Sandy Nikolov is a Post-Master’s Fellow under the supervision of Dr. Elizabeth Wagner and Dr. Erin Shields. She has 31 years of experience in the field of psychology and provides psychotherapy in both English and Spanish.
Sandy earned her Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Argosy University, and provides individual and family therapy to children, adolescents, and adults. Sandy also holds a Master’s degree in Psychology from Argentina, where she provided psychotherapy to individuals for six years.
Since moving to the U.S. in 2001, Sandy completed three years of in-home family therapy utilizing Functional Family Therapy (FFT). Sandy’s diverse professional background includes serving as a housing navigator for Hennepin County and as a Community Health Worker in the pediatric clinic at HCMC. She also worked at Park Nicollet providing services for mothers struggling with chemical dependency, conducted research for the University of Minnesota, and most recently provided individual and family therapy for the adolescent residential program at PrairieCare. Sandy was also trained in Motivational Interviewing at Cigna Healthcare, where she coached clients on managing stress, weight, tobacco cessation, and chronic conditions.
Sandy’s practice incorporates several therapeutic approaches, including:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Internal Family Systems (IFS)
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Functional Family Therapy (FFT)
- Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
- Existential Therapy
- Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)
- Comprehensive Behavioral Interventions for Tics (CBIT)
- Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)
- Play therapy
Sandy specializes in the following:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- OCD
- Anger
- Trauma
- Tics
- Parenting Concerns
- Relationship Concerns
- Academic Concerns
- Behavioral Difficulties
- Adjustment difficulties
Sandy provides treatment to the following ages:
- Preschool-age children (4–5 years old)
- School-age children (6–10 years old)
- Preteens (11–12 years old)
- Teenagers (13–17 years old)
- Young adults (18–25 years old)
- Adults (26–99 years old)