Today we’d like to introduce you to Sandra Alvarado- Raymond.
Hi Sandra, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My story began in the late 1990s when I decided to go back to school after my divorce as a single mother. My son was my great motivation, and I graduated from Miami Dade College with an Associate in Legal Assistant. After working for non-profit helping immigrants and with a private attorney, I decided to continue my higher education. I completed my Master in Counseling Psychology and had the opportunity to complete my internship working with young female adolescents. It was vital to complete my education, but it simultaneously gave me life purpose. In Graduate school, I completed an internship at a youth treatment center specializing in Addiction and mental health treatment. My first job almost four years after graduation was working for an agency providing Adolescent and Family Therapy for adolescents struggling with Addiction and minor crimes. It allowed me to validate how important it was for me to work in this field and with this demographic population.
As a Licensed Mental Health Therapist in the State of Florida, I have been privileged to learn from my clients about humanity’s struggles and how therapy can make the most minor or most significant impact on people’s life. The universe brought me back to work with adolescents in collaboration with Miami Juvenile Court and the University of Miami Family Services. My career, over the years, has been meaningful and with a purpose, because the reward I get as a helper/therapist is to make life-changing in these families and adolescents’ life. I use many psychological modalities daily, but my foundation is a humanistic approach. I focus on every client with a holistic approach that focuses on free will, human potential, and self-discovery. I assist my clients in helping them develop a strong and healthy sense of self, explore their feelings, find meaning and focus on their strengths.
During Covid, I opened my Telehealth (virtual) private practice, and my mission overall is to help my client to build life tools and work toward healthier balance. I work with adolescents and families and assist clients with life stressors, depression, anxiety, and adjustment disorders. My academic and career achievements are something that I am very proud of, but how I show up with my clients comes from my family’s humble background and my origin. My parents migrated from the Dominican Republic in the 1960s to New York, where my sister and I were born. I am proud to say that my Dominican culture, influence, and family value is the blueprint for how I present myself in my personal and professional roles. I am grateful that I grew up in a village of aunts, uncles, cousins, and extended family because they showed us hard-working ethics. My upbringing consisted of compassion, kindness, and integrity, which have been multiple tokens in my professional role.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I would not call it a struggle, but it had enormous challenges because I wore many hats while reaching my goals. I was a single mother, head of household financially, and went to school full time. In addition, after completing graduate school had to complete many steps to obtain my license with the State of Florida. I had to complete one thousand fifteen hundred hours (1500) of supervised work, pay for supervision, and pay for numerous study materials to take the licensing exam. I almost gave up because I took the exam three times to pass it. All of these steps were nerve-wracking that I wouldn’t become a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in the State of Florida. It was not a smooth road because I faced roadblocks, but I did not give up and faced my obstacles.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I am known to use a humanistic approach with my clients and surroundings. I specialize in working virtually with women, adolescents, and families that struggle with life stressors, depression, anxiety, and adjustment disorders. What sets me apart from others is that I combined my empathetic intentional approach with my acquired academic psychological knowledge. I do not complicate things; I simplify things to help my clients in their process and journey. I sincerely do not think much of branding. Still, in my professional informational materials, I emphasize the personal worth of the individual, the centrality of human values, and the creative, active nature of human beings.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I recently am conducting corporate employee workshops and doing women’s holistic psychological groups. I do not work in years segments because I believe in the “Here and Now,” but I want to do more corporate mental health psycho-education workshops and increase holistic women’s groups.
Pricing:
- Individual Therapy-125.00 per session
- Women Groups- 45.00 to 125.00 per person
- Corporate Psychoeducation workshop- 1000.00 per hour
Contact Info:
