The Golden Trident

     By Jack Landreth

Photo courtesy of Jack Landreth

Sarah Landreth is a therapist who works in Golden and Denver; she helps teens and adults who are going through hard times and anxiety. Landreth has been a therapist for two years, and she has really enjoyed it because she gets to help people push through tough things. She helps them work through things they can’t handle on their own. Landreth is a kind, respectful person who always listens and helps. Landreth said, “Everyone deals with mental health issues, not just a few people, and it’s okay to talk about your feelings. In fact, it’s pretty helpful.” 

Landreth wants people to realize they are not alone, that they can always get help, and that it is not something to be embarrassed about. Everybody has a reason to go to therapy.” Still, she mainly helps people with anxiety, depression, grief, life transitions,

and trauma, so her clients come in for a lot of different reasons. Getting licensed as a therapist takes a long time, and Landreth says many people don’t realize how many years of school and training it takes. She believes that no one should feel ashamed for struggling, because struggling is part of life. Landreth chose this field because she has always cared about helping people feel understood, even before she became a therapist.

Many people have misconceptions about therapy, like the idea that you need to be going through something very rough to be in it. While this is true, anyone can go to therapy, even if they’re living a normal life. She added, “People think that only people who have big problems are those who go to therapy, but really therapy can be really useful for anyone who’s just dealing with being a human.” This misconception can matter because some people don’t even realize that they are going through stress and anxiety, and it is totally normal to get help with it. A lot of individuals just try to ignore it or think they can do everything by themselves, but therapy can help a lot of people. Sarah thinks that if more people understood this, they would be more willing to ask for help before things become too overwhelming or stressful. She also thinks that changing how people think about therapy could change how future generations handle stress. Landreth said that even small things like everyday stress, school, or family issues are completely normal reasons to talk to someone. 

To become a therapist, you can get a degree in many different fields, but she majored in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Landreth attended CU Denver for three years starting in 2020 before earning her license. She believes that self-reflection is a big part of being a therapist. Landreth said, “You have to be okay doing your own work.” Landreth decided to become a therapist because she wants to give people the tools and strategies to work through hard times, not just to tell them what to do. She liked being able to work with a wide range of people’s struggles and how different they are. Therapists have to be willing to work on their own emotions, not just help others with theirs. She said working with many different types of clients keeps her job interesting and helps her keep growing as a therapist. Landreth said people shouldn’t rush into becoming a therapist because it takes patience to complete school and training. 

Landreth has helped many people, but therapy has also helped her. She has realized she has become more patient and understanding since she started therapy. Sarah said, “I think a little bit more about what I say and how I interact with my family.”  One of the hardest parts of her job is that she can’t control what her clients choose to do. This means she has to be patient and let people grow at their own pace, even when it’s hard to watch. She also said being a therapist has taught her the importance of having very close relationships in her life, rather than trying to stay close to everyone. She said accepting that people change on their own timeline, not hers, was one of the hardest lessons she learned in her career. She said that learning to listen without trying to fix everything right away was one of the biggest lessons therapy taught her, both at work and at home.  

Even though the job is hard sometimes, she says it is also very rewarding. She explained, “I get to see people change and do things in their lives that they think they couldn’t. I get to care for people in a way they have not experienced.” This means she sees people do things they couldn’t think they could do or accomplish. Helping people grow and feel cared for is what makes it worth it for her. She said watching someone finally believe in themselves after struggling for a long time is one of the best feelings in her job. Even on hard days, remembering the progress her clients have made helps her stay motivated to keep doing her work.  

Landreth also has to take care of her own mental health so she doesn’t burn out from helping others all day. She goes to yoga, exercises, sees her own therapist, and makes time for things she loves. Taking care of herself helps her to keep showing up for her clients. Landreth said that if therapists don’t take care of themselves first, it becomes much harder to actually help other people. Sarah said that therapists who don’t take breaks or set boundaries often end up struggling just as much as the people they’re trying to help. 

Sarah has noticed that AI and social media have changed the field a lot, even in the short time she has been a therapist. She said, “AI has made a lot of people reliant on their phones for therapy, which is not all bad. It just replaces a human relationship.” She believes AI can help with small things like notes, but it can’t feel how a person is feeling. Landreth said AI can never sense normal conflict or read the emotion in a room the way a real person can, which is part of what makes therapy so valuable. Landreth said that while AI tools can be a helpful starting point for some people, they should never be seen as a replacement for real professional help. 

She decided to work close to Golden High School because her kids go to school nearby, and she likes being able to go downtown for lunch. She also works in Denver, so she gets to enjoy the best of both worlds. She said she loves being part of both communities and helping people in each one. She said serving two different communities has given her a broader understanding of the challenges people face.