Biography

Mary K. Sanders, M.S., is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with whose focus is on addressing trauma in communities of color and marginalized populations, including Black, Indigenous, Veteran, immigrant and refugee, foster youth and LGBTQIA+ community members. She currently provides community mental health services for formerly unhoused Veterans for Veteran Affairs in San Francisco. In addition, she has a private practice called EMPATH Center in Oakland serving Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC). Her vision is to implement psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and incorporate community integration. Ms. Sanders is certified in Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and currently enrolled at the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute. She graduated from the 2019 CIIS Certificate cohort and since has focused her efforts on building BIPOC psychedelic community locally and nationally. She will be a founding member of the national organization People of Color Psychedelic Collective, whose goal is to increase content, awareness, and access to psychedelic medicine practice that represent BIPOC voices. Ms. Sanders acknowledges Black Bird Tribe medicine teachers and community members who have had a profound impact on her ancestral healing and continue to guide her in this work.