Licensed to practice in 3 states and accepts 9 insurances. Specializes in Grief, Trauma and PTSD, Life Transitions and 10 more.
(she/her)
New to Grow
Hi, I’m Romy, a bilingual Licensed Clinical Social Worker and the founder of Sana Sana Counseling, PLLC. As a first-generation college graduate and someone who was the first in my family to navigate the college experience, I understand the pressure that can come with balancing family expectations, identity, education, and building a life of your own. I’m a warm, down-to-earth therapist who believes therapy should feel like a space where you can show up as your whole self, without judgment or having to explain every part of who you are. I especially enjoy working with Latinx/Latina(o)/Hispanic clients, people of color, first-generation college students and professionals, and anyone navigating the complexities of culture, family, relationships, and identity. My approach is compassionate, culturally responsive, and rooted in understanding how our past experiences can shape the way we relate to ourselves and others. I have experience supporting clients through grief and loss, trauma, relational and attachment concerns, anxiety and depression, college and academic stress, and major life transitions. Whether you’re working through something painful from the past, feeling stuck in the present, or simply trying to figure out what comes next, my goal is to help you feel understood, build awareness, and develop tools that support the life and relationships you want. If you want a therapist who "just gets it," look no further and book today. I look forward to working with you.
Starting therapy can feel a little intimidating, especially if you’re the first person in your family to go to therapy, if you've always had to be the "strong one," or if talking about mental health wasn’t something you grew up doing. You don’t have to come in knowing exactly what to say or have everything figured out. We’ll take it one step at a time. During our first session, we’ll talk about what’s really been going on in your life, your relationships, family and cultural background, and the experiences that have shaped who you are today. I want to understand your story, your culture, values, family, and other forms of community. I especially want to learn what has helped you along the way. I’ll also explain how I work, answer any questions you have, and work with you on what you’d like to get out of therapy. You’re not walking into a room where I’m going to judge you, tell you what you “should” do, or expect you to have all the answers. Therapy is a partnership, and your voice truly matters here. Think of our first session as the beginning of getting to know one another and building the kind of confianza (trust) that makes therapy feel safe and comfortable. Even when family, culture, or expectations have influenced the choices you’ve made in life, therapy can be a space where you get to explore what you really want and what feels right for you. My role isn’t to tell you what you should do, but to guide you, offer support and perspective, and help you feel empowered to make decisions that connect with the life you want.
A strength of mine is the ability to meet you where you are while also helping you look at things from a different perspective. My approach is eclectic and person-centered, meaning I don’t believe therapy should be one-size-fits-all or that the same approach works for everyone. I use different therapeutic techniques based on your personality, your experiences, goals, and what you need in the moment. I’m comfortable sitting with you in those really hard moments and holding a safe space when that’s what you need. At the same time, I’m not afraid to challenge you, ask reflective questions, or encourage you to think about a perspective you may not have thought of before. Therapy is not advice, and I will not tell you what to do, however, therapy can be a great place to help you better understand yourself and feel empowered to make your own choices. I also believe our experiences are complex. Your culture, family, relationships, past experiences, and the messages you’ve received about who you’re “supposed” to be can all shape how you move through the world today. I’ll help you explore those connections with curiosity and self-compassion. As a first-generation high school and college graduate, child of an immigrant, and someone who has experienced traumatic grief and neurodivergence firsthand, I bring lived experience that has shaped how I understand resilience, identity, family, and the many layers of life transitions. These experiences help me stay curious, listen deeply with care, and honor that your experience is uniquely yours. Ultimately, I want therapy to be a space where you feel both supported and empowered. A place where you can be understood for who you are while also helping you become the person you want to be.
The ideal client is someone who is curious about themselves and open to exploring what may be underneath the things they’re experiencing or things they've gone through... even if they’re not exactly sure where to start. You don’t have to come to therapy with a clear goal, a diagnosis, or a perfect explanation of what’s wrong. If this is your first time in therapy, I can help guide you through the process and meet you where you are. I especially enjoy working with first- and second-generation individuals, college students and young adults, immigrant and multicultural families, and people navigating the complexities of identity, family, culture, and relationships. I also have experience supporting survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, as well as individuals working through trauma and complex trauma, intergenerational patterns, grief and loss, attachment concerns, and relational struggles. You may be going through a major life transition like starting college, graduating, changing careers, navigating a new chapter in adulthood, or simply realizing that the way you’ve been doing things no longer feels right. Maybe you’re questioning who you are outside of your family’s expectations or trying to understand how your past continues to show up in your relationships today. Most importantly, you don’t have to have it all figured out. If you'd like to heal, grow, understand yourself better, explore your identity, improve your relationships, or just feel less overwhelmed.... you've made the first step. Wherever you’re starting from, we can figure out where you want to go together.
