Meet Sandra
Hello, I'm Sandra.
Child and teen counsellor, teen life coach, and parent coach. In person in North Vancouver, online across the UK, Canada, and worldwide.
The journey so far
From London classrooms to a practice of my own.
I began my counselling practice in London in 2012, working across charities, schools, and private practice. In the fourteen years since, more than 400 families have trusted me with their children, through anxiety, OCD, emotional dysregulation, and neurodiversity.
In 2021 I relocated to North Vancouver, where I practise from Urban Balance Wellness on Lonsdale Avenue. Many of my UK families simply carried on with me online, and new ones still arrive the way they always have: one parent telling another. My mornings are the UK's afternoon and evening, which suits after-school sessions well.
I am also a parent of two neurodivergent teens myself, so when you tell me about your house, there is a fair chance I have lived a version of it in mine.
How I work with young people
I take an integrative approach, drawing on neuroscience, psychotherapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and coaching. Because children and teens often can't put feelings into words, my sessions use creative therapies: play, art, stories, and role play that let their inner world come out safely.
My aim is steady: helping each young person find their own voice, manage the ups and downs on the way to adulthood, and move from stress and troubled relationships toward confidence and deeper connection.
And with parents
My work with parents is grounded in child development, attachment theory, and the Adlerian approach to positive parenting, built on the idea that everyone needs to belong and to feel significant. When children feel discouraged, they can't say so; they act it out instead. I help you read what the behaviour is saying and respond in ways that bring the joy back. I also offer parent-child sessions, where you and your child work with me together, to strengthen the bond between you.
"Sandra has been a catalyst for our family. The coaching sessions helped our teenage son find strategies for his anxiety, and helped us notice patterns in our family that needed addressing."
Charlotte, North Vancouver
Training & certification
- Child & Adolescent Counselling, London (artspsychotherapy.org)
- Parent-Child Therapy (artspsychotherapy.org)
- Teen Resilience Coaching (youthcoachinginstitute.com)
- Positive Parenting Solutions
- Therapeutic Story Creation for Children