After graduating medical school in 1991 and completing her residency in psychiatry in 1995, Sandy began clinical work as a psychiatrist. She continued that work for 10 years, primarily in private practice, until she left in 2005 to focus on alternative healing modalities.
Sandy’s pursuit of holistic healing practices began during the last year of her residency, when she began learning about and practicing Mindfulness Meditation. She attended meditation workshops with Jon Kabat-Zinn and Jack Kornfield, as well as mind-body trainings with Joan Borysenko and with NICABM (National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine) in the late 1990’s.
Sandy furthered her education in deeper psychotherapies by training in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and Clinical Hypnosis in 1998. She also completed a 2 year training in Gestalt Therapy with the Washington Center for Consciousness Studies in 2001.
In 1997, Sandy began attending Holotropic Breathwork™(HB) workshops, which later led to her pursuing training and certification with Grof Transpersonal Training, an intense 3 year process which she completed in 2003.
Her experiences in HB led Sandy to seek out trainings in Past-life Regression, which she completed with Brian Weiss in 2000, and Shamanism. In addition, she attended workshops with Gabrielle Roth focused on 5Rhythms™ practice, where she learned about the deep healing power of expressive, Sacred Dance.
Sandy has learned from many shamanic teachers, starting initially with the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, in 1999-2000. She then attended trainings with John Perkins in shapeshifting consciousness in 2001 and 2002, followed by a trip to Ecuador to learn about shamanic healing from indigenous healers in the High Andes and the Amazon. In 2005-2006, Sandy participated in desert spirit intensives with Yaqui medicine man, Lench Archuleta. She also attended several trainings with Tom Brown, Jr. in 2006, studying Native American philosophy, energy work, shamanic techniques, wilderness survival, and tracking. In mid-2006, she traveled to Africa to learn about healing from traditional African healers in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Botswana.
In addition to facilitating her own Holotropic Breathwork workshops since 2003, Sandy has assisted Stan Grof, MD, PhD in facilitating HB workshops for the public, including three of the week-long intensive workshops he has led with Jack Kornfield at the Omega Institute in New York.
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