Sarah Jenkins MC, LPC
My Experience and What It Means For You...

I get that when you are looking for a counselor, you want someone you can trust. You want to feel safe. You want to know that he or she has experience and understands how to help….

I have a Masters of Counseling from the University of Phoenix and a Bachelors of Psychology from James Madison University in Virginia. I am also registered with the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). We counselors just love lots of confusing letters after our names, don't we?

I also love teaching and thoroughly enjoy watching new students, and new counselors, grow into themselves, to help others. So, I've been a University of Phoenix faculty member since 2003, and have taught at the Phoenix and Northern Virginia Campuses. I'm also an Arizona State University faculty member, where I teach graduate social work students at the Phoenix campus.

I specialize in Arizona EMDR therapy and was trained in EMDR Level One and Level Two in 2002. I am also recognized by the EMDR Institute as a Certified EMDR Therapist, which means that I have a greater knowledge of and experience with EMDR than the basic trainings. I also speak about EMDR, trauma treatment, and PTSD treatment, at local and international conferences including the 2009 EMDR Canada Conference held in Vancouver.

I have worked with individuals, families, and groups in a variety of Virginia and Phoenix counseling settings including outpatient clinics, psychiatric hospitals, and special education schools. My Phoenix counseling experience included my supervising a federally funded EMDR trauma treatment program. I supervised trauma therapists and interns, conducted workshops, conducted public awareness raising events, and saw clients. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Nevertheless, I missed working with as many clients as I used to. And, though I worked with a wide range of people, I always had a passion for working with survivors of trauma such as sexual, emotional, and physical abuse. So, I created Dragonfly International Therapy.

Sarah Jenkins, MC, LPC
My Story…

I was born in the UK and spent my early childhood there. My family and many friends are there, and I often return. My mother was an antique dealer; my father was a history teacher and rugby coach, who later joined the British Navy and travelled throughout the Middle East. As a child, I was taught to value education and multiculturalism. I was encouraged to pursue an early passion for learning and helping others. At the same time, I was also encouraged to "think out of the box," be compassionate, and listen to what others didn't. I heard and responded to my intuition from an early age and my healthy curiosity never let me just take things on mere face value.

In 1981, I moved to the US, to Northern Virginia, just outside of Washington D.C. What a contrast it was. Despite the fact that I spoke the same language, the culture shock was amazing. In hindsight, I think my transition from the UK to US was key to my development and later, the very catalyst for creating Dragonfly International Therapy. With this in mind, as a UK and American citizen, I am also able to provide counselor training about EMDR, trauma, and PTSD treatment throughout Europe and the United States.

Since Virginia, and at the age of thirteen, I knew that I would be a counselor. I didn't pick it; it picked me. I was precocious, to say the least. I couldn't image being anything else. I did toy with being a journalist, but quickly tossed that aside when my writing had to "fit in," with everyone else's. I always struggled with that. Still, poetry and I go way back; we have quite a relationship, even to this day. I love to write, and these days, my articles are happy to be published monthly in the Arizona Together Newspaper. I have also written self-help books where you can find additional support. Visit my self-help books page to learn more.

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