Leah Schrager, who goes by the pseudonym Sarah White, is a therapist and student of Fine Arts living in New York. She grew up on the west coast and used to be a model, dancer, waitress, and had just started building websites for work. As an artist, she likes to play with different characters, so one day she was joking with her friend about the idea of a helpful, sweet girl who’d build their website which led to the idea of the Naked Coder. Guys didn’t want her to build websites naked; they just wanted to talk. Given her studies and her family upbringing, this led her to think up Naked Therapy, so with the grounding of some basic theories she started offering it in 2010.
Who is Leah Schrager?
Good question. I guess it depends on who you’re asking.
So ,who is Sarah White ?
Sarah White is the founder of Naked Therapy. I decided to take on the name Sarah White in 2010, it was a very practical decision. I was running a performance space out of my home and was worried about the safety implications of broadcasting myself on the web. I also thought Sarah White sounded like a really good person to be offering Naked Therapy.
What is Naked therapy ?
Naked Therapy is a real therapeutic practice. Therapy is a form of talk therapy conducted via webcam during which the client and/or therapist get undressed and that nakedness is used to facilitate unique experiences and insights.I think I’m still figuring out in what ways it is or is not art, and of course that depends on one’s definition of art.I think there are many ways in which the therapeutic profession is performative – I’m an artist (no traditionally trained or identifying psychologist came up with the idea prior to myself, although, in hindsight, it seems like it was crying to be released from the sexual tensions inherent in therapy). I also think I am ready to take risks that licensed therapists can’t take for fear of delicensure – in this case allowing and welcoming arousal into the therapy room. I think there are many ways in which the therapeutic profession is performative. a therapist sets a stage for a client using a diploma hanging on the wall and a particular setting and a particularly informed structured improvisation.
Doing Naked Therapy is intense, and I’m very invested in trying to help people. And I struggle, as I know many therapists do, with keeping balance and not becoming over-invested in my clients’ issues. I think my art practice has gotten more and more extreme because of this. I both utilize the things I hear and learn during Naked Therapy in my art and sometimes work through my own feelings (as the Naked Therapist) in my art.
Why do you use your body as a performative medium?
I grew up as a dancer and model, so I’ve always used my body. As I use it now, it seems to incite strong responses. As soon as the body goes online it is mediated and necessarily becomes somewhat performative. So this relationship of one’s own body to one’s virtual body is something I find quite interesting.
Can you tell me a bit about the Ona web site?
The Ona website is at OnaArtist.com. It’s where I share all of the works I’m currently doing under one umbrella. No Ona is privileged over another. I’m also still figuring it out as it’s quite new. I’ve also developed some theories around The Ona Generation, which is the name given to those people, of any demographic, who possess, manage and promote Onas in a variety of virtual platforms.
Do you think your work is very close to the mark between Art and Porn?
Yes, I like to play with this boundary. I think there are both false and real lines that we can draw between them. In using my own erotic image (not found images), I’m trying to figure out what they mean and say. Also, sexy images, I’ve found, tend to be categorized as commercial. In my work there’s no default critical distance provided by a “found” image – the erotic image is me (the artist) – so I’m exploring the weight of this relationship. I am quite interested in the complex interactions between commercialism and art. Further, I consider the use of typically « commercial » or sexy images in my art to be a way for both men and women to have a more articulated relationship to these images.
Do you watch porn? If yes what is a good porn for you?
No.
So see the list below of some of the things Sarah white can help her clients on :
– Resolving conflicted feelings
– Choosing between contradictory objectives
– Setting achievable goals
– Becoming more motivated
– Feeling more confident
– Identifying and overcoming sources of unhappiness, stress, shame and impotence
– Achieving a more satisfying sex life
– Improving intimate relationships
– Understanding and resolving feelings about porn use
– Seeing positively and harnessing the power of masturbation
photos : Francesco Sapienza
her web Naked therapy site : http://sarahwhitetherapy.com
Ona : http://onaartist.com
facebook : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sarah-White-Therapy/225193607506456?fref=ts
la-renarde.com 