Get to know me, and my practice

 

Meet Samantha Gando Sloan, MA, LMFT

A thoughtful, relational approach to healing

I believe therapy can be a place to develop a deeper relationship with yourself—one grounded in curiosity, compassion, and a greater understanding of your experiences.

My approach is informed by the understanding that our emotional lives cannot be separated from our bodies, our relationships, or the experiences that have shaped us. While insight can be an important part of change, I am also interested in what happens beneath our conscious awareness: the protective responses, emotional patterns, and relational experiences that influence how we move through the world.

In our work together, I aim to create a space that is collaborative, authentic, and attentive to your individual experience. I draw from somatic, Sensorimotor, relational, and mindfulness-based approaches to help you explore familiar patterns and develop new ways of responding to yourself and others.

I believe meaningful change unfolds through a combination of self-understanding, embodied awareness, and the experience of being met in relationship.

My work is grounded in ongoing curiosity about the ways people adapt, protect themselves, connect, and grow. I tailor therapy to each person’s needs, pace, and goals, with attention to both the challenges bringing them to therapy and the strengths they already carry.

I welcome the opportunity to explore whether working together may be a good fit.

If you’re considering therapy, I invite you to schedule a free initial consultation.

My Approach to Psychotherapy

Understanding the patterns beneath the surface

Our experiences shape not only what we think and feel, but how we respond to stress, navigate relationships, and experience ourselves.

Sometimes, familiar patterns persist even when we understand where they began. We may find ourselves becoming overwhelmed, withdrawing from connection, anticipating rejection, or responding automatically in situations where we want to feel more choice.

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EXPERIENCE

Clinical Experience & Areas of Focus

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT)
California

I am an independently licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and began my private practice in 2020. My work is informed by a relational understanding of mental health and an interest in integrative, experiential approaches to psychotherapy.

Clinical Areas of Focus

  • Somatic and body-oriented psychotherapy

  • Sensorimotor Psychotherapy

  • Relational and intersubjective approaches

  • Mindfulness and present-moment awareness

  • Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and psychedelic-informed care, within my scope of practice and applicable treatment arrangements

  • Individual psychotherapy for adults

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TRAINING

The culmintation of my training in psychotherapy entails the interplay between the mind, body, emotions, and relationships. Rather than focusing exclusively on symptoms or coping strategies, we make room to explore the experiences and patterns that shape your inner and relational world.

Somatic & Sensorimotor Psychotherapy

Our bodies participate in how we experience and respond to the world. Stress and emotionally significant experiences can influence bodily awareness, posture, movement, and our tendencies to approach, withdraw, or protect ourselves.

Somatic and Sensorimotor approaches bring attention to these experiences alongside thoughts, emotions, and personal history. Depending on your needs, our work may include noticing sensations, exploring impulses and protective responses, and developing greater awareness of what happens in the present moment.

The intention is not to force an experience or push beyond your limits, but to approach it with curiosity and at a pace that feels appropriate.

Relational & Intersubjective Psychotherapy

We come to know ourselves partly through our relationships. Our expectations of others, our sense of safety, and our ways of navigating closeness and distance are shaped through experience.

A relational approach makes room to explore these patterns as they emerge in everyday life and, where useful, within the therapeutic relationship itself.

Together, we can become curious about how you experience connection, what happens when you feel misunderstood or vulnerable, and what new possibilities may emerge through a collaborative therapeutic relationship.

Mindfulness & Present-Moment Awareness

Mindfulness can help us notice thoughts, emotions, and bodily experiences without immediately reacting to or judging them.

In therapy, present-moment awareness can create space between an internal experience and the response that follows. It may also help us recognize patterns that otherwise move quickly or automatically.

An Integrative Approach

No single modality captures the full complexity of a person. I draw from different therapeutic perspectives in response to your needs, preferences, and goals.

Our work is collaborative and evolves as we develop a shared understanding of what brings you to therapy.

AS SEEN ON

Samantha Gando

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DISCOVERY PHONE CALL WITH LICENSED, SANTA MONICA AND LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA THERAPIST, SAMANTHA GANDO SLOAN

 

3201 Wilshire Blvd, ste 203 Santa Monica, CA 90403