MEET Dr. Sonya Rodriguez

---

(Experiential group and family intensive and parent coaching)

Email: drsonya@360to180.com

Education

Dr. Sonya received her Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Northcentral University and a M.Ed. in Recreational Therapy from the University of North Texas.

Experience

Dr. Sonya has a depth of experience working with families and adolescents in various settings, including nonprofit organizations, therapeutic wilderness, residential, and transition programs, and with crisis management.

Having experienced struggles in her own family growing up and participating in family therapy at a young age, she developed a passion to walk beside struggling families. Ultimately this led her down the path of becoming a licensed family therapist.

As a family systems and attachment based therapist, Dr Sonya follows behind giants utilizing some of the most effective relational therapy methods based on research, including: Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Attachment Based Family Therapy (ABFT), Bowen Family Systems Therapy (BFST), Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). These methods help family members learn to calm their nervous systems and emotional thinking, giving way to more empathy, understanding, and openness. Her current licensures are held in California, Colorado, Florida, Texas, and Utah and she is a National Outdoor Leadership (NOLS) First Responder.

Dr Sonya is an experiential therapist, working primarily in intensives. Through this time together, she is able to see how families function in real-time and space and help make adjustments in  the moment, covering a lot of ground in a short amount of time.

Dr Sonya is an adjunct Professor at Northcentral University, supervising Master’s level Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) students in clinical skills and with Doctoral candidates with their research and dissertations. She is an active member of multiple organizations including: American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (AAMFT), Texas Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (TAMFT), National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP), Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare (OBH), and Association of Experiential Education (AEE).

She has also been involved in a wide range of volunteer and leadership activities throughout her life, including work with refugees, mental health organizations, youth-focused initiatives, schools, churches and schools.

Mission

With a passion to walk beside families and share in their hard work and in their joy, Dr. Sonya is a specialist not just because of her degrees, training, and experience, but also because she cares. She believes that “we can do hard things,” challenging herself and others.

Hobbies & Personal Life

Dr. Sonya was born and raised in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex and has resided in other states in the US and in Europe. She is currently based in the Dallas area, along with her husband, a political refugee who she has been married to for over 30 years and raised four children with.

In her free time, Sonya is hard-wired for adventure and an avid traveler, seeking out challenges and exploring new places. She is a pilot and a future astronaut, so she can often be found at Oshkosh. Her family are some of her favorite people to hang with. She also cherishes lunches with friends, healthy cooking, and hydroponically growing food.