Sarah Ozol Shore, M.S.
Depth-Oriented Psychotherapy
Media, PA
Welcome
Much of what brings people to therapy is not discrete symptoms or diagnoses, but long-standing adaptations to overwhelm, relational instability, and chronic overextension. Many individuals arrive not because life is momentarily difficult, but because the ways they have learned to function—often competently and at considerable personal cost—are no longer sustainable.
The work here is oriented toward structural change rather than symptom management. My psychotherapy is trauma-informed, somatically grounded, and focused on the gradual reorganization of identity, nervous system regulation, and psychological coherence. Therapy is not conceived as open-ended emotional support, nor as problem-solving in isolation, but as a disciplined, relational process through which internal authority, composure, and choice are restored.
This is a contained, intentional practice. The structure of the work is not ancillary to treatment; it is central to it.
Beneath Symptoms
Clients who seek this work are often outwardly capable and reflective. Many have managed significant responsibility, caregiving roles, or professional demands over long periods of time. They may have participated in prior therapy, developed insight, or learned effective coping strategies, yet continue to experience a persistent sense of depletion, fragmentation, or internal dissonance.
Here, such experiences are understood not as failures of effort or motivation, but as the natural consequence of adaptations forged under earlier conditions. When those conditions change, the adaptations often remain—continuing to organize behavior, relationships, and self-perception in ways that no longer serve the individual.
The focus of the work is not simply on what is felt or understood, but on how experience is organized—in the body, in relationships, and in daily life.
A Different Orientation to Change
This practice is grounded in contemporary trauma theory and an understanding of the autonomic nervous system as central to psychological organization. Trauma is approached not as a single event, but as the cumulative impact of developmental, relational, and systemic stressors that shape perception, behavior, and identity over time.
Sessions are consistently oriented toward somatic awareness and nervous system regulation: noticing patterns of activation, collapse, vigilance, dissociation, and self-abandonment as they arise in real time. Cognitive insight is respected, but it is not treated as the primary driver of change.
Over time, this approach supports a shift from automatic, survival-based responses toward greater internal coherence, discernment, and choice.
Structure as Intervention
The work is held within a clearly defined therapeutic frame. Sessions occur weekly, at a consistent time, within explicit boundaries around time, payment, and communication. These elements are not flexible by default, and they are not negotiated in response to distress.
For many clients, relational histories include inconsistency, role confusion, emotional over-responsibility, or chronic adaptation to others’ needs. Within this practice, the structure itself offers a contrasting experience: one that is predictable, stable, and not contingent on performance or urgency.
Containment is treated as a clinical necessity. Without it, meaningful reorganization is difficult to sustain.
Scope and Fit
This practice is designed primarily for adult women navigating the effects of trauma, chronic stress, identity strain, or long-standing patterns of overextension. Many clients arrive with a sense that something fundamental must change—not simply how they cope, but how they organize their lives, relationships, and internal authority.
The work assumes readiness for depth, consistency, and responsibility. It is not crisis-only therapy, not intermittent or drop-in care, and not oriented toward reassurance or venting in the absence of structural change.
Financial and temporal feasibility are treated as prerequisites. Therapy here is intended to be entered without resentment, bargaining, or ongoing strain around payment or scheduling.
Orientation
This site provides a clear account of how the work is organized, what it requires, and who it is for. It is not designed to persuade or accommodate every reader.
Those who wish to continue are encouraged to review the pages on working together, fit, and beginning the inquiry process to determine whether this approach aligns.
Schedule an Introductory Session with Sarah