Archives: Authors

Sanni Paljakka is a psychologist and the Director of Training at the Calgary Narrative Collective. Her professional work intersects clinical practice and the training of emerging Narrative therapists. She contributes to the field as a writer and co-editor for the Journal of Contemporary Narrative Therapy with a particular interest in the construction of therapeutic documents, the concept of love and its absence in contemporary relationships, and the complex ethical and therapeutic dilemmas encountered in practice and education. She is the primary author of So You Want to Do Narrative Therapy? Letters to an Aspiring Narrative Therapist (Routledge, 2024). Born in Finland, she spent her teen years in Vienna and currently resides in Calgary, Canada, with her two children.

Saori Miyazaki, LMFT, is a California based licensed marriage and family therapist and a speaker who specializes in mindfulness modalities such as Morita and Naikan. She has a background in working with teenagers at public schools and underserved population in San Francisco Bay area. She currently sees mostly adult professionals at her private practice in San Francisco and has been a recent guest-speaker regarding the Morita concept at Dr. Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu’s Heartfulness classes at Stanford University and other venues.

Sara Loftin, LPC-S, RPT-S, has worked at Children’s Health: Children’s Medical Center in Dallas as a Clinical Therapist on the Psychology Consult-Liaison Team for over ten years, providing play therapy, Child-Parent Relationship Training, group therapy, and parent education for families and patients with a myriad of medical and mental health diagnoses. Sara has also published articles contributing to play therapy literature and presented at national and international conferences. 

Sara Nasserzadeh, PhD (She/Her/Hers), is a globally renowned and award-winning author, speaker and relationship expert. With a specialization in the fields of human sexuality and relationships, Dr. Nasserzadeh has worked with countless number of individuals, couples, and organizational clients across 41 countries, to enhance relational health and sense of thriving at micro and macro levels. She is an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist in California who is a sought-after cultural advisor, speaker, and expert facilitator at high profile events hosted by governmental organizations, UN Agencies, academic institutions, and Fortune 500 companies. Dr. Nasserzadeh is a senior Accredited Member and a Registered Supervisor by the College of Sex and Relationship Therapists in the UK (COSRT) and a Sexuality Counselor and Approved Training provider by the American Association for Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT). Her third book Love by Design: 6 Ingredients to Build a Lifetime of Love is the result of her two-decade-long research on the status of thriving relationships and its key ingredients, namely: attraction, respect, trust, shared vision, compassion, and loving behaviors. Join the Common Ground newsletter to receive exclusive tips and tools in your relationships and have your questions answered by Dr. Nasserzadeh. For daily tips you can follow her on Instagram @Dr.Sara Nasserzadeh. 

Sarah Epstein, MFT, is a couple and family therapist working at the Council for Relationships in Philadelphia, PA. She is the Amazon bestselling author of the book Love in the Time of Medical School: Build a Happy, Healthy Relationship with a Medical Student, a book about overcoming the challenges of dating somebody in medicine. Sarah has contributed and been featured in a variety of publications, including Family Therapy Magazine, Business Insider, Physician Family Magazine, Brit + Co, KevinMD, BestLife, and Thriveworks, among others.

Sarah D. Stauffer, PhD, is a psychologist and psychotherapist to children, adolescents, and families facing sexual maltreatment for a non-profit clinic in Lausanne, Switzerland. She teaches for several post-graduate continuing education programs and is a member of the Scientific Committee for the University of Lausanne’s Child Maltreatment Observatory, the Editorial Board for the International Journal of Play Therapy, and is the clinical editor for Play Therapy™ Magazine.

Sasha McAllum Pilkington is a narrative therapist working for Harbour Hospice in Tamaki Makaurau Auckland. She has contributed articles to various publications on counselling practice in palliative care. Sasha has an interest in illustrating as well as discussing narrative therapy practice. Her work seeks to show the rich stories that can come forth at the end of life as people seek to find ways of approaching death and storying loss in ways that matter to them. Sasha has presented workshops in Aotearoa New Zealand, Norway, USA and Canada, and online through “Re-Authoring Teaching” on therapeutic conversations in palliative care.