Sara Koenig, MD, MBA
Medical Director & CEO
Dr. Koenig is a level II Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP-II) and maintains three medical board certifications in Addiction Medicine, Clinical Pathology, and Transfusion Medicine. Dr. Koenig received her B.A. in Liberal Arts at Sarah Lawrence College and graduated from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine in 2006. In 2016 she earned her M.B.A from the Anderson School of Management at University of New Mexico.
Dr. Koenig practiced and taught in academic medicine for five years as an Assistant Professor at UNC Chapel Hill School of Medicine and University of New Mexico School of Medicine. In 2015 she shifted her focus to community mental health care and served as Chief Medical Officer at Albuquerque Healthcare for the Homeless (AHCH). At AHCH Dr. Koenig chose to devote her clinical effort to working with vulnerable clients struggling with substance use disorders. Dr. Koenig was profoundly moved by this work, and recognized how transformational a skilled, non-judgmental, trauma-based team approach could be for clients whose needs are not addressed in the standard healthcare model.
Following her time at AHCH, Dr. Koenig moved back to the Triangle area, and provided addiction and psychiatric services at Piedmont Health Services. She enrolled in the first cohort of fellows for the UNC Chapel Hill School of Medicine Addiction Medicine fellowship which provided a strong base of psychiatric skills as well as training in chronic pain management. Dr. Koenig was awarded her specialty board certification in Addiction Medicine in 2019, the same year she opened Triangle Wellness & Recovery PLLC.
In addition to practicing medicine at Triangle Wellness & Recovery PLLC, from 2020-2021 Dr. Koenig had pleasure of collaborating with Ellenhorn LLC, providing psychiatric and addiction medicine services to clients in and around the triangle area as part of their highly innovation and person-centered “hospital without walls“ model. Dr. Koenig worked with a diverse team of professionals treating clients with severe and persistent mental health disorders, including complex psychotic disorders.
Dr. Koenig has received formal training in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), Harm Reduction, Acupuncture, Biofeedback, as well as trauma-specific psychotherapy modalities including Attachment-Focused EMDR. Dr. Koenig earned her level I Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP-I) certification in 2022.
Dr. Koenig provides assessment and medication management for individuals living with mood disorders, including depression and bipolar depression, anxiety, addiction and/or compulsive behaviors, chronic pain, PTSD, and complex PTSD. She incorporates psychoeducation and psychotherapy into most of her visits. Dr. Koenig is also able to provide more intensive psychotherapy services for a limited number of clients.