Sam Nielsen, LMSW

Sam Nielsen (she/her) is a psychotherapist who recognizes the human experience is helped and hindered by a constellation of visible and invisible variables. Her therapeutic philosophy is rooted in collaborative, relational healing, inclusive of all the intersectional identities that influence a person's experience of suffering and joy. Sam works with adolescents and adults who wish to process traumatic experiences and/or explore related impacts of trauma, such as relationship issues, substance use, depression, anxiety, dissociation from the physical body, and disconnection from self. Sam is also experienced in supporting those who are deconstructing long-held spiritual frameworks or grappling with the emotional and relational impacts of leaving a faith tradition, as well as those who are integrating experiences from altered states of consciousness (for example, breath work and psychedelic journeys).

While Sam does offer education and therapeutic guidance, she prioritizes pointing clients back to their own intrinsic wisdom. Sam believes every person is the expert of their own life. This self-knowing is discovered and explored through creative expression, subtle movement, intentional breathing, and verbal processing. The modalities that inform the flow of sessions are Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Somatic Experiencing (SE) therapies.

Sam earned her MSW degree at the University of Utah and has clinical internship experience supporting adult survivors of sexual trauma, as well as children in school settings. Prior to entering the field of social work, Sam coordinated Obstetrics and Gynecology research studies, facilitated yoga and meditation classes, and taught high school English literature. In her various roles, Sam became familiar with the holistic nature of transformation, as she feels this happens in the body, intellect, and spirit through a process of curiosity and self-knowing.