Sandhiya (Sun.thee.ya) Baladhandapani, PA LPC

I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Pennsylvania and provide individual psychotherapy for people of ages 4-50. I earned my M.A. in Counseling Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology in Chicago, IL. Since 2018, I gained comprehensive clinical experiences working with children, adolescents, young adults and adults in the Chicago and Pittsburgh communities.

I specialize in treating symptoms associated with neurodevelopmental disorders, anxiety, social anxiety, self-esteem, grief and loss, challenges with learning disabilities and sensory processing issues, as well as family, relationship, school, transitional and acculturative stressors.

My approach in therapy can be depth oriented, straightforward and genuine. I believe in the influence of a solid therapeutic relationship to the treatment process and outcome which occurs gradually over the course of treatment. You can learn to utilize the therapeutic environment with me to deepen your self awareness, identify your strengths, build adaptive internal resources to navigate stressors and live a meaningful life. I practice culturally responsive psychodynamic, systems informed, experientially focussed and insight oriented psychotherapy, with use of liberation psychology principles. Depending on developmental age and assessment of needs in initial consultation, I also provide play and expressive arts therapies, and parenting support for their parents or caregivers in parent consultations as needed.

I am an immigrant from Tamilnadu, South India living in the United States for more than a decade. I provide psychotherapy in English or Tamil. I have a background from Ayurveda and Vippasana traditions which offers a balanced framework to the existing medical model of mental health treatment. I view the person, treatment and wellness as a whole, an interconnected system of mind and body only in relation to their environments from the past, present and possibilities of future.

"No one is born fully-formed: it is through self-experience in the world that we become what we are."
- Paulo Freire

"Knowledge emerges only through invention and reinvention, the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry beings pursue with the world and with others."
- Paulo Freire