Hi, I’m Sander.

I didn’t begin my career as a mental health professional until my mid-40s. Before that, I lived a lot of life: different professions, different identities, different chapters. I come to this work not just with training, but with lived experience.

I grew up with my own history of complex PTSD shaped by significant interpersonal trauma. I’ve done time in the military. I spent much of my life identifying as a masculine-presenting lesbian before transitioning about eight years ago to a non-binary/transmasculine identity. Long before I ever sat in the therapist’s chair, I spent years on the other side of it, doing my own healing work.

That experience means I don’t approach healing as an abstract concept. I understand what it’s like to be in the dark parts of the process, and what it takes to move through them.

I’ve also been practicing polyamory for over 16 years and live in a full, unconventional, and deeply meaningful household with my wife, my partner, my partner’s wife, two of our octogenarian mothers, and two very loved small dogs. My life, like my work, is rooted in relationships, complexity, and intentional care.

In the therapy room, I’m engaged, direct, and collaborative. I’m also pretty laid-back. I use humor when it fits, because sometimes laughter is part of how we survive and how we heal. I’m not a “nod and smile” therapist. I’m actively involved in helping you understand what’s happening in your life and move toward meaningful change.

Outside of work, you’ll find me gardening, building things, being anywhere near, on, or in water, traveling, teaching, speaking, and showing up in kink and leather spaces because they are important parts of my community and identity.

I’m also probably a little ADHD (unofficially), which means my office may have a few too many sticky notes, a bit of clutter, some very happy plants, and a genuinely comfortable place to sit and be human.