Sandra is a compassionate and bilingual (English/Spanish) Resident in Counseling with over five years of experience in behavioral health settings, including crisis counseling, community mental health, and outpatient private practice. She works with middle schoolers, adolescents and adults, providing trauma-informed, culturally responsive care to individuals and families navigating a wide range of mental health challenges. Sandra has extensive experience supporting clients with anxiety, depression, ADHD, attachment concerns, borderline personality dynamics, family conflict, grief and loss, life transitions, substance use, and co-occurring disorders, as well as individuals processing trauma, PTSD, sexual assault, self-harm, pregnancy and postpartum concerns, and the unique experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals, military families, and people of color and other marginalized communities.
Sandra holds a Master of Education in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the College of William and Mary, where she also completed counseling residencies, a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from George Mason University, and an Associate of Social Sciences from Northern Virginia Community College. Her professional background includes work in community services boards, crisis services, and group and private practice, where she has conducted comprehensive assessments, provided individual, family, and group therapy, and coordinated care for clients with complex needs. She is deeply committed to ethical practice, social justice, and advocacy, and is experienced in navigating systems of care while centering each client’s cultural identity, values, and lived experience.
Clinically, Sandra integrates a holistic and relational approach, drawing from Emotion Focused Therapy, Internal Family Systems, Person-Centered and Relational therapies, Attachment Theory, Trauma-Focused CBT, EMDR, mindfulness-based interventions, crisis debriefing, play therapy, and other trauma-focused modalities. She is EMDR trained and is currently expanding her expertise through somatic experiencing training for trauma, allowing her to support clients in healing not only cognitively and emotionally, but also through increased connection to their bodies and nervous systems. Her style is warm, collaborative, and nonjudgmental, with a strong emphasis on safety, empowerment, and helping clients build insight, resilience, and self-compassion.
Outside of her work, Sandra enjoys traveling, trying new foods, cooking, spending time with her family, and relaxing at the beach. She brings this sense of curiosity, warmth, and grounded presence into the therapy room, creating an environment where clients feel seen, respected, and genuinely supported as they move toward healing and lasting well-being.
