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Sara Glass, PhD, LCSW Therapist, Writer, Speaker, and Author of Kissing Girls on Shabbat

About the Author

Dr. Sara Glass, PhD, LCSW, is a psychotherapist, author, and speaker dedicated to empowering members of the queer community and individuals who have survived trauma to live bold, honest, and proud lives. She serves as the Clinical Director of Soul Wellness NYC, a private psychotherapy practice in Midtown Manhattan, and as a Clinical Supervisor for Jewish Queer Youth, a nonprofit organization supporting LGBTQ youth. Glass has specific expertise in treating complex trauma and PTSD, providing art and play therapy to children and adolescents, as well as general experience treating a range of human struggles such as anxiety, depression, relationship challenges, and stress. Her memoir, Kissing Girls on Shabbat, covers themes related to mental health and the intersection between queer identity and religiosity. 

Glass’s memoir, Kissing Girls on Shabbat, has been described by The Washington Post as “a searing testament to the strength in claiming one’s destiny.” The book recounts her courageous journey of self-acceptance as a queer woman navigating life within and beyond the constraints of a Hasidic Jewish community. This poignant exploration of identity, resilience, and love resonates deeply with readers and shines a light on the universal struggle to embrace one’s true self.

Glass holds a PhD in Psychology from Capella University and a Master’s in Social Work from Rutgers University. She is a passionate advocate for mental health accessibility and frequently speaks at educational institutions, community organizations, and professional conferences. Her writing has appeared in Psychology Today and various academic publications.

As a speaker, Glass captivates audiences with her authentic storytelling and profound insights into self-acceptance, trauma, and resilience. Drawing on her memoir and her extensive experience as a trauma-focused psychotherapist, she engages audiences in meaningful discussions about navigating queer identity within conservative religious frameworks, reclaiming self-worth, and the transformative power of art and writing. Whether addressing the intersection of mental health and faith, the process of unlearning and relearning identity, or the healing from trauma, Glass inspires audiences to reflect, connect, and embrace their authentic selves.

Glass lives in Manhattan, New York.

Suggested Topics

  • The Healing Power of Writing and Art: The most painful experiences in our lives are often the most difficult to articulate. There are real, neuroscience based reasons for the freezing of our nervous systems and the residual sense of feeling lost, stuck, and hopeless. As a trauma therapist, Dr. Glass has spent decades helping people reclaim their voices. As the author of a heartfelt personal memoir, Glass knows how hard it can be to find words, and has developed detailed pragmatic strategies for the unsilencing of self. Join Glass for a discussion about the ways in which art and writing can help you harness your strength and reclaim the power that has always been within you.
  • Guiding Children to Dream, Imagine, and Break Barriers: We live in a world that assails us with a constant barrage of expectations: Be assertive! Be kind! Be smart but not arrogant! Look good but make it unique! Those demands show up in popular media, in classroom environments, and in the hearts and minds of parents and educators. In order to thrive in this ever-changing world, children will need the one thing that no amount of training, practicing, or memorizing could provide: they will need to stay tethered to their own authentic selves. As a survivor of a high-control religious upbringing, a media researcher, and a psychotherapist with decades of experience in treating children and adolescents, Glass brings a unique perspective to this topic. As a parent of both preschool and college-aged children herself, Glass has pragmatic suggestions for anyone involved in the shaping of young minds.
  • Navigating Queer Identity in Conservative Religious Communities: The intersection between religion and queer identity is complex. Organized religion may provide a sense of spiritual meaning and structure. However, for those who identify along the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, religious constructs may become sources of stress, trauma, and hopelessness. As an ex-Hasidic queer psychotherapist, Glass specializes in holding space for this very conflict. Glass draws upon user-friendly bits of neuroscience, clinical theory, and real lived experience as she discusses the intensity for queer individuals and their allies. She provides hope, inspiration, and guidance for a clear path forward.
  • Religious Sensitivity Training for Medical/Health Professionals: Graduate and Medical schools cannot ever prepare us for the real lived experience of treating patients whose lives differ from our own in vast and crucial ways. We may struggle to determine when it is appropriate to respect a client’s belief system, and when it may be contraindicated to make assumptions about a client based on their garb or stated religious identities. Too many patients fall through those cracks, and too often, interventions that are intended to be affirming turn out to be negligent or even harmful. As a former Hasidic wife, Glass has had harmful encounters with doctors and nurses while dressed in full garb – encounters that never recurred once she shed the garb and left her religious community. Glass draws upon her personal narrative and her professional background as a psychotherapist as she guides medical professionals to reexamine the ethics of treating religious patients.
  • How to Find Yourself in a World that is on Fire: We live in a world that is in constant crisis, and those crises flicker across screens before our eyes each day. We have never felt less safe. Many of us are struggling to stay afloat through personal crises as well. As a trauma therapist, Glass is deeply familiar with the way our nervous systems respond to stress. As a survivor of a cult-like upbringing, Glass is personally experienced in the messy art of surviving and thriving through situations that seem untenable. She brings heart, expertise and a splash of humor as she guides audiences in coming home to themselves.
  • Kissing Girls on Shabbat: Sara Glass was raised in Hasidic Brooklyn, sheltered from American media and in a gender segregated environment designed to prepare her for the holy future of marriage and childbearing. She fought, ignored and suppressed her queerness for decades, as she grappled with love for the community that raised her and dreams of a more free future for herself and her children. During those years, she obtained a degree in psychology, secretly experimented with leaving the community to explore her desire for women, and faced the darkness of family mental illness. Glass knows what it means to look right into the mirror and decide how much of ourselves we are ready to see. Join Glass for a frank conversation about her journey, and about how you can take steps toward living your own boldest, most honest, and proud life.
  • Overcoming Trauma and PTSD
  • Coming-of-Age in Orthodox Communities
  • Self-Acceptance and Self-Love
  • Resilience and Reclaiming Power After Adversity
  • Reconstructing Identity and Reclaiming Faith
  • Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth in Conservative Communities
  • The Intersection of Mental Health and Faith

