Sarah Bederman is an Associate Marriage & Family Therapist (AMFT) devoted to supporting individuals and couples in navigating life transitions and challenges, processing trauma and grief, deepening self-awareness, strengthening relationships and cultivating greater meaning and self-compassion. Her trauma-informed approach blends psychodynamic and existential exploration with practical tools from DBT, CBT and ACT, so clients feel both understood and supported in making meaningful change.
Sarah completed her clinical training at Pepperdine University, where she graduated summa cum laude with an MA in Clinical Psychology, with Emphasis in Marriage & Family Therapy. She worked in inpatient residential addiction treatment at Beit T’Shuvah in Los Angeles, where she led groups (grief and DBT skills) and supported individuals and families navigating early recovery alongside co-occurring mental health struggles, trauma, grief/loss, life transitions and relationships/attachment issues.
Sarah has specialized training (Perinatal Mental Health-Certified, or PMH-C), as well as lived and volunteer experience, in perinatal mental health. In 2018, she joined Postpartum Support International (PSI) as a support coordinator, connecting women and families with local resources, and later facilitated support groups focused on parenting, mental health and birth trauma. She is incredibly passionate about serving perinatal women and their families, continuing to volunteer as a specialized support coordinator for unplanned Caesarean Section and birth trauma.
Sarah sees clients as the experts on their own lives and views herself as a collaborator in the therapeutic process. She brings genuine warmth, curiosity and honesty to each session, creating a safe haven where clients can explore their emotions, relationships and recurring cycles without judgment. She guides clients in exploring the current impact of past experiences and relationships, while building greater awareness, flexibility and choice in how they relate to themselves and others.
Clients describe Sarah as authentic, warm, thoughtful and insightful, with a sense of humor that helps make difficult work feel more approachable. Her style is relational, direct, collaborative and engaged. Sarah focuses on building a strong, trusting therapeutic relationship, where clients can feel truly safe to explore and grow. At the same time, she is not afraid to gently challenge clients in service of their insight, growth and change. She helps clients deepen their self-awareness, access their strengths and self-trust and move toward greater clarity, self-compassion, connection and purpose.
