Sarah Plano, LCMHC

Sarah Plano is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC) practicing in North Carolina. She brings 17 years of experience to sessions and focuses on practical ways to reduce stress and anxiety. She helps people facing relationship strain, grief, career shifts, and life changes. Her approach is respectful and compassionate, aimed at meeting each person where they are.

Sarah often uses cognitive behavioral therapy to identify unhelpful thinking and build new coping habits. She also draws on client-centered methods to make space for a person’s values and goals. Solution-focused techniques help set clear, short-term steps when clients want faster momentum.

In sessions she listens for patterns that cause repeated problems, then helps clients test new behaviors in everyday life. Conversations focus on what’s realistic and useful for each person. She pays attention to how stress, fatigue, and relationships affect mood and decision making.

Sarah works with a wide range of concerns including addiction, eating and body-image issues, parenting strain, attachment difficulties, and compassion fatigue. She also supports people wrestling with isolation, guilt, shame, and forgiveness. Clients who need help after trauma, abuse, or major life disruption can expect steady, direct support.

Her style is warm and straightforward. She tailors plans based on a client’s goals and timeline. The initial steps are a short intake and discussion of practical next actions to try between sessions.

How her approaches translate to online care

Sarah commonly uses cognitive behavioral therapy to help people notice unhelpful thoughts and try different behaviors. CBT is practical work you do in between sessions to change patterns that keep problems going. She also uses client-centered methods that focus on listening and aligning treatment with each person’s values and goals; this helps guide what skills to try next.

Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. She discusses goals and preferences with each person and adjusts methods over time. Together they decide whether to emphasize thought-behavior work, steady listening and reflection, or short goal-focused steps based on what feels most useful.

Online sessions are offered as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to increase flexibility. Video lets people use visual cues for deeper conversation, while phone sessions can work well when bandwidth is limited or when a shorter check-in fits the day. Live chat and text messaging can support quick problem-solving, progress notes, and brief skill practice between longer sessions, making therapy easier to fit into busy schedules.