DIRECTORY LISTING

Biography

Heather Sands

Since 2012, Heather's therapeutic work continues to reach a variety of people as her experiences span from local New Mexican individuals, youth, and families to migrant, asylum-seeking, and refugee peoples from all over the world. Once a former collegiate rower and rowing coach, Heather brings the same humor and motivational tactics needed in athletics into therapy sessions thus providing strength-based encouragement to individuals and families amid life's challenges and changes. Fundamentally, Heather's practice is grounded in the five tenets of humanism, which center on genuineness, authenticity, unconditional positive regard, empathy, and congruence. This foundation enables strength-based interventions that strongly align with cognitive behavioral, behavioral, and dialectical behavioral therapy approaches as well as solution-focused brief therapy and motivational interviewing techniques. Heather's formative therapeutic and supervisory experiences are largely attributed to her work as a Multisystemic Therapy (MST) therapist and MST Supervisor, an evidence-based and intensive outpatient community-based family therapy for adolescents. Heather also holds a Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision from the University of New Mexico. Since 2021, she has held faculty appointments at the University of New Mexio as well as Long Island University. Heather was initially hired as an adjunct faculty member for Winter 2025, and currently serves the program as a full-time substitute doctoral lecturer.