Sarah Slater Snyder

MSW, LCSW, RYT 200 

Aloha! My name is Sarah Slater Snyder and I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200 Hour Certification), and Certified Brainspotting Practitioner with over fifteen years of experience working with cross-cultural adolescents, pre-adolescents, adults, and families. My deeply rooted belief is that each person has the potential to be an active empowered participant in their journey of learning, growth, and self-discovery. 

As a lifelong learner, educator, and counselor, I have always been fascinated with the mind-body connection. This led me to earn my BA in Exercise and Sport Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2003 and my Masters in Social Work from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2007. For over a decade I worked in private and public schools, creating safe, structured spaces for students to build upon their intellectual, psychosocial, physical, spiritual, and moral awareness. In my roles as a psychosocial counselor, teacher, department chair, and student advocate, I combined my loves of counseling, teaching, and outdoor education while compassionately guiding students through their learning and personal growth journeys. During this time, I taught a variety of social emotional and ethical learning classes, which allowed me to share my love of positive psychology, mindfulness, and neuroscience. I also created and taught a variety of girls groups/classes, which empowered teenage girls to build healthy relationships with peers, while increasing their own self-awareness, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. 

As I grew more interested in the connection between mind, body, and spirit, I completed my 200 hour certification as a Registered Yoga Teacher from Aloha Yoga Kula in 2012. This professional development allowed me to nurture a culture of mind-body-spirit balance within myself and my communities. Within my school community, I taught a variety of student, faculty, and alumni yoga and meditation classes, and in the larger community, I developed Yoga Circle, a series of yoga classes tailored specifically for adolescent and preadolescent girls. These classes allowed me to unite my love of counseling and yoga, while empowering teenage girls how to live more authentically through yoga, meditation, breathing, and self-reflection. 

While learning has become a path for my own awakening, I believe that the discovery of self-knowledge - what lies within - is one of the greatest lessons we can learn. In 2018, I transitioned from school counselor and yoga instructor to Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in private practice at Honolulu Psychology Collective. And in 2024, I received my Brainspotting Certification through the Pacific Trauma Brainspotting Center to provide cutting edge trauma treatment through a somatic approach. This professional shift allowed me to combine all of my passions and experiences into my therapeutic work with clients. I currently see all of my clients via telehealth using Zoom or HMSA Online Care, which my clients love, as it allows for them to experience therapy from the safety and comfort of their own home. 

My passion is to support, nurture, and awaken the innate wisdom within my clients through a variety of evidenced based modalities, including mindfulness, meditation, cognitive reframing, behavior modification, brainspotting, self-care, and healthy coping strategies. My hope is to provide those struggling with anxiety, depression, self-harm, sexual assault, body image, grief, bullying, trauma, or domestic abuse with a safe space to share, to cry, to laugh, to heal, and to learn healthy strategies for coping with life’s challenges.