In 2020, Sandoval became the first immigrant Latina president of the National Association of Social Workers’ New York City chapter and is now the chapter’s President Emeritus. Sandoval is a philanthropist and a donor to the Latino Social Work Coalition and Scholarship Fund, NYU Silver School’s Latinx Social Work Student Organization, and many other causes. She was recognized as the 2023 Today’s Inspired Latina of the Year by Fig Factor Media and as a Latino Leader on the Radar by Latino Leaders in Action. 

 

She holds an associate’s degree from the Borough of Manhattan Community College, a bachelor’s degree from Baruch College, and a master’s in social work from the New York University Silver School of Social Work. Sandoval also holds a post-master’s certificate in clinical practice with adolescents and belongs to the National Board of the Council on Social Work Education. Sandoval presented for the Trauma Research Foundation and has been trained at the Ketamine Training Center by Dr. Ron Siegel, Dr. Phil Wolfson, Bessel van der Kolk, M.D., and Licia Sky, co-founder and CEO of the Trauma Research Foundation.

 

Sandoval has spent many years working in the non-profit sector; Make-A-Wish and Charla de Lupus at Hospital for Special Surgery have been the sectors where she has grown and learned the most. As a proud immigrant from Ecuador, her passion is fueled by supporting the community she is a part of and their children. Her greatest pride is being a single mother and raising her 22-year-old daughter, Isabella, whom she considers her biggest teacher. 

 

Sandoval training in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) helps eligible clients experience more frequent breakthroughs and sustained improvement in mental health challenges. Ketamine induces a heart-opening psychedelic journey that, when matched with therapy, is shown to reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and PTSD, allowing for an awakened mind and an integrated soul. 

 

Sandoval KAP sessions with clients are informed by indigenous plant medicine traditions that have been used in ceremonies to support community healing and help us change in the way we think for centuries. Though not a plant medicine, ketamine provides a psychedelic healing journey that offers an opportunity to push the mute button of your ego and listen to your soul. Sandoval approaches KAP as a way for clients to return to their roots and find healing by understanding their emotional distress in a safe environment. 

 

History has shown us that it can take about 20 years for a novel treatment to reach marginalized communities, but Sandoval is committed to bringing KAP to those who need it most. She hosts KAP retreats and community healing circles at accessible price points, ensuring that women, Latinx/e people, and other communities can benefit from the psychedelic’s transformational power. In addition to KAP, Sandoval leads ritual and holistic open heart practices that connect clients to indigenous healing traditions, drawing on ancestral wisdom. 

 

“I have done my own healing work, and it has been a life changer, and now I want to make this accessible to my community to help in breaking the cycles of intergenerational trauma.”