Sarah Teasdale is a licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor. She has a masters degree in counseling and has been in practice for over 24 years. Her clients say that she is a straightforward counselor, more likely to help work out techniques to problem solve rather than to focus on feelings.
She and her husband Bill live in Sandia Park, New Mexico. They have eight adult children and eight grandchildren. She loves to cook (although Bill is actually the better cook), and to bake (she does best Bill in this area). Her kids’ favorite is sticky buns. The last time she baked them, one of the kids hid a couple to keep the others from eating them all! It was the family scandal of the day. She credits her skill in baking to being the daughter of a Romanian Jewish baker, and growing up working in the family’s bakery from the age of 6.
Sarah was raised in a conservative Jewish home, and attended Hebrew school (a sort of after-school Jewish Sunday school) as she was growing up. There she learned the basic traditions of the Jewish faith. She was energetic in her beliefs, speaking out in school when someone manifested either a racist view, or ignorance about Jewish traditions. She had a passionate belief in the inerrancy of the Old Testament as being God-breathed. She was taught that the New Testament was history, but not the inspired word of God. Sarah was also taught that Christians were idol-worshippers because they worshipped three Gods, rather than the One true God.
When Sarah was 23 years old, a pastor from a bible-believing church in town came to visit, inviting her to church and handing her a tract. She, as was her practice around Christians whom she believed to be well meaning but misinformed, was courteous. She declined the invitation to church politely, accepted the tract and later threw it away. The pastor was back the next week, and the next and the next. Finally, Sarah decided to take the bull by the horns and tell the pastor that she was Jewish and why she would never come to a Christian church. She said, “I know that you mean well, but I am Jewish. I believe that the bible teaches that God is only One, and that you folks worship three. So, you are really wasting your time talking to me.” Sarah states that the pastor looked puzzled and asked the question that was to turn her life upside-down: “Don’t you know that the trinity is an Old Testament doctrine?” Sarah was shocked. She demanded of the pastor, “Show me!” The pastor smiled, and came in.
During the next several months, without ever opening his bible to the New Testament, this pastor took her through major doctrines: the trinity in the Old Testament, the prophesies about the Messiah’s birth, birthplace, life, purpose, time of arrival, and death as the sacrifice for the sins of mankind. It became absolutely clear to her that the only person who could possibly be the Messiah was Jesus of Nazareth. It was only then that they began to look at the New Testament, and shortly thereafter Sarah became a believer. That pastor went to be with the Lord this year. His name was Max Weir.
After Sarah’s conversion, she began to learn about the power of prayer. She states that the Lord took her through many trials in order to show her His mighty power in answer to fervent prayer. Sarah testifies that God brought her through many of the problems that she sees in her practice, showing her His ability to overcome seemingly impossible obstacles. She states that the clients she sees who pray, spend less time in therapy than those who do not, and that their outcomes are significantly better overall.
It is her belief in the efficacy of prayer that drove Sarah’s excitement over this series of CDs. She believes that if the hurting church would make prayer a number one priority, that there is no imagining what miracles of Christian growth would be experienced. She hopes that this CD series will be a blessing and a motivator to all who hear them, and that our great and mighty God will be glorified in the lives of us all.
Sarah’s Professional Credentials
- Practicing Clinical Mental Health Counselor for 25 years
- LPCC – licensed professional clinical counselor since 1992 (when licensing first became available)
- LADAC – licensed alcohol and drug abuse counselor since 1996 (when licensing first became available)
- Graduated Summa Cum Laude from Univ. NM BA in Psychology 1980
- Graduated with MA in Counseling from Univ. NM 1982
- Private practice since January 2007
- Clinical Director of Corazon Behavioral Health Services 1998-2006
- Executive Director of Corazon Behavioral Health Services 1997
- Executive Director of Los Alamos Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse 1989-1996
- Began, with Jennifer Neil LISW, what is now the Family Strengths Network in Los Alamos 1988
- Program Director of Pinon Hills Hospital’s Outpatient Clinic, Los Alamos branch 1988
- Was made an honorary member of the Military Police at Kirtland Air Force Base after speaking to their force. 1984
- Received an award for Meritorious Service from the Chief of Chaplains of the United States for the Kirtland Domestic Violence Program. 1985
- Developed a Domestic Violence Family Program on Kirtland Air Force Base in connection with the chaplaincy. 1984
- Albuquerque Metro Court chose the Domestic Violence Family Program as a pilot program for court referrals 1984. This program is still in existence today.
- Began first program to treat families (to include the abuser) involved in domestic violence in Albuquerque NM 1983.
- Speaker at several churches and women’s organizations
- Bible study teacher for both adults and children
- 1966-1967 Missionary to the Jews in St. Lewis, Mo.
- 1963-1966 Missionary on the Navajo Reservation