Meet Sabrina Santiago


sabrina

Sabrina Santiago is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist #101236. She received her MA in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy from Pepperdine University’s Graduate School of Education and Psychology in Malibu, CA. She received her BA in Cognitive Psychology with a Minor in History from the University of California Irvine.
Since she was a young girl, Sabrina has had an interest in the field of psychology, especially upon realizing that not everyone thinks or does things in the same way. While at UC Irvine Sabrina became more drawn towards working with families dealing with mental illness and disabilities. She saw how difficult it could be to handle the stress that comes with working with the challenges presented by mental illness and the stigmatization that comes with it.

 

Sabrina has been working with children with special needs, primarily with Autism Spectrum Disorder, since 2014 doing play therapy, and has assisted with School Aged Social Skills groups. During her time with clients she has watched them grow, learn to communicate more effectively, and establish strong bonds with their caregivers and environment. Every day she learns something new from her clients and they never cease to impress her with their intelligence and willingness to engage with others.
Sabrina has received training in Behavioral Intervention and has worked with couples dealing with marital discord using Solution Focused and Emotion Focused Therapy. Sabrina has also participated in an Equine Facilitated Therapy program for children and adolescents with special needs.  She has previously been certified in using Non-Violent Crisis Intervention (CPI) and is the current the Secretary of the Long Beach Southbay California Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (CAMFT) group.