About Sara
Dr. Sara Lewis-Stankus welcomes people who are feeling stressed, anxious, stuck in a relationship pattern, or unsure about next steps in work or life. She is a licensed professional counselor (LPC) and a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) with 26 years of experience.
She writes plainly and listens closely to what matters to each person. She frames therapy as a chance for personal change. Sessions focus on identifying habits that cause pain and testing new ways of responding.
How Sara works
That can mean working on anxiety, self-esteem, career decisions, or rebuilding after a breakup. Her style centers on the client. She helps people name their fears and doubts without judgement, and then builds small, practical steps toward goals.
People can expect calm, direct conversation and tools that aim to work in daily life. Dr. Lewis-Stankus uses several therapeutic approaches to meet different needs.
She draws on client-centered techniques to keep sessions focused on what the person wants. She also uses cognitive behavioral tools to change unhelpful thinking and dialectical behavior methods to handle strong emotions.
She has worked with adults across a wide range of concerns, including abandonment issues, caregiver stress, chronic illness, communication problems, grief around divorce or separation, and feelings of isolation or guilt. Her background supports both short-term coaching and longer work toward deeper change. Sessions are offered in English and are available to clients in West Virginia and to international clients.
Therapy can be scheduled as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging, depending on what fits a person’s life.
Sara lists 6 ways of working on the entry:
What Sara works with
The areas below are the ones Sara selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Attachment issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Coaching
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Divorce and separation
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Self-love
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Training and background
| Registers | LPC, LMHC |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 26 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | West Virginia |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
How therapeutic approaches translate to online work
Client-centered therapy focuses on what the person wants from sessions and adjusts pace and topics to match those goals. It helps people feel heard and guides conversations toward practical change. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, teaches skills to spot and reframe unhelpful thoughts and to try new behaviors that reduce anxiety or improve mood. Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, provides concrete emotion regulation and interpersonal skills for handling intense feelings and reducing impulsive reactions.Choosing the right approach is collaborative. The therapist will discuss goals and preferences and recommend a combination of techniques that fit the person’s situation. That plan is revisited over time so techniques can change as progress is made.
Online therapy offers flexibility that can make consistent work easier. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and visual cues. Phone sessions can be shorter check-ins or a better fit when bandwidth is limited. Live chat and text-based messaging let people share thoughts between calls and keep momentum between sessions. These options make it simpler to fit therapy into work, caregiving, or travel schedules while keeping care focused on real-life problems.
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Common questions
What kinds of concerns does this practice address?
How would you describe the therapeutic style used?
What is the therapist's background and experience?
Where is the therapist based and what credentials are held?
Which languages and international options are available?
What session formats are offered for online work?
How are fees handled and what about cancellations?
What are the steps to start therapy?
A practical next step
Write down two things you would want to be different in six months. That is the most useful thing to bring to a first session, whoever it is with. If you would rather start now than keep reading, online sessions are the quickest route.
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