Sara Showalter-Van Tongeren, LMSW (she/her)

Sara is a queer mental health therapist and Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the states of Michigan and Virginia, and is a graduate of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work. She has more than a decade of clinical social work experience in settings such as private practice, foster care, in-patient hospitals and outpatient medical clinics, domestic violence shelters, and behavioral health. She is co-author of the book The Courage to Suffer: A new clinical framework for life’s greatest crises, published by Templeton Press. She is also a contributor as a blogger for Psychology Today. Currently, she works in a private practice in Holland where she provides therapy to individuals to help them cultivate a sense of meaning and develop narratives of resilience following trauma and unexpected life events. She won the 2020 Social Justice Award given by the City of Holland for her work in helping to pass the city’s first Non- Discrimination Ordinance. You can find out more about Sara’s work at saravantongeren.com and follow her on Instagram @theexistentialtherapist.