Sandra (she/her/ella)- Registered Clinical Counsellor, Registered Therapeutic Counsellor, Registered Counselling Supervisor
Languages: Spanish, English

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​About
Sandra was born in Lima, Peru. Sandra is a queer, cisgender, migrant, Latinx, Indigenous woman and mother offering trauma informed counselling and Expressive Arts therapy in the traditional lands and unceded territories of thexʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

Sandra is passionate and committed to offer a safe, transparent and nourishing holding space in the counselling relationship. She is eager to accompany folks with curiosity, playfulness and humbleness towards their healing journey. Sandra believes in the possibility of accessing and expanding our inner reservoirs of hope- resources and justice. Sandra specializes in supporting survivors of trauma (intergenerational, gender based and sexualized), folks navigating identities and life transitions, grief and loss, and historical systemic oppression. Sandra works with children (6 years old +), youth, adults, BIPOC community members, and 2SLGBTQAI+ folks. She also offers workshops and consulting support to diverse community agencies and postsecondary institutions.

In addition to her western-based training, Sandra’s practice is rooted in her lived experience, the experience of her ancestors/ communities and the communities she has been supporting as a front line worker and counsellor. In recent years Sandra has been living and working in northern rural Indigenous communities in so-called “Canada”. 

Outside the counselling space, Sandra is dedicated to raising her little one, dancing, biking, playing in nature, making art and poems, connecting to her community and culture, and learning traditional ways of knowing and healing. 
 
Approaches
  • Indigenous worldviews (decolonial practices)
  • Intersectional feminism 
  • Popular Education
  • Trauma informed 
  • Expressive Arts Therapy 
  • Relational and attachment 
  • Narrative Therapy 
  • Mindfulness 
  • Somatic 
  • Resource Oriented 
  • Harm Reduction

​Professional Training and Development
  • Trauma Informed Expressive Arts Therapy, Cathy Malchiodi, Trauma Informed Practices & EXA Therapy Institute
  • Somatic Experiencing, Somatic Experiencing International, US 
  • Hakomi Mindful Somatic Psychotherapy, Hakomi Institute, Vancouver, BC 
  • Narrative Therapy Counselling Skills, VSNT, Vancouver School of Narrative Therapy 
  • Collaborative Practice: Ethics, Safety and Consistency, Dr. Vicky Reynolds, Vancouver, BC ​
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​photo credit ​www.roughclub.ca/