Dr. Katrina Sanford uses African centered healing approaches to promote collective healing and wellness. She is a Clinical Psychologist based in Seattle, WA. Dr. Sanford is in private practice with specialties in Trauma and Sex Therapy. Dr. Sanford uses her trauma informed background to challenge and support social injustice issues for her clients and community, particularly racially induced inequities. Dr. Sanford helps her clients to work towards decolonizing their minds, bodies, and souls from Euro-centric ways of being that continue to negatively impact our whole selves. Becoming our better selves involves breaking down the historical inaccuracies the dominant culture has created about all of us. Additionally, Dr. Sanford helps empower her community to work through the inter-generational traumas/barriers that has left our people with a lack of understanding of how truly amazing we are. Dr. Sanford sees it as her purpose to aid her community in developing a deeper self-love that is necessary for true growth and evolution in this life.
Dr. Sanford works from a social justice integrated approach based in African centered thought, Feminist Theory, Mindfulness, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Dr. Sanford uses these approaches to treat her clients through a holistic health lens that emphasizes the inseparable connection between the mind and body. Dr. Sanford works to help empower her clients by aiding in the understanding of one's behavioral patterns and how our thoughts and feelings can drastically effect our behavior.
Dr. Sanford treats couples, polyamorous/non-monogamous relationships, and individuals with sexual health difficulties, relationship issues, life transitions, alternative lifestyles and relationships (nonmonogamy, kink etc), members of the Queer community, anxiety, mood disorders, womyn’s issues, gender and racial identity struggles, spiritual transitions, and trauma, including different forms of abuse. In addition, she administers comprehensive psychological and Neuro-psychological assessments for diagnostic clarification, runs workshops, and participates in consultation and parent trainings.
Dr. Sanford is a Co-founder of Nile's Edge Healing Arts Center, a space focused on de-colonizing health and education so that under-served communities can holistically flourish (www.nilesedge.com).The center serves as an incubator to support African-centered practitioners who use creative, preventative, and sustainable methods to heal their community. Additionally, she is the Executive Director of Earth Pearl Collective, a queer, womyn of color nonprofit dedicated to healing their community through creative collaborations (www.earthpearlcollective.com).
