meet Linda Sanderville, LCSW-C, RYT-200
Helping you unearth realizations about yourself that have been buried for ages, keeping you frozen in the same dead-end patterns.
Hi there! I’m Linda.I specialize in working with highly capable and highly stressed working women who are carrying most of the load in their marriage for the management of their households.
These women are often working demanding corporate jobs or running their own business and have very little time to rest, reflect or recover and it’s making them feel like they are slowly losing their sense of self, or even their minds.
These women are:
the ‘therapist’ for their friends
the daughters fulfilling their immigrant parents’ dreams
the outspoken truth-tellers who outgrew their hometowns
I know what you’re going through so well because I’ve been there. Multiple times, in fact.
As a second-generation American raised in a household and community with high expectations, and high competition, I know a thing or two about stress, burnout and self-neglect.
My parents sacrificed so much of their time, their health and even their happiness to make life work in a new land, as West African immigrants.
They taught me to work hard, but they didn’t know how to teach me boundaries, being gentle with myself, or maintaining a healthy marriage, because they did not have that to give.
I learned to be an achiever, which honestly has gained me a lot of success in life. But it came attached with a cost.
This is the reason it is so important to me to offer a focused, high-accountability therapy space where the real story gets named.
Instead of the crisis-of-the-week cycle,
we do the work that gets results at home and on the job. You can learn to:
redistribute the mental load
set boundaries that hold
repair loving relationships
restore strained nerves
and recover self-trust for confident decision making.
My aim is to move my clients from
“Living this way might kill me”
into living a life that doesn’t require escape.
What Makes Me Different
From the outside, therapy can look the same across any and all providers, but this couldn’t be further from the case. Clients tell me what makes me stand out is:
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I talk a lot about the capital-S Self in sessions – that wise inner knowing that is already aware of how to win at life but has been drowned out for years by the much louder and very urgent fear-based voices in your head. Bringing new strength to this part of yourself seriously changes the game.
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I don’t sugarcoat, but I deliver truth in a way that makes you feel seen and valued, not shamed.
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Certified in ART, IFS, Gottman Method, Hypnotherapy, TF-CBT, and more, but just as comfortable weaving in humor, cultural awareness, and spirituality.
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As both a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Registered Yoga Teacher, I know how to use somatic and mindfulness tools alongside advanced clinical methods.
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I am forthcoming that I do not use my clients time in session to talk about me. I continually encourage my clients to fill up and use the space to get their needs met, and that they should expect nothing less.
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With my own personal trauma background, I’ve been where many of my clients are. I know what it takes to survive, climb out of the pit and then learn to actually live. And I have no doubt you can do this, too.
My Values
Acknowledgement of the larger systems of oppression that influence your day to day experience (a sociological perspective)
Interconnectedness of our brains and bodies that mirrors that interconnectedness of all living things
Rest as a powerful form of resistance, and absolutely necessary for survival
Intergenerational gifts and healing are just as important to center as intergenerational wounds
Inner conflicts shed light on our core beliefs, and anything that needs to be changed, can
Having some connection to a sense of spirituality can be really powerful in the transformation process
A closer look into my world…In the rare moments when I am not part-time homeschooling, working with clients or acting wildly impressed with each of my sons’ newest Lego creations –
I am catching up on the latest online release by my favorite comedian, Josh Johnson, or scrolling ticket sites to see the next time Alvin Ailey dance company will be in town.
One of my bucket list items is to someday attend a silent retreat. Preferably one that is fully raw vegan. And preferably not on US soil.
The book I most often recommend is Rest Is Resistance by Tricia Hersey. I am never one to fan-girl, but a long conversation with her over a premium cup of tea would be time well spent. Many of my clients resonate with her work, in part, due to their similar social justice values.
I’ve been told by many that one of my greatest gifts is perspective! I have an uncanny way of connecting the global to the personal and helping you better understand the ways in which you think and operate. The amount of “aha!” moments my clients have in session is pretty wild.
Favorite eats
Vegan Thai food and Jollof rice (Ghanaian of course!)
Drink of choice
Blueberry Pineapple smoothie
Where I’ve been
Ghana, UK, Switzerland, Nepal, China, Hong Kong, Turkey, Toronto, Montreal
Where I want to go
Argentina, Peru, Morocco
Style
My style is best known as "Mom-of-young-boys”
Daily Ritual
Yoga and spiritual reflection time
One day I want to
Learn how to ride a bike (don’t judge me!)
Licenses
Licensed to practice as an Independent Clinical Social Worker in DC, Maryland, Virginia, New Mexico, Florida, Vermont, South Carolina, Illinois, and Georgia.
Clinical Supervisor in Maryland, Washington DC and New Mexico
Education
M.S. in Clinical Social Work, with minor in International Social Welfare, Columbia University in New York
B.A. in Social-Psychology Sociology, Minor in African American Studies, University of Maryland – College Park
Trainings & Certifications
Accelerated Resolution Therapy
Hypnotherapy (advanced)
Internal Family Systems (Level 1)
Trauma-Focused CBT
200-HR Yoga Teacher Training
300-Hour Advanced Yoga Teacher Training, In-progress 2024
Trauma-Informed Yoga
Pre/Post-Natal Yoga Training
Gottman Method (Level 2)
I’ve been working with women like you long enough to know that you are someone with high expectations of yourself.
Let’s match that with embracing high expectations for yourself, with high quality support.
You deserve a guide who sees you and your pain, and still won’t let you settle for anything less than the life you’re meant to live, because she knows it’s possible for you to have it.
