Sara Boodai, M.A., is a clinical extern at the Boston Child Study Center, where she provides supervised direct patient care through the Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for Trauma/PTSD track. She is a fifth-year doctoral student in Clinical Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Boston and holds master’s degrees in Clinical Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Boston and Boston University. Her primary clinical and research interests center on trauma, resilience, and culturally responsive mental health care.
Prior to joining BCSC, Sara trained at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she provided individual and family therapy to children, adolescents, and adults presenting with complex trauma, anxiety and mood disorders, OCD, neurodevelopmental concerns, emotion regulation difficulties, and safety concerns. Her work emphasized trauma-informed and culturally responsive care within a multidisciplinary community mental health setting. Sara has also provided psychotherapy at the University of Massachusetts Boston Counseling Center, working with young adults from diverse racial, cultural, socioeconomic, and identity backgrounds.
Sara’s broader clinical experience includes trauma-informed group work with women navigating postpartum depression, divorce, and interpersonal and family trauma, as well as psychological and neuropsychological assessment. Across her clinical work, she draws from evidence-based approaches, including CBT and DBT-informed strategies, as well as emotion-focused, interpersonal, and trauma-informed care, tailoring treatment to each client’s individual needs, identities, and cultural context. Sara is bilingual and fluently speaks English and Arabic.