Sabrina Santa Clara is a licensed psychotherapist, a certified IFS therapist and approved IFS consultant, and faculty at Fluence. This page gathers her credentials and the lineages that formed her, for colleagues, hosts and anyone who wants the details.
Brief bio
Sabrina Santa Clara is an elder and spiritual doula, a medicine weaver, and a licensed psychotherapist who works beyond the limits of the field. She holds a Master of Arts in Somatic Counseling Psychotherapy from Naropa University, with a dual emphasis in body psychotherapy and dance/movement therapy, and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from San Francisco State University. She is a Certified Internal Family Systems Therapist and an approved IFS Consultant, and developed her own specialty in neoshamanic IFS.
A specialist in psychotherapeutic touch, she trains clinicians in the ethical use of touch in therapy and teaches for Fluence on psilocybin-assisted therapy and psychotherapeutic touch. Before her clinical career she worked as a massage therapist and yoga instructor, a meditation teacher and a human resources director. She guides founders and leaders, practitioners, and people on a spiritual path through the thresholds of their lives, online worldwide and from Longmont, Colorado. Her book, Becoming Audaciously Human, is in progress.
Education
- Master of Arts, Somatic Counseling Psychotherapy, Naropa University: dual emphasis in body psychotherapy and dance/movement therapy
- Bachelor of Arts, Sociology, San Francisco State University: emphasis in human sexuality and Spanish
Licenses and certifications
- Licensed Professional Counselor, Colorado
- Certified Internal Family Systems Therapist (Level 3)
- Approved Internal Family Systems Consultant
- Certified Psychedelic Integration Therapist, Fluence
- Colorado Natural Medicine Clinical Facilitator, licensure pathway
- Dance/Movement Therapist
- Certified Authentic Relating Facilitator
- Embodied Nondual Meditation Instructor
- Meaning-Centered Executive Coach
- Holistic Health Practitioner
- Yoga Instructor
- Massage Therapist (former practice)
Teaching and speaking
- Faculty, Fluence: psilocybin-assisted therapy and psychotherapeutic touch
- Trainer of clinicians in psychotherapeutic touch, Levels 1 and 2
- Speaker on self psychedelic integration, neoshamanic IFS and the use of touch in therapy
- Guest, Women in Depth podcast
Influences
I have been formed by many teachers and many traditions, and I carry each of them into the room with me.
- Internal Family Systems
- Hakomi
- Somatic and contemplative psychology, as taught at Naropa
- Buddhist psychology and nondual meditation
- Neoshamanic practice, ceremony and ritual
- Authentic Relating and Circling
- Dance, movement and bodywork
- The pastors, monks, rabbis and wise women and men who taught me along the way
Also
- Bilingual in Spanish and English
- Culturally mixed
- Ceremonialist and ritualist
- Writer, poet and mixed media artist
Articles
A few earlier articles, more clinical in nature, for those working in the healing professions.
Don’t Be a Hater on Valentine’s Day
Opinion piece, Elephant Journal, February 2013.
What’s Wrong With No Touch Policies?
Colorado Counseling Association newsletter, February 2012. Names and repudiates two belief systems behind no-touch policies.
Clinical Validation and Application of Touch as a Psychotherapeutic Intervention in Public Mental Health Settings
Reviews the research on touch in psychotherapy, defines psychotherapeutic touch, and sets out ethics and guidelines for its use.
Alchemical Injury: Self-Transformation Through Dance/Movement Therapy and Internal Family Systems in Highly Embodied Adults with Chronic Injuries
Master’s thesis, Naropa University.
Disordered Eating and the Athlete
Written in 1992, during her years in massage therapy and structural integration.