Dr. Sara Lewis-Stankus
Practical guidance for stress and life transitions
LPC, LMHC West Virginia
- Experience
- 26 years in practice
- Focus areas
- Stress, Anxiety, Relationship, Self esteem
- Approaches
- Gottman Method, Client-Centered Therapy
- Languages
- English
About Sara
Dr. Sara Lewis-Stankus greets people with a calm, straightforward approach.
Background and approach
She is a licensed professional counselor (LPC) and a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) with 26 years of experience. She aims to help people reduce stress and anxiety, strengthen self-esteem, and make clearer career choices.
She keeps sessions practical and focused. Conversations look at the patterns that cause pain - worry, control struggles, guilt, or repeated conflicts - and then she helps clients try new ways of responding.
She also addresses relationship concerns, body image, caregiver strain, chronic illness and pain, and the loneliness that can come with life changes. Sara uses tools from the Gottman Method along with client-centered work and cognitive behavioral approaches.
She also draws on dialectical behavior strategies and EMDR when those fit a person's needs. The goal is to find what helps each person move forward, not to push a single method.
Her style is nonjudgmental and collaborative. Expect direct questions, clear goals, and homework you can actually use between sessions.
She supports work on forgiveness, letting go after divorce or separation, and handling the stress of major life events. She practices from West Virginia and works with English-speaking clients, including people outside the United States.
Sessions can happen by video, phone, live chat, or text messaging to fit different schedules and needs.
Therapeutic Approaches and Online Care
Dr. Sara Lewis-Stankus uses a mix of therapeutic methods chosen to match each person's situation. The Gottman Method focuses on improving communication and reducing harmful interaction patterns, which can help people who want clearer conversations and fewer recurring fights. Client-centered therapy puts the person's experience first, with the therapist listening closely and reflecting back so people feel heard and understood. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) looks at thoughts and behaviors that keep problems going and teaches concrete skills to shift them.Finding the right approach is part of the work. She collaborates with clients to decide which methods fit their goals and preferences, and adjusts strategies as progress is made. That means starting with simple goals, trying techniques together, and checking in about what helps.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging. Video is helpful for full conversations and visual cues, phone calls can be easier when bandwidth is limited, live chat can fit quick check-ins or brief coaching, and text messaging supports shorter reflections or on-the-go reminders. These options make scheduling more flexible and allow therapy to fit into busy days and different time zones.
Frequently asked questions
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Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
26+ years
Licensed in
West Virginia, California, Florida
Languages
English