CBT is a way of understanding the connection between your thoughts, feelings, and actions. The way we think about ourselves, other people, or a situation can affect how we feel and how we respond. And, sometimes those patterns leave us feeling stuck in life. In this treatment, I help you slow down and notice those patterns with curiosity. Together, we explore questions like: What am I telling myself about this situation? How is that affecting how I feel? What do I tend to do when I feel this way? Is there another way I could look at this? For example, if you’re thinking, “I’m always the problem,” that thought may lead to feelings of shame or anxiety and cause you to disconnect from friends, overthink, or avoid difficult conversations/conflict altogether. We can work to understand where that belief or thought came from, whether it still serves you today, and explore a more balanced/neutral way of understanding yourself. Additionally, our thoughts and beliefs don’t just come from nowhere. Our family, culture, relationships, past experiences, and the messages we received growing up can all influence the way we see ourselves and the world. CBT can help you understand those patterns while creating new ways of responding that feel healthier and more connected with who you want to be.
With Attachment-based therapy, I help you understand how your early experiences with caregivers, family, and your environment may have shaped the way you connect with other people today. These early experiences can influence how you handle closeness, trust, conflict, vulnerability, and asking for what you need in relationships. In our work together, I will help you explore your attachment patterns and better understand questions like: Why do I pull away when I feel hurt? Why do I worry that people will leave me? Why is it so difficult for me to ask for what I need? Why do certain situations in my relationships feel so emotionally intense? I don’t see attachment styles as a box or a label that defines who you are. Instead, they’re a tool for understanding yourself with more compassion. Our experiences can shape us, but they don’t have to determine how we relate to others forever. Together, we can explore your needs, learn how to communicate them more openly, recognize patterns that may be showing up in your relationships, and work through conflict in ways that feel healthier and more intentional.
DBT skills are tools that can help you better understand and manage your emotions, handle difficult moments, stay present, and communicate more effectively with others. I'll teach you skills for things like calming your nervous system when emotions feel overwhelming, getting through stressful situations without making things harder for yourself, and becoming more aware of what you’re feeling and needing in the moment. You’ll also learn to slow down and think about your choices, not just how they might make you feel right now, but how they could affect you tomorrow, next week, or even months from now. When you’re overwhelmed, it can be difficult to see beyond the moment (especially if you see red). These skills can help you create a little more space between what you feel and how you respond in those moments. We may also practice communication skills that can help you express your needs, set boundaries, navigate conflict, and have difficult conversations without losing yourself in the process. And most importantly, you’re not expected to already know how to do any of this. Many of us were never taught these skills growing up. Maybe you were taught to keep your feelings to yourself, put everyone else first, “just get over it,” react with anger, or avoid conflict altogether. Learning emotional regulation and healthy communication is like learning to ride a bike or learning to drive, you build the skill through practice, patience, and repetition. You don’t have to be perfect at it. You just have to be willing to learn.
I use an eclectic approach, which means that clients don’t have to fit into one specific type of therapy. Instead, I incorporate different approaches (Motivational Interviewing, CBT, EMDR, DBT Skills, trauma-focused, culturally-sensitive, person-centered, psychodynamic, psychoeducation, supportive, solution-focused, and strengths-based) and other tools depending on who you are, what you’re experiencing, and what feels most helpful to you. This can be especially helpful when you come from a multicultural or first- or second-generation background because your experiences may not fit neatly into one box. We can make room for all of those pieces instead of looking at your concerns through only one lens. Whether that's needing a space to slow down, process your emotions, and feel heard. Or wanting to learn practical tools to manage anxiety, communicate your needs, set boundaries, or work through a difficult situation. We might also explore how your childhood experiences continue to affect your relationships, or how cultural and family expectations have influenced the choices you make today. You don’t have to change who you are to fit into therapy. Therapy should adapt to you. My goal is to understand the whole picture of who you are and work with you to find approaches that respect your culture, values, experiences, and goals.
EMDR is a therapy that can help you work through experiences that still feel emotionally “stuck" or traumatic. Sometimes, even when you know something happened in the past, your body and mind can continue to respond as though you’re still in that moment. You might notice this through anxiety, strong emotional reactions, upsetting memories, nightmares, avoidance, or feeling triggered by things that remind you of what happened in the past. With EMDR, you don’t have to just “get over” what happened to you or force yourself to forget it. Instead, we work together to help your brain process the experience in a way that feels safer and less overwhelming. During EMDR, I guide you through specific exercises involving side-to-side eye movements, tapping, or other forms of gentle back-and-forth bilateral stimulation while you briefly focus on a memory, thought, feeling, or body sensation. You remain in control throughout the process, and we move at a pace that feels manageable for you. I also ensure that you are resourced enough before we start EMDR, meaning you are taught regulation strategies, grounding exercises, and other coping tools beforehand. You also don’t have to tell me every detail of your experience for EMDR to be helpful. We can work with what you feel comfortable sharing. With EMDR, the goal isn’t to erase your memories or change what happened. We cannot change the past or control the future. But, this therapy approach helps those experiences have less power over how you feel, think, and respond today. Think of it as helping your mind and body finish processing something that may have gotten “stuck,” so you can feel more present in your life now.