AT A GLANCE
My Therapeutic Style
- I am an open and transparent therapist with a genuine love of people and their stories.
- I approach my clients with radical acceptance and non-judgement.
- I embrace a post-modern perspective that recognizes each client as the ultimate authority on their own life.
- I strive to create an environment where clients feel comfortable bringing their whole selves into therapy, including parts that they feel compelled to suppress in other areas of their lives.
- My clients are encouraged to move at a pace that feels right for them, and often in the context of trauma, that’s a slower experience grounded in trust and safety.
- I use a trauma-informed, integrative, depth-oriented approach in sessions, incorporating attachment theory, Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS), EMDR, Narrative Therapy, Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT), Gestalt Therapy and somatic interventions.
- I have a deep respect for my clients’ lived experiences, backgrounds, and belief systems, and work to meet them wherever they may be.
Background & Training
- → PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
- → EDUCATION & TRAINING
Danielle was born and raised in the San Gabriel Valley, and it is now her great privilege to serve her community as a trauma-focused therapist. Her expertise lies in areas such as C-PTSD, relational issues, sexual and domestic violence, and addressing LGBTQIA+ concerns, including topics like consensual non-monogamy, sexuality, gender, and identity. With over 16 years of experience as an educator and musician, she found her path to psychotherapy through providing emotion-focused music education to clients of all ages. Through this work, she discovered the therapeutic potential of somatic, body-based practices, such as music, for processing difficult emotions, life experiences, and trauma.
Danielle’s therapeutic approach is integrative and client-centered. She customizes each session to suit the unique needs of her clients, honoring that they are the experts of their lives. She believes that at their core, humans crave safety and connection, and her work often revolves around exploring attachment dynamics.
It’s common for people to wrestle with conflicting feelings or competing “parts” that can be challenging to untangle. To assist her clients in navigating these intricate inner landscapes, Danielle utilizes the Internal Family Systems (IFS) perspective. This approach helps clients orchestrate their internal voices and uncover the underlying needs of various aspects of their personality. They often delve into her client’s childhood experiences, which often contribute to the development of narratives that they wish to unpack and ultimately, reauthor. These narratives often contain deeply ingrained beliefs concerning gender, ethnicity, identity, sexuality, relationship structures, boundaries, and tradition.
In addition to talk therapy, Danielle offers attachment-focused EMDR, music interventions, grounding practices, havening, and guided meditations during her sessions. When working with families, couples, and polycules, she uses Emotionally Focused Therapy to highlight attachment dynamics and aid in rebuilding connections, vulnerability, and intimacy.
Her passion lies in working with clients of all ages and backgrounds. She often finds herself alongside artists, deep thinkers, creatives, couples and polycules, survivors, and medical professionals and their families.
Danielle is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, LMFT #152067, currently offering in-person and telehealth sessions in Pasadena at Sandoval Therapy.
RECENT TRAININGS
- Volunteer Team Member, EFT Externship (October 2024)
Dr. Silvina Irwin & Michael Barnett, LPC, LPCC - EFIT Essentials: Emotionally Focused Individual Training (May 2024)
Ali Barbosa Calderon & EFT Center LA - Group Consultation in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (Ongoing 2024)
Michael Barnett, LPC, LPCC - Sexual Attitude Reassessment (March 2024)
Dr. Stephanie Buehler - EFT Core Skills (2023-2024)
Dr. Silvina Irwin & Michael Barnett, LPC, LPCC - Externship in Emotionally Focused Therapy (2023)
ICEEFT, Robin Williams Blake & Kathryn de Bruin - Fundamentals of Emotionally Focused Therapy (2023)
ICEEFT, Dr. Silvina Irwin & Dr. Senem Zeytinoğlu Saydam - Working With Adult Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivors A Structural Dissociation Perspective (“parts work”) (2023)
Christina Mardirossian, LMFT - EMDR Basic Training with EMDR Consulting (EMDRIA Approved)
EMDR Consulting, Laurie Colson-Young, LMFT, LPCC (2023) - IFS: Step-By-Step Procedures for Healing Traumatic Wounds and Alleviating Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, Addiction and More (Live Webinar)
Alexia D. Rothman, Ph.D. (2023) - 70-Hour Sexual Assault & Domestic Violence Counselor Advocate Training
Peace Over Violence (2021)
EDUCATION
- Comprehensive Sexology Program, The Buehler Institute (In-progress)
- Master of Arts, Marriage & Family Therapy (Summa Cum Laude)
Touro University Worldwide (2022) - Master of Music
The University of California, Los Angeles (2014) - Bachelor of Music
The University of California, Irvine (2011)
ASSOCIATIONS
- International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT), Member
- American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists, Early Career Member
- American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, Professional Member Early
- California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, Pre-Licensed Member
Beyond Therapy
- I grew up in the San Gabriel Valley in a blended, Mexican-Italian home
- I am the co-owner of Innovation Music Studio, Inc. and have been a private vocal coach & educator since 2008
- I have a deep love of music and singing
- For over two decades, I was immersed in a career in opera
- I enjoy baking, reading, hiking, sewing, photography, crafting, & songwriting
LINKS
LOCATION
Sandoval Therapy
491 South Marengo Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91101
