Dr. Sandra León-Villa is a first gen, daughter of immigrants, Autistic Xicana, Activist, Speaker, Liberation Psychologist. Her work primarily focuses on the treatment of trauma, BIPOC mental health, and first generation BIPOC career professionals. She has been in the mental health field for 15 years working directly with trauma survivors and is a survivor herself. Dr. León-Villa published her research study, Exploring Gender and Racial/Ethnic Differences in the Effects of Child Sexual Abuse in the Journal of Child Sexual Abuse in 2018. She is trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), and is certified in trauma informed yoga & is a registered yoga teacher (200RYT).

 

In 2020, Dr. León-Villa lobbied for legislation that would require mental health professionals to obtain cultural competency, diversity, equity, & inclusion (DEI) training for license renewal, and in May 2021, Assembly Bill 327 passed & was signed into law with the support of other community organizations. In early March, during the 2023 legislative session, Dr. León-Villa, along with Assemblywoman Selena Torres, and Dr. Lauren Chapple, returned to present and provide testimony on AB267, and the importance of amending AB327 and increasing the requirement to 6 hours of continuing education for mental health providers. AB267 passed and was signed into law in May 2023. As a result, mental health providers are now required to complete 6 hours of continuing education on DEI for license renewal.