Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sari Rose Barron. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Sari Rose, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
Oof. That’s a good question. In some ways I feel like my purpose found me. I grew up wanting to be on Broadway, so I trained for that, went to NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and lived in New York for 7 years performing. I fell into teaching theatre arts as a side gig to help pay my bills and little did I know that would impact my career and life’s trajectory. I didn’t love teaching theatre, but I did love working with kids and teens and using arts as a means of expression. So, I started diving deep into arts education. I was asked to develop a songwriting program by The Johnny Mercer Foundation and was given funding to go wherever I wanted to bring free arts education to communities in elementary schools around the United States. I really wanted to go to cities that didn’t have the means or access to programming, so I traveled to areas like Detroit, Atlanta, New Orleans, South Central, and more. I had a defining moment working in Philadelphia. The night before I arrived at an elementary school to teach songwriting, there had a been a shooting between two brothers who were both dating the same girl. So, when went to teach the next day, so many of the lyrics were about hardships, the grief over the murder of one of the brothers, and so much more. I felt touched, moved, inspired, and passionate in a way that I never had been in my acting pursuits. I was driven creatively, as an expressive arts educator, and felt called to work in ways that tried to foster meaningful changes for these kids and teens as well as in the system. I remember calling my parents saying, “I’m giving up acting. This is what I have to do with my life.”
It still took me some time to transition, but after I had moved back to CA and created and implemented a songwriting program for The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) and a prominent theatre company, I realized I wanted to pursue going back to school and getting my license as a Marriage and Family Therapist so I could work with people in a deeper way than my arts programs could allow. After witnessing the transformations in these students from putting their life stories and feelings in songwriting form and then seeing their songs that they wrote performed and celebrated, it was so clear to me in that moment, my priorities had shifted. I felt more alive in the helping profession than I did in the acting field. So, while I love and miss the performing component, it’s now a hobby. I feel like my career has found me and my dream became bigger and better than I’d imagined it could be.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
As I reflect on my career as an LMFT specializing in Trauma/PTSD, Dissociative Disorders as well as Adolescents and Parenting, I realize that it wasn’t drawn to the field solely because of my arts outreach work. That was more of a conscious choice. I am aware, now, that there was a more unconscious reason why I was drawn to working with people who’ve experienced trauma. I’ve experienced immense amounts of traumatic loss in my life. One of them being at ground zero experiencing 9/11 and another when my cousin was killed violently, to name a couple. Both, in particular, shook the foundation of my world. The world no longer felt safe. I was overwhelmed, far away from my family, and still trying to operate as if everything was the same in a dissociated state. I see now that there is a reason why I am drawn to working with those with profound amounts of trauma.
As a trauma clinician, I wanted to continue to develop and try to create more accessibility and access to mental health professionals with solid experience in working with Trauma. In 2023, I founded a group practice, SoCal Individual, Family, & Trauma Therapy.
The therapists at SoCal-IFT have grown into a warm and supportive professional community. Each clinician is highly trained, brings various sub-specialties and qualities to the practice and have a compassionate and empathetic approach to therapy. Every clinician is trained in Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR), a modality proven effective for the treatment of trauma. They are also trained in Brainspotting, Internal Family Systems, Somatic Experiencing, CBT, DBT, and more. Specialties include (but are certainly not limited to) anxiety, depression, grief, sexual abuse, substance use, domestic violence, multi-cultural issues, LGBTQIA+ population, adoption and attachment disruptions, self-harm behaviors, dissociative disorders, disordered eating, and more. We have an in-person office in Irvine, CA and can provide telehealth to residents of CA & OR.
Currently, I’m in the process of developing digital courses on Inner Child Work and Parenting, Trauma, and more both for the public as well as clinicians as a way to create more access for those who can’t afford weekly therapy or are not interested in attending.
I also provide consulting, various presentations on Trauma & The Body, Expressive Arts in a Clinical Setting, Trauma and Children, and more.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1. Resilience 2. Openness
3. Curiosity
The things I feel most proud of in my career are the times I took the most risk. The times I didn’t exactly know what the result would be. Often I felt like an imposter, but the more open I was to feeling a little uncomfortable meant that I was exploring territory that was going to help me grow professionally and personally. When I was young, I took ice skating lessons and I was so afraid to fall. My instructor dedicated an entire lesson to falling. Why? So I could learn how to get back up. So that I could start to trust my resiliency. I hold on to that experience because when you are trying new things, when you are taking risks, it’s inevitable there will be a bit of “falling,” insecurities, things that may not work out as planned. If there’s a trust in your system that you know you will learn from it and keep going, the possibilities are truly limitless.
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
That’s a pretty hefty question. I’m not sure about the “most” impactful thing, but I will say that watching two parents be passionate about their work. Watching them stay in jobs that inspires them and gives them a sense of purpose and meaning has been an incredible model and one that I think I internalized.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sarirosebarron.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarirosebarron/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarirosebarron/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sari-rose-barron-93a98833/
- Other: www.socal-ift.com
Image Credits
Braille Institute and The Johnny Mercer Foundation Lauren Hillary Photography
