. To feel free.

I love working with adults navigating life after trauma who feel chronically disconnected because I’ve been there. As a survivor of complex trauma, I get it on a level I just couldn’t without living through it. I’ve climbed out of the valleys of despair and hopelessness, and I know it’s possible to reclaim your voice, experience restoration, and thrive.

I believe connection is the catalyst to healing. I also believe we as humans are hardwired to heal. Sometimes we simply need a compassionate witness to guide us back to ourselves and help us find a meaningful path forward. My hope is that our work together will honor the uniqueness of your story and empower you to rediscover the goodness you already possess.

Samantha earned her Master of Health Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Catawba College. She is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor through the NC Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors (#17770) and a Licensed Professional Counselor through the SC Board of Licensed Professional Counselors (#10262). Samantha is also a Certified Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist, a Nationally Certified Counselor, a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, a Certified Addictions-Informed Mental Health Provider, a Certified Sex Offender Treatment Professional, and a Registered Child Forensic Interviewer. Additionally, Samantha is trained in Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Interpersonal and Social Rhythm Therapy, and Somatic Experiencing.

Samantha has had the opportunity to work with patients with a variety of mental health concerns in school-based, college mental health, and outpatient settings. Her clinical focus is on severe and persistent mental health concerns, with a concentration on mood disorders. Samantha utilizes an integrative approach, combining Cognitive Behavioral, Interpersonal, and Psychoanalytic techniques. Therefore, during sessions, she commonly assists in identifying and challenging self-limiting patterns, healing from past experiences, and gaining insight into how the unconscious influences behavior. Her research interests include the intersection of mental health and the criminal justice system, the development of neurodevelopmental disorders, and genetic links between schizophrenia and associated comorbid conditions.

Whether you are struggling with anxiety, trauma, or addiction, I can offer you a safe place to heal and grow. Looking into therapy is a brave first step in taking control of your life, and no matter what you are going through, I’ll meet you with compassion and respect. I believe my holistic approach to treating the mind, body, and soul—something I am very passionate about—can help you discover your best self.
I believe the ability to form close attachments and maintain satisfying relationships is at the core of a fulfilling life. That’s why I often work through a cognitive behavioral/emotional attachment lens, utilizing the therapeutic relationship to foster trust and connection. And because trauma is often at the root of many people’s pain, I’m also trained in EMDR.
My mission is to help you feel safe so you can tell your story, heal past emotional wounds, and find relief in the present. I have experience in various mental health settings, including residential, partial hospitalization, and individual therapy. As a trauma-informed therapist, I love working with adults dealing with anxiety, addiction, and trauma.

At Wilde Counseling, we believe that stability often comes when we brave the wilderness within and around us. With an emphasis on nervous system support, we help our clients heal from traumatic events, past or present, and experience more connection in their lives. We work with clients to make sense of attachment wounds, build inner trust and self-compassion, and move past the relational patterns that have kept them stuck. It is a privilege to enter hard spaces with you and offer a safe place to land.

My formal education focused on psychology and clinical social work. My professional experiences have been in public schools, hospitals and outpatient clinics, the Military, international nonprofits, universities and various community settings. I currently have a private practice with offices in Napa, in addition to my virtual office, where I provide "teletherapy" to clients in both California and Texas.
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My therapy training began in public schools with special education, K-12. I counseled children with mental health concerns and led life skills groups. I worked intensively with adolescents (and their caregivers) in alternative school programs burdened by emotional concerns.
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I spent most of the next decade working in hospitals, both pediatric and adult, assessing and responding to a variety of issues including devastating diagnoses, chronic health conditions, end of life issues, infertility and pregnancy loss, postpartum depression, drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, sexual assault and mental health crises. During this time, I taught and supervised students for the University of Texas at Austin Graduate School of Social Work. After ten years, I shifted out of the hospital setting to therapist lead of an integrated behavioral healthcare network where I helped build a program for providing mental health and case management to a pediatric and family medical practice serving 30,000 low income families.
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An opportunity led me to England for two years, where I managed a prevention and education campaign related to new parent support and family violence prevention. I educated US Air Force members and families on topics such as stress and anger management, PTSD, resilience, healthy dating, couple's communication and parenting, while co-facilitating support groups on chronic medical conditions. During this time, I also worked with Airmen and families on managing stress before and after deployments and transitioning to civilian life after a military career.
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After a brief return to the U.S. to study Spanish at the Defense Language Institute of Monterey, I moved to South America and worked for the U.S. Embassy while volunteering with a Chilean nonprofit. During this time, I researched advances in counseling and coaching methodology. Although I have a working knowledge of Spanish, I do not provide services in Spanish at this time.
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In 2014, I relocated to Napa, pregnant again after experiencing pregnancy loss. After treating parents for postpartum depression and anxiety, I experienced it first-hand and became aware of a need for expanded maternal mental health support in my community. So I added services to my private practice that would address infertility, pregnancy and postpartum mental health support, Moxie Motherhood, and co-founded a pregnant and postpartum peer support program.
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For almost two decades, I have honed my clinical expertise from problem-focused to possibility-focused. I remain current on research and active in the professional dialogue of wellness, balancing my time between counseling, coaching, teaching, volunteering and parenting. Read more here.
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I welcome the opportunity to support you.

I specialize in working with individuals and couples who feel stuck in relationships. I work with clients to better understand their attachment styles and attune to their emotions. I also work with multicultural individuals and couples and work to help explore identities. As a second-generation Korean-American, I recognize the difficulties of navigating multiple cultural identities and the stigmas around mental health and therapy. I offer my services in English and Korean.

Sarah is a licensed professional counselor (LPC) specializing in working with women on identity formation and development, developing healthy relationships with others and self, life-stage transitions, and grief and loss.

Sarah holds a Master of Divinity from Candler School of Theology at Emory University and a Master of Science in clinical mental health counseling from Mercer University. Her dual training is reflective of her passionate interest in the relationship between spiritual health and mental health. She has been formed by her professional experience in hospital, palliative care/hospice, and mental health settings and by her international volunteer work in Mother Teresa's Home for the Dying in Kolkata, India.

Sarah seeks to support her clients in building lives of meaning in alignment with their values. She incorporates narrative techniques to explore the wisdom in her clients' stories, and she integrates existential theory as clients navigate questions regarding relationships, trauma recovery, identity, purpose, and spirituality. Sarah believes in the power of the therapeutic relationship and empowers her clients to be active participants in their own growth process.