Practice Location:

Willow Lawn & Virtual

Ages Treated:

Adults: 18+

Primary Areas of Clinical Interest & Expertise: 

· Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)/Overwhelming Emotions
· ADHD/Mood & Anxiety Disorders/Intimate Partner Violence
· Working with Helping Professionals
· Life Transitions

Background:

Sandy is a Licensed Professional Counselor specializing in individual and group counseling. Sandy graduated from Radford University with an undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice and worked as a Juvenile Corrections Officer for several years and continues to work event security in her free time.  After graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University with her Master's degree in Rehabilitation Counseling, she became a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor and began working for the Department for the Aging and Rehabilitative Services. While there, she assisted individuals struggling with a disability in finding and maintaining employment.

Sandy also worked extensively over the past 20+ years with individuals impacted by domestic violence and has specialized training and experience working with survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. Sandy uses a holistic, therapeutic approach which honors the whole person including their physical, mental, spiritual, and social health while treating mood disorders, ADHD, and trauma. She is also interested and skilled in working with LGBTQ issues such as struggling to feel accepted by family, peers, and/or the community.

Sandy is a reality-based, strengths-based, and solution-focused therapist. Her therapeutic approach integrates Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, EMDR, Sandtray and Expressive Arts therapy while providing support and practical feedback to assist individuals in effectively addressing life challenges. Sandy is fully trained in EMDR and has extensive training in DBT. She facilitates several Adult DBT Skills & Processing groups each week. Additionally, Sandy is a Board Approved supervisor with the Virginia Board of Counseling. She provides clinical supervision to Residents in Counseling pursuing licensure to become Licensed Professional Counselors. 

When not working you can find Sandy at many of the events around the city, cheering on the Philadelphia Eagles, the Virginia Tech Hokies or the VCU Rams and spending time with her fur babies, Lipton, Cammie, and Tetley.  

Education: 

Master of Science (Rehabilitation Counseling) - Virginia Commonwealth University,  Richmond, VA

Bachelor of Science (Criminal Justice) – Radford University, Radford, VA

Licenses & Certifications:

Licensed Professional Counselor (VA)

While Sandy is contracted with the following insurance payers, we recommend contacting your insurance company to determine if your plan has any restrictions or limitations:

- Anthem (Commercial and Medicaid)
- Aetna (Commercial)
- Bright
- Cigna
- Molina Complete Care of Virginia Medicaid
- Optima (Commercial and Medicaid)
- Optum/ UnitedHealthcare (Commercial and Medicaid)