About Sandy
Your Denver Trauma-Informed Therapist
Find your way back to being you with compassionate support for adults healing from anxiety, depression, and past experiences.
Perhaps you remember a time when things felt lighter, when your emotions didn’t feel so overwhelming or disconnected, but those days can feel like a blur. Maybe you're tired of feeling anxious in relationships, emotionally numb, or stuck in patterns you don’t quite understand.
You’re not alone. And you’ve come to the right place.
I help adults who’ve experienced childhood or attachment trauma reconnect with their needs, trust their inner wisdom, and create lives that feel more aligned and whole.
My clients often walk away from therapy feeling more grounded, self-aware, and empowered. They gain tools to navigate their relationships with more confidence and compassion, while also learning how to show up more fully for themselves.
A lot of traditional therapy skips over the body, the nervous system, or the early roots of what shaped you. I take a different approach, one that centers your unique story and works from the inside out. We move at your pace, combining traditional talk therapy with somatic tools—simple practices that help you notice and work with what’s happening in your body. This means we explore your thoughts and emotions while also paying attention to body signals like tension, breath, and movement. Together, we create a safe, collaborative space where all parts of you have a voice and choice in the process.
Together, we’ll gently explore what’s been holding you back, identify what you truly need, and practice new ways of being, with yourself and with others.
I bring authenticity and heart to the work.
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I know how hard it is to step away from harm and toward freedom. Sometimes it feels lonely, heavy, even impossible. But please know—you don’t have to carry this alone.
If you’ve been hurt by controlling environments and/or people, church pain, spiritual abuse, or religious trauma, you probably know what it’s like to feel isolated, ashamed, or scared. Maybe you feel disconnected from yourself or others. Healing starts with a safe, gentle space in Denver where you can be curious about your story—without anyone trying to fix you or having all the answers.
We aren’t just minds; we carry our experiences deep in our bodies. That’s why I focus on healing that listens to your whole self—mind, body, and heart. Together, we’ll explore things like parts work, inner child healing, somatic practices, creative expression, and nervous system regulation. These tools help you loosen the grip of painful beliefs and find your way back to the person you really are.
I’m here because I’ve walked this path myself. Healing has been one of the greatest gifts in my life, and creating a space for that kind of growth is a true honor. I’d love to hold that space for you too.
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I work from a trauma-informed, emotionally attuned lens, meaning we go at your pace, and your experience guides the work. I often integrate:
Parts work (like inner child or IFS-informed therapy)
Attachment-based exploration
Mind-body awareness and somatic practices
Psychoeducation about the nervous system and trauma responses
I know what it’s like to sit on the other side of the couch. I’ve walked my own healing path through complex trauma, disillusionment, and the deep work of faith deconstruction. That lived experience allows me to show up with compassion, humility, and a deep respect for the courage it takes to face what hurts and move toward what’s true.
When you work with me, you get a therapist who brings both professional insight and personal understanding.
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I know what it’s like to carry trauma and finally find a space that feels safe. I also know what it feels like when faith communities, instead of holding us, start to shrink and squeeze the parts of us that need room to grow.
I grew up in a conservative evangelical Christian home where church wasn’t just something we did on Sundays—it was our way of life. We were there two to three times a week, and as I got older, I threw myself into serving: the coffee cart, youth group, 20-something ministry—you name it. I was all in.
But it wasn’t until my early 30s, when I began my own trauma work, that I started to see the cracks. Slowly, I began naming what had always been there but never spoken: the control, the spiritual bypassing, the victim blaming, and the subtle (and not-so-subtle) forms of oppression woven into the fabric of Christian culture.
Those realizations pushed me into a deeper process of rethinking everything I thought I knew—about God, about myself, and about the communities I had once trusted.
For so many of us, the places that once felt like home become too small or too unsafe to hold us anymore. And the questions that rise up in the aftermath can feel too dangerous to ask out loud, especially to people still in the systems that caused harm.
But healing begins when we find someone who really listens—without judgment, without trying to fix or spiritually explain it all away. When we feel seen in our pain, shame starts to loosen. That’s when courage comes in, and we begin the slow, brave work of untangling from what no longer fits and reclaiming who we really are.
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Diet Coke, cuddling with my cat Coconut, and playing card games with my partner are a few of my favorite comforts. I feel most grounded when I’m connecting with friends or laughing with family.
I believe creativity is one of the best medicines we have—and that it lives in all of us. To me, every act of connection and every session together is a creative collaboration, and I’ll treat it with that same care and curiosity.
I love spending my free time on creative projects, soaking up time by the water, and staying up late when inspiration strikes.
Education
Master of Art in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, University of Northern Colorado
Bachelor of Science in Human Services - Trauma Studies Concentration, Metropolitan State University of Denver
Licensure
Licensed Professional Counselor Candidate (LPCC), State of Colorado. Currently working under the supervision of Dr. Amy Smith, PhD, LMFT, CFLE, as I complete the requirements for full licensure.
National Certified Counselor (NCC), National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC)
Specialized Training
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Level 1: SP for the Treatment of Trauma (in progress)
Religious Trauma Practitioners Cohort with Dr. Laura Anderson (in progress)
Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) Certified. An evidence-based approach to treating people suffering from serious thoughts of self-harm.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Trained