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Valerie “Monique” Sandoval, Registered Associate Clinical Social Worker, 100780
Primary Therapist
As a primary therapist at Lido Wellness Center (LWC), Monique works with patients on multiple levels, treating patients both on an individual basis, as well as facilitating group therapy. In addition to process groups, she leads healthy relationships groups and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) weekend planning groups. Monique also assists in the LWC Family Program and actively meets with patients and their families on understanding the complexities of their loved one’s struggles and how to help their family member achieve their recovery goals.
Working in mental health for the past 16 years, she began as an ABA therapist, using applied behavior analysis as a form of treatment. She pursued a career in social work and has worked in various settings including residential treatment, acute psychiatric hospitals, and in IOP/PHP levels of care with patients experiencing different levels of psychosis. It is this breadth of experience that she believes has given her the ability to conceptualize what her patients may be experiencing and helps her select the modality that may work best for their treatment.
While working on attaining her bachelor’s degree in psychology from California State University, Fullerton (CSUF), she was nominated for the Outstanding Undergraduate Award. She then went on to earn her master’s degree in social work from the University of Southern California (USC) where she was a member of the Phi Alpha Honor Society. She is also proud recipient of the 2013 Hispanic Heritage Award.
With a specialty and passion for CBT, she respects LWC’s interdisciplinary approach and varying staff perspectives that each professional brings to his or her job. Coming from her foundation in social work, she believes that LWC is aligned with her core beliefs and values as a therapist and appreciates the work/life balance that LWC practices and encourages with its staff.
For Monique, her job extends to a deep gratitude that she is able to walk with someone on their journey to not only find who they are today, but also to help them harness their ability to heal from within. She prides herself on providing her patients with the perspective of giving themselves grace and encourages them to see past their struggles to employ self-love as part of their healing. As she encourages her patients to do, she journals weekly and sets her intention daily and reflects nightly on the gratitude she had felt through the day.