Raves and Reviews

A searing testament to the strength in claiming one’s destiny.”
The Washington Post

A high-stakes journey of secrets, redemption, and one woman’s fight for her truth.”
—Anna Martin, Host of the New York Times Modern Love Podcast

Dr. Glass has given an honest, jarring, fascinating look at a world few people know. She has resisted the urge to sentimentalize or speak in euphemisms. Rather it is honest, beautifully told, and wrenching.”
—Max Gross, author of The Lost Shtetl

Searching and provocative, this book chronicles a woman’s struggle with faith and freedom while also celebrating the necessity of personal choice. A courageously candid memoir.”
Kirkus

[Written] with astonishing empathy for the people and forces that stood between her and liberation. Few readers will be unmoved by the depth of [Glass’s] struggle or the strength of her resistance. This leaves a mark.”
Publishers Weekly

By no means an easy read, but definitely a necessary one.”
Betches

Sara Glass’ heartfelt story of balancing motherhood, career aspirations, sexuality, and faith while breaking away from her Hasidic origins gives us a fascinating look at the complex tapestry of Jewish life in New York and beyond. Her honest, flaws-and-all self-examination, while coming from a very specific and unique place, reveals universal truths.”
—Stuart Rojstaczer, author of The Mathematician’s Shiva

Lyrical and evocative, Glass offers an immersive read and an unflinching view of life in a secluded ultra-religious sect of Judaism. However, it is also, and perhaps foremost, the story of the self-shattering struggles that many experience when rigid conformity and compliance override freedom; and where silence, secrecy, and obedience outweigh truth, health, or hope. Sara Glass carved her own path to life, and her book may well help shape it for others.”
—Na’ama Yehuda, author of Communicating Trauma

In the Media

“[She] Told Me She’d Written a Book about Our Family, ‘Kissing Girls on Shabbat’… I Only Wish We had Reconnected Sooner”

August 1, 2024

“Queer Reads: Lesbian author recounts her journey away from tradition in ‘Kissing Girls on Shabbat’”

June 30, 2024

“My bizarre introduction to sex in an ultra-orthodox Hasidic household – and the secret even my closest friends couldn’t have imagined”

June 23, 2024

“Confessions of a gay Chasidic wife”

June 18, 2024

“Kissing Girls on Shabbat: A Memoir”

June 18, 2024

“Queer Jewish Stories: The Memoirs That Inspired Me”

June 10, 2024

“‘Kissing Girls on Shabbat’: new memoir traces a lesbian’s path out of the shtetl via two marriages to men”

June 14, 2024

“‘Kissing Girls on Shabbat’ reflects on leaving Orthodox Judaism”

June 14, 2024

“How Sara Glass Went From Obedient Hasidic Wife to Queer Advocate”

June 13, 2024

“Kissing Girls On Shabbat: I Was Married To A Hasidic Man, But In Love With A Woman”

June 12, 2024

“Gur meets girl: A review of Sara Glass’s coming-of-age memoir ‘Kissing Girls on Shabbat’”

June 10, 2024

“The Best 2024 LGBTQIA+ Books To Add To Cart ASAP”

June 3, 2024

“Kissing Girls on Shabbat: A Memoir”

May 10, 2024

“Queer or Questioning? This One Is for You”

April 22, 2024

“Kissing Girls on Shabbat: A Memoir”

April 15, 2024

“Kissing Girls on Shabbat: A Memoir”

March 29, 2024

“I’m A Queer Woman Who Left My Marriage In The Hasidic Community. There’s One Thing People Don’t Understand.”

September 28, 2023

”Please, God, Help Me Stop Missing Her”

August 13, 2022

“Adult sex abuse survivors have waited too long”

April 27, 2022

Videos

Books by Sara Glass, PhD, LCSW

Kissing Girls on Shabbat

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