Dr. Sarah Kays

You’ve handled a lot. Maybe more than most people know. You’ve built a life, met your responsibilities, and kept moving — but somewhere along the way, the weight of past experiences, chronic stress, or a health challenge started showing up in ways you can’t easily ignore. Sometimes that looks like a diagnosis with a clear name. Sometimes it looks like symptoms that have stumped every doctor you’ve seen — pain, fatigue, hormonal shifts, or a body that feels unfamiliar in ways that are hard to explain. You’re not making it up. You’re not falling apart. But you’re ready to understand yourself more deeply and finally feel some relief. I’m a clinical psychologist with a doctoral specialization in health and behavioral medicine and over a decade of experience working at the intersection of trauma, chronic stress, and physical health. My training included an APA-accredited postdoctoral fellowship in behavioral medicine, women's health, and primary care integration — the kind of work that happens at the edge of psychology and medicine, where the two are impossible to separate. I’ve spent my career working with people who are managing real complexity — where past experiences shape present struggles, and where the mind and body are undeniably connected. That includes people living with chronic illness, chronic pain, perimenopause, and significant life transitions: health changes and life shifts that are often minimized, undertreated, and exhausting to navigate alone. My work blends trauma-informed, insight-oriented therapy with practical, skills-based tools. We’ll work to understand the patterns underneath your symptoms — not just cope with them. That might mean exploring how earlier experiences show up in your body today, how chronic illness or a major life transition has disrupted your sense of self, or how long-standing stress has quietly narrowed your life. Sessions are collaborative, honest, and grounded in real science — including the neuroscience of how stress, trauma, and the nervous system shape physical health in ways that are measurable, meaningful, and treatable. I work best with self-aware, high-functioning adults who are ready for meaningful work — people who want more than symptom management. They want to understand themselves, reclaim their sense of self, and live more fully. They may be navigating a health diagnosis, the upheaval of midlife, or a transition that has shaken their sense of who they are. They’re not looking for someone to tell them it’s all in their head. They’re looking for someone who knows it isn’t — and knows what to do about it.