Trauma Therapy vs. Trauma-Informed Care with Sarah O'Brien

When it comes to trauma there is a big difference between trauma therapy and trauma-informed care.  There are so many different types of treatment and healing modalities but what are they exactly? In today's episode of A Trauma-Informed Future Podcast, host Katie Kurtz is in conversation with trauma therapist Sarah O'Brien LCSW-S who helps us better understand the key difference between trauma trained and trauma-informed and how essential it is that trauma therapists are trauma-informed. Sarah also helps us understand the difference between what a therapy modality is and how it's delivered.  

Learn more about Sarah:

Sarah F. O’Brien (she/her) is a dynamic and innovative trauma-informed professional. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW, LCSW-C), and has been a practicing psychotherapist specializing in Anxiety Disorders, Substance Use Disorders, and Relational/Betrayal Trauma reactions & responses for over 15 years. She has had many diverse and enriching experiences as a therapist that inform her work as a Trauma-Informed Coach and Consultant. She has been finding ways to pivot her clinical skills into other areas to reach wider audiences for impacting social change. Sarah also writes, speaks, and creates audio & video media content in efforts to reduce the stigma around mental health disorders & treatment, and to increase understanding of and accessibility to trauma-informed practices for all people and all businesses. (Trauma-informed future, FTW!)

Not only is Sarah the Founder/CEO of both her psychotherapy practice and coaching/consulting business, she is the creator of the groundbreaking tool: the Trauma-Informed Crisis Response Guide. This step-by-step guide can be easily used and followed by any person, in any setting, to navigate the steps to address a mental health crisis in action. She has been featured in numerous media outlets to include Today and PsychReg. She has been a guest speaker on the Circle Back to You Podcast several times, as their in-house Mental Health and Trauma Consultant, as well as guest speaker/Subject Matter Expert for LIVE discussions and panels on LinkedIn. She strives to help folks wrap their minds around trauma-informed care in both clinical and non-clinical settings and work through their barriers to access transformational change, in life, in business, in self.

Sarah lives out her beliefs in every aspect of her work, as she employs TI principles to her business practices, marketing, design, content-creation, collaboration with other professionals or companies, and her work with clients. She has a contagious energy and uses it to empower every individual she works with to be their authentic selves…and wear it proudly. Her collaborative approach creates a synergy between herself and others that provides hype for motivation, follow-through on goals, and recognizable change.  Neuroscience and evidenced-based practices are the driving forces behind Sarah’s approach to understanding how people create lasting and transformational change for themselves.

Sarah holds several roles and titles in addition to Founder, CEO, clinician, consultant, and coach. These include: Social Impact Catalyst and Subject Matter Expert at Integrate Trauma-Informed Netwo

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