Sara Tinker, LCSW

Sara Tinker is a Tennessee-based Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with 26 years of experience supporting people through trauma, stress, anxiety, depression, relationship challenges, and major life transitions. Her work is grounded in research-supported interventions and shaped by a broad background in both clinical training and lived experience, with an emphasis on building a steady, trusting therapeutic relationship as the foundation for meaningful change.

Her clinical lens draws from psychodynamic traditions, including Self-Psychology, Object Relations, and systems and family therapy, while also integrating attachment-based work, client-centered therapy, DBT skills, and trauma-focused methods. She has pursued additional training in EMDR through the Personal Transformation Institute and is enrolled in an EMDRIA-approved, two-year Advanced EMDR Certification program. She is also enrolled in Dr. Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing training for gentle, body-based trauma resolution, and is a member of the Southern Sandtray Institute Group, incorporating sandtray therapy with clients of different ages as well as family and couples work.

Earlier in her career, Sara completed graduate studies in Exercise Physiology and Wellness, with a thesis focused on aerobic fitness and stress perception. Her interest in mind-body-spirit connections also led her to study yoga and meditation at the Pennsylvania Himalayan Institute and travel for further study in India and Nepal. Her training at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville included work with survivors of sexual abuse and in community mental health. After roles in acute adolescent psychiatric and addiction-related treatment, as well as in-home child and adolescent services, she opened a private practice in 1992.

Over the years, Sara has also trained with Rev. Becca Stevens, Founder of Magdalene (now Thistle Farms), and worked with Mending Hearts, supporting women impacted by addiction, co-occurring mental health concerns, and homelessness. In therapy, she brings a warm, interactive style and approaches each person with respect, sensitivity, and compassion, focusing on strengths and possibilities rather than reducing anyone to a diagnosis or past experiences. She commonly works with concerns such as mood swings, bipolar disorders, communication problems, premarital counseling, spiritual or church trauma, gender identity issues, family and parenting stress, and chronic pain, including pain related to autoimmune conditions such as fibromyalgia, lupus, arthritis, Crohn’s, and sarcoidosis.

Sara’s approach is informed by the reality that life can include loss, complicated relationships, blended families, divorce, caregiving stress, chronic pain, and the impact of a loved one’s addiction and recovery. She aims to help clients move toward healthier boundaries, clearer decisions, deeper connection, and a more authentic life while staying grounded in the practical steps of the healing process.