Culturally Responsive Therapist: Identity & Adoption
As a culturally responsive therapist, Sarah Bowman, M.Phil.Ed., brings a rare blend of lived experience and clinical skill to her work with clients seeking therapy for adoptees (and more specifically, therapy for transracial adoptees), support from a therapist for adoption-related concerns, care from a therapist who specializes in Black mental health, or guidance from a therapist for marginalized identities. While these identities and experiences are central to the people she supports, they represent only part of her broader work. Sarah also helps clients navigate identity development, relationship patterns, life transitions, divorce, and emotional stress that arise in many different contexts.
As a mixed-race child of divorced parents raised in a predominantly white community, Sarah understands how identity development and belonging can unfold through uncertainty and nuance and how racism and limited representation can shape those experiences. While Sarah’s lived experiences inform her work, her training in cultural humility and clear therapeutic boundaries helps her keep each client’s story at the center of the process. She knows how grounding it can feel to work with someone who recognizes the layered influence of family, culture, race, and community on emotional well-being
At Council for Relationships, she helps adolescents, adults, couples, and families explore these experiences with compassion, steadiness, and curiosity. Her work centers on helping clients share their full stories without fear of being misunderstood.
What It Means to Work with a Culturally Responsive Therapist Like Sarah
Working with a culturally responsive therapist means entering a space where identity and lived experience help shape the therapeutic process. For Sarah, cultural responsiveness begins with listening. She believes that every person carries a nuanced story, and she approaches each client—whether adoptees, people exploring identity, or individuals facing relational stress—with genuine curiosity and warmth.
Growing up as a mixed-race person in a majority-white environment taught her what it felt like to live between cultures. This informs her ability to support clients who navigate their own versions of “in-between.” She often works with clients who seek therapy for adoptees or, more specifically, therapy for transracial adoptees, and want a therapist for adoption-related concerns who understands identity from both personal and professional perspectives.
Clients can expect intentional attention to how culture, race, family, and community shape emotional well-being. Many people of color or clients with marginalized identities have had therapy experiences where large parts of their lives were overlooked. Sarah responds by centering clients’ full stories, validating the realities that shaped them, and directly naming the cultural and systemic factors that impact them.
She understands that trust grows when clients feel seen. Because of this, she invests time in building a collaborative relationship rooted in care and honesty. Before exploring more specific aspects of Sarah’s work, it helps to understand how her lived experience strengthens the support she offers.
How Lived Experience Shapes Sarah’s Approach
Sarah’s lived experience allows her to relate to clients with intersecting identities. She understands the tension that emerges when cultural messages and family expectations do not align. This insight enriches her clinical work and supports her ability to remain present, curious, and steady as clients explore their own stories and questions—whether those stories relate to adoption, identity, relationships, or broader emotional challenges.
Supporting Identity, Belonging, and the Experiences of Marginalized Communities
When clients seek therapy to understand who they are, where they belong, or how identity shapes their relationships, Sarah provides a space that balances reflection with practical support. Because she is a therapist for marginalized identities, she approaches each session with humility. She asks questions rather than assuming, and she checks in regularly to ensure clients feel supported.
Many people pursue therapy for adoptees or therapy for transracial adoptees during moments when identity-related challenges feel overwhelming. Others seek a therapist for adoption-related concerns who also understands broader cultural dynamics. Sarah also often works with clients who want support from a therapist who specializes in Black mental health and who can hold space for experiences shaped by racism, colorism, or cultural dissonance. At the same time, she regularly works with clients navigating communication issues, stress, grief, and relationship patterns unrelated to adoption
Sarah integrates reflective conversations with tools that help clients connect their emotions to the systems that shaped them. She helps clients explore how family patterns, cultural expectations, or community norms influence their sense of belonging. Because many clients have felt misunderstood in previous therapy settings, she actively invites feedback and adapts her style to meet their needs.
These identity-centered experiences often intersect with representation, which plays an important role in therapeutic connection.
Why Representation Matters in Therapy
Representation can help clients feel safe enough to explore deeper emotions or questions, but cultural responsiveness requires more than shared identity. Sarah understands how powerful it can be to sit with a therapist who recognizes cultural nuance and complements representation with continued learning and consultation to ensure her work remains grounded in cultural humility. Her approach honors the entirety of a client’s experience and builds trust through steadiness, care, and respect.
A Culturally Responsive Therapist for Adoptees and Adoptive Families
Sarah’s background shapes her work with clients seeking therapy for adoptees, and more specifically, therapy for transracial adoptees. She understands how adoption stories can hold both connection and complexity. Because of her experience, she offers insight into how identity, belonging, and family systems intersect in adoption narratives.
Clients often seek her out when they want a therapist for adoption-related concerns who approaches these conversations with care. She helps clients reflect on what adoption has meant in their lives, how their identities have developed, and how family dynamics have shaped their emotional experiences. She also supports adults and families seeking guidance from a therapist who specializes in Black mental health, particularly when cultural differences within a family need attention.
Alongside adoption-related work, Sarah frequently supports clients dealing with anxiety, relational conflict, self-esteem concerns, and major life transitions. This broader work strengthens her ability to support adoptees and non-adoptees alike.
Sarah uses psychoeducation about attachment, communication styles, and coping strategies to help clients navigate these topics. She supports adoptive families as they learn how culture, race, and community shape adoptees’ experiences. Many people in transracial or transnational adoption have felt pressure to minimize these reflections. Sarah creates space where clients can explore their thoughts without fear of dismissal.
As clients examine their experiences, they often navigate transitions or changes in identity, which Sarah approaches with intention.
How Sarah Helps Clients Navigate Transitions and Change
Sarah believes clients are experts in their own lives. When they move through shifts in identity, relationships, or roles, she offers grounding, clarity, and tools that help them stay connected to their values. This support helps clients move through change with confidence and a stronger sense of self. These transitions may involve adoption-related reflections, but many clients come to Sarah for broader life changes, including career stress, family conflict, or evolving relationship dynamics.
What Clients Can Expect from Their Work with a Culturally Responsive Therapist
Clients working with Sarah experience a blend of skill-building and relational depth. Early sessions focus on learning about the client’s family background, cultural influences, relationships, and values. This reflection helps shape the goals of therapy, whether someone is seeking therapy for adoptees, therapy for transracial adoptees, or support from a therapist who specializes in Black mental health. It also guides the work for clients whose concerns center on communication, anxiety, grief, stress, or strengthening relationships.
Sarah integrates CBT, DBT, mindfulness, and relational therapy to help clients understand their emotions and respond with greater clarity. Sessions often include grounding exercises, communication practice, or mind-body connection work. She and her clients regularly reflect on what is helping and what might need adjustment.
Sarah hopes clients leave therapy with a stronger sense of confidence and peace. She wants them to advocate for themselves, trust their judgment, and understand their relationships more clearly. Because therapy can feel intimidating, she uses transparency and gentle humor to help clients feel safe. Her steady presence helps people engage in the work at a pace that feels right for them.
Editor’s Note: The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Council for Relationships.
Contact Sarah to schedule a free 15-minute therapy consultation.
About Philadelphia Therapist Sarah Bowman
Sarah Bowman, M.Phil.Ed., is a Staff Therapist at Council for Relationships. She provides individual, couples, family, and group therapy with a focus on identity, belonging, adoption-related experiences, and culturally responsive care. She works with adolescents and adults both online and in person. Contact Sarah to schedule a free 15-minute consultation today.
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