Sara Tsutsumi Psychotherapy, LMHC

Sara Tsutsumi has been trained in expressive arts therapy and is a certified gestalt therapist. She utilizes the arts according to each person’s abilities to imagine and develop body awareness. Her eclectic approach suits people who seek to find themselves in mental health. As a blind Japanese immigrant, she works especially well with differently-abled people and Pan Asians.

Specialties

Depression
Personal Growth and Self-Esteem
General relationship challenges (family, friends, co-workers)
Race and Ethnicity
Domestic Abuse and Violence

Pay with insurance

UnitedHealthcare
Oxford Health Plans
Cigna
Aetna
Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield
including BlueCard Network access

Have coverage through another Blue Cross Blue Shield plan? You may be eligible to see this provider if you have BlueCard Network access. Check if this applies to your plan
UMR
Oscar
UHC Student Resources

Pay with a program

Optum Live & Work Well (EAP)

Pay out-of-pocket

Sliding scale

A sliding scale is a range of out of pocket fees that providers accept based on financial need.

Locations

Manhattan
Offers virtual sessions

Licensed in

New York

“I encourage everyone to be imaginative through things like drawing, movement, words, and voice.”

What was your path to becoming a therapist?

I have been intensely interested in people’s life stories and all forms of art from an early age. Since I wanted to study psychology, I got support from my father to come to the US in 1983. I entered the Boston University Psychology Department, as I was encouraged by their clinical approach of unconditional positive regard. I then got a chance to study at The Art Institute of Lesley College with Dr. Paolo J. Knill, who is the founder of intermodal expressive therapies. I have also had the support of my grandmother, a traditional, Shinto healer. Her belief and trust in my ability to be creative and a good listener helped me greatly. In my middle school for the blind in Tokyo, my English teacher was a blind person, which helped as well. Learning gestalt therapy has led me to understand how to carry on as a private practitioner of psychotherapy. I am an immigrant myself and I enjoy working with everybody, especially Pan Asian people as I understand cultural ways of thinking and attitudes in the family.

What should someone know about working with you?

My intake is very informal and designed to get to know the person where they are. I encourage everyone to be imaginative through things like drawing, movement, words, and voice. I believe in finding oneself bit by bit through the development of body awareness and artwork.

How do your core values shape your approach to therapy?

I have a sense of wonder about the world and the people in it! I believe in the Shinto idea of the world and believe that everything has a soul and everything is living in its own way. I start therapy by respecting a person as they are. As I am a blind woman of color, I am often treated two distinct ways. One of these ways involves unusual kindness from strangers! But the other involves me not being believed or heard to the point that I’m gaslighted. I have been lucky to have a lot of good fortune. Now, I am proud of myself as I start to solidify my psychotherapy private practice in Manhattan among many white male and female counterparts!

“I believe in finding oneself bit by bit through the development of body awareness and artwork.”