(she/her)
Clients say this provider is
Hello my name is Sandra Nunez, and I provide intuitive psychotherapy services to individual, children, couples, and families in need of counseling. People search for therapy for various reasons. Most often these reasons include feelings of sadness, experiencing difficulties adjusting to life changes, difficulties dealing with chronic physical pain, emotional pain, trauma, depression, anger, and anxieties. Perhaps you are trying to heal from a difficult relationship breakup, leaving you feeling sad and defeated. It could be that you are a part of a newly formed blended family, living together for the first time, and instead of joy you are experiencing chaos. You may be seeking help, because your spouse has received orders for yet another deployment with the military. Having to say goodbye once again, leaves you feeling frustrated, anxious and sad. Often people come to therapy due to grief and loss. People dealing with difficult life changes, may experience a range of negative emotions, from sadness, anxiety to anger. These feelings often manifest as stress, which may cause further strain in personal relationships or affect one’s quality of life. Guiding Hope Individual and Family Therapy in San Diego, California is a private online practice owned by a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a Doctorate in Behavioral Health, serving clients in the State of California and Colorado.
In our first session together, my main priority is to build a comfortable, trusting therapeutic rapport while taking the time to truly get to know you and your unique background. We will spend this initial meeting exploring your history, your current experiences, and what brings you to therapy so that I can gain a comprehensive understanding of who you are as a whole person. During this time, I will also provide a clear overview of our collaborative process, outlining how we will structure our work together to effectively address your specific goals. This foundational session ensures that we establish a strong therapeutic relationship and a shared, transparent roadmap for your healing and growth moving forward.
I utilize a holistic approach to providing therapy to my clients. I consider each person’s mental, spiritual, physical, and emotional health to facilitate optimal functioning within the individual and family unit. During our sessions, I will focus on learning about your unique upbringing to understand how it shaped you into the person you are today. We might start our session by creating a genogram to process your intergenerational trauma and determine a solution to heal from it. In my practice I specialize in working with children and adults who experience various types of trauma, depression, anxiety, panic disorder, domestic violence dynamics, victims of sexual abuse, codependency issues, emotional overeating, parenting, health, divorce, military issues.
As a therapist, I am deeply passionate about working with children and adults. As adults navigate complex clinical challenges, major life transitions, and relational issues. I find immense purpose in helping clients heal from trauma, process grief and loss, and manage ADHD, anxiety, OCD, and panic disorder through structured, evidence-based tools that restore safety and calm. I also love guiding adults through relationship difficulties, cultural identity exploration, and the unique stressors facing military families, offering a compassionate, culturally responsive space to build resilience and healthier boundaries. Alongside my work with adults, I love supporting children and adolescents ages nine and up. Starting at age nine is a rewarding focus because youth at this stage possess the cognitive maturity, self-awareness, and emotional vocabulary needed to actively engage in direct verbal therapy and targeted skill building. I find great fulfillment in empowering young clients as they learn to navigate ADHD, manage anxiety, process personal trauma, and cope with the painful impact of divorce or life changes. Guiding youth through these pivotal middle childhood and teenage years allows me to help them build lifelong emotional regulation skills, confidence, and self-worth. Whether partnering with an adult facing complex life stressors or a young person overcoming clinical hurdles, my goal is to deliver deeply personalized, context-sensitive care. I enjoy creating a therapeutic space where clients of all ages feel genuinely understood, supported, and equipped to heal.
Cash - $160 per session
Aetna
Aetna - Allied Benefits
Aetna - ASR Health Benefits
Aetna - Lucent Health
Aetna - Luminare
Aetna - Medicare
Aetna - Moda
Aetna - WebTPA
Aetna – HealthEZ
All Savers
AvMed
Blue Shield
Blue Shield of California - Medi-Cal
Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan (Medi-Cal)
CalViva Health (Medi-Cal)
Carelon Behavioral Health (Commercial)
Community Health Plan of Imperial Valley (Medi-Cal)
Gold Coast Health Plan Total Care Advantage (HMO D-SNP)
Golden Rule
Harvard Pilgrim/UnitedHealthcare
Health Net (Medi-Cal)
IHSS Healthy Workers
Kaiser Permanente
Optum
OptumHealth Complex Medical Conditions
Oscar
Oxford
SFHP Care Plus (HMO D-SNP)
Sharp Health Plan
Surest (formerly Bind)
Sutter Health Plan
United Medical Resources
UnitedHealthcare Life Insurance
UnitedHealthcare Shared Services
UnitedHealthcare StudentResources
UnitedHealthcare/Optum
I have been trained extensively in CBT and use it frequently in my therapy practice. I teach and help clients utilize CBT skills to reduce anxiety, low mood, and phobias.
As a woman of color with a diverse background e.g. biracial and bicultural I personally understand how difficult it can be living in a dominant hetero normative Caucasian culture. We will take your cultural background into consideration in every aspect of your care.
I have used DBT to aid clients with emotion regulation skills that are not reduced by using CBT alone.
If you desire to incorporate your Christian faith into your care, we can incorporate such into your treatment.
I have worked as a hospice counselor and have extended experience in working with grief and loss.
6 ratings with written reviews
December 2, 2025
Sandra is just the best and I appreciate her so much. Thank you.
November 19, 2025
I'm so grateful to have found Sandra as my therapist. She is a pro who is totally engaged and focused during our sessions in an authentic way. She keeps the attention on what is best for me. After several not great experiences with therapists, Sandra has given me the care and guidance I have been seeking and I look forward to our sessions weekely.
November 13, 2025
Sandra is the most amazing therapist. I have 2 degrees in psychology, so I understand the process. Sandra is kind, supportive, smart, informed, and intuitive of my needs. I am going through a divorce and cancer. I do not believe I would be in such a good place had I not began my work with Sandra. I am grateful.