Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Claire Sanguedolce. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Claire, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

So often in life, our feelings urge us to play it safe. To choose the next step that feels the most comfortable, appears to be the least risky, and seems to promise the quickest relief from difficult experiences. The human part of me is quite familiar with the seductive, often urgent, pull of avoidance. The therapist part of me also understands that avoidance is very thing that creates, maintains, and escalates suffering, particularly in the long-term. Therefore, I try to approach problems with compassion for my knee-jerk desire to dodge pain, as well as awareness of the paradoxical nature of avoidance and courage to use my values as a compass for determining what’s next.

These values-based actions can be small and simple, such as choosing to floss my teeth, go for a walk, drink more water, or connect with a friend. They can also be bigger or more complex, like setting boundaries with family, making a friend, or moving to a new place. All of these actions, however, require willingness–to make room for, at least in anticipation, uncomfortable feelings such as anxiety, fear, or uncertainty. In exchange, our values guide us towards what matters most, and allows us to be as effective as possible, regardless of outcomes or other things and people that we cannot change or control.

A recent risk I took was to start my own private psychotherapy practice. I felt anticipatory anxiety and general uncertainty about how things would go, and whether I’d be able to handle any challenges that I came across along the way. I tried to slow down and remain curious about my feelings and thoughts, rather than believing them all to be 100% true and acting on them. This took a bit of mindfulness–the practice of being open, present, and nonjudgmental with one’s here-and-now experience. Then, I had a choice–do I let my sticky, catastrophic feelings and thoughts, and my desire to avoid them, guide my next step? Or do I follow my values–self-growth, bravery, financial independence, to name a few–and take a mindful, values-based “risk”?

The fact that my private practice turned out to be successful, and I was actually much more competent at navigating obstacles along the way than previously assumed, certainly helped me to feel good about this particular choice. I feel so grateful to have found a career that helps myself and others feel strong, efficacious, and authentically ourselves, at the same time. However, as I reflect on times in the past when my values-based actions yielded less desirable outcomes, I still feel proud of how I showed up for myself with curiosity, self-compassion, and courage to take a risk.

Claire, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My approach
I’m an integrative psychotherapist and licensed clinical social worker, yoga student and teacher, and life-long mental health advocate. I offer in-person therapy in Durham and telehealth services for folks located anywhere in North Carolina. In my work with clients, I use various evidence-based, trauma-informed, strengths-based, and social justice-oriented approaches, including Trauma-Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (TF-ACT) and Exposure Response Prevention (ERP). I am explicitly LGBTQIA+-affirming, anti-racist, neuro-affirming, body-inclusive, sex-positive, poly- and kink-friendly, and dedicated to cultural humility and ongoing learning.

Focus areas
I primarily support folks dealing with anxiety, OCD, post-traumatic stress, life transitions, substance use, relationship concerns, chronic illness and pain, LGBTQIA+ issues, and more.

Professional background
After earning my Bachelor of Arts in journalism from the University of Oregon and then working in a leadership role at a mental health startup in San Francisco, I earned my Master of Social Work from North Carolina State University. I hold an Addiction and Recovery Certification, Teaching and Communication Certification, and am a HRSA B-WISE Scholar. I worked in medical social work roles throughout graduate school, supporting folks with chronic pain and illness at Duke University Hospital as well as forensic patients with severe and persistent mental illness at Central Regional Hospital.

Prior to graduate school, I received a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Counseling and Psychology Professions at the University of California, Berkeley. I volunteered as a crisis counselor with Crisis Text Line and survivor story speaker for a sexual violence education and prevention organization. I obtained my 200-hour yoga teacher certification from Just Be Yoga in Walnut Creek, California and have over 1000 hours of yoga and mindfulness teaching experience and continuing education.

When I’m not working…
I enjoy practicing and teaching yoga, swimming in the Eno River, spending time with my backyard chickens, cooking delicious meals (mostly pizza!) with friends and family, and watching scary movies and anime.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

Other than knowledge, training, and experience; I think it’s imperative to practice the same therapeutic approaches and concepts, myself, that I’m encouraging in my clients. For example, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, conceptualizes the goal of therapy as “psychological flexibility,” which essentially means to get present; open up to (rather than struggling against) difficult thoughts, feelings, and unchangeable situations; and using one’s values to do what matters. This means that as I’m engaging with clients, I’m also paying attention to my own thoughts, feelings, and sensations, and contacting my values to help me be the best therapist I can be. This is a practice, much like learning how to play basketball or cook a meal, rather than a box to check. It requires the same curiosity, self-compassion, and courage to keep at it, and the reward is being able to more effectively hold space and provide support to others, without getting in the way.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

If I could go back, I wouldn’t change a thing. I didn’t start out my career as a therapist–I studied journalism in undergrad and subsequently worked in public relations, marketing, and operations at the beginning of my career. I ended up at a mental health startup in San Francisco, where I realized I wanted to officially pursue a career as a clinical social worker. This decision was supported by my experience as a yoga teacher (and the mental health benefits this practice seemed to provide to myself and my students), volunteer work with various mental health-focused organizations (e.g., Crisis Text Line, sexual violence education and prevention), and wisdom from my friends and colleagues in the mental health field. Though it was a bit of a winding road to where I am now, I don’t regret any of my experiences–they set me up to feel more confident and successful today.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.csanguedolce.care/
• Other: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/claire-sanguedolce-durham-nc/991242

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