Today we’d like to introduce you to Linda Sanderville.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My journey to becoming a therapist wasn’t just an academic decision, but a very personal one. Long before I earned my Master’s from Columbia University or became a licensed clinical social worker, I was the daughter of West African immigrants learning very specific and high-stakes lessons: I need to work hard to survive, I must always achieve, and I carry the weight of a family’s dreams and legacy on my shoulders.
My parents sacrificed everything to give their children a new life, but given their own burdens and limitations they couldn’t teach me some of the most important lessons- how to set healthy boundaries, how to rest, or how to be gentle with myself.
So, I became an achiever. I climbed the ladder, traveled the world, and built a successful career. But like so many of the high-visibility women I serve today, I paid a steep price. I know exactly what it feels like to look like you’re holding it all together while internally you are screaming at the top of your lungs or one moment away from snapping. I’ve even lived the reality of functioning as the “default parent” carrying the invisible operations of the household, and who managing every calendar, every emotion, and every crisis until their own nervous system hits a wall.
My turning point came when I realized that traditional therapy wasn’t enough, and was leaving a lot on the table in terms of what mental health could offer. I needed a way to heal that honored both my mind and my body. Through my own recovery, I discovered the transformative power of combining advanced clinical trauma therapies, like Accelerated Resolution Therapy and Internal Family Systems, with somatic practices like yoga. This was way more than stress management skills; it offered a way to rewire the nervous system to stop living in a survival mode spiral.
That realization sparked the creation of Satya Counseling & Yoga.
I started my practice with a clear mission: to offer a safe, focused space to provide excellent services to women who are tired of the “crisis-of-the-week” cycle. While I began by serving a broad range of clients, my own experiences and those of the women walking through my (virtual) doors have further sharpened my focus.
Today, I specialize in guiding high-achieving women, including executives, founders, and public figures, who have reached a breaking point. This may be a major emotional breakdown, the crushing mental load of being the default parent, or navigating the fallout of a public or professional scandal, I help them do more than just recover. I help them reinvent.
I’m based in New Mexico but serving clients across Maryland and eight other states via secure telehealth, and I get to do the work I was meant to do!
I help women resign from roles they never chose for themselves within their families, rebuild their reputations after scandal, and reclaim their narratives. I bring a unique blend of sociological perspective, trauma-informed clinical rigor, and deep, lived empathy to every one of my sessions.
I’m no longer the woman drowning under two feet of water. I’m the guide who sees your glory even when you can’t, helping you stand up, breathe, and build a life that doesn’t require constant escape. That’s the story of how I got here, and it’s the same path I walk alongside my clients every day.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Goodness! There have certainly been challenges along the way. And to be honest, many of those were self inflicted as a result of the expectations placed on women and the way I was raised to be a hyper-achiever.
I’ve had several experiences with burnout as I slowly made my way towards private practice, particularly because our Western way of working and changing success created unsustainable work patterns for me. I’ve had to be really real with myself about how to channel my energy so I can continue to learn, grow and apply my skills for benefit of others, without sacrificing my own wellbeing, or losing out on time with my family that I will never get back.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Satya Counseling & Yoga LLC?
I founded Satya Counseling & Yoga to provide a sanctuary for high-visibility women—executives, founders, and public figures—who are navigating the painful intersection of professional success and personal collapse. While many therapists offer general support, my practice is specialized for two critical, and often overlooked groups of women: helping women reinvent themselves after a personal or professional scandal, and guiding exhausted female leaders out of the burnout of “default parenting” to reclaiming the prime of their lives.
My practice is different from aimless talk therapy because it is a directive, trauma-informed intervention designed for women who need nervous system support, reputation repair, and a reset of their family dynamics without sacrificing their careers.
I offer my clients a unique blend of advanced clinical modalities, such eye movement therapy for taking the pain out of troubling experiences and Internal Family Systems for resolving patterns of self-sabotage. Incorporating yoga and a variety of other somatic techniques allows me to serve my clients in addressing both the mind and the body’s stored trauma. This “outside-in” approach allows us to bypass years of traditional analysis to achieve rapid, lasting relief. Whether through weekly virtual sessions across nine states or immersive multi-day Therapy Intensives that compress months of work into days, I offer a level of privacy, speed, and strategic depth that standard outpatient care cannot match.
Brand-wise, I am most proud of creating a space that refuses to pathologize women for their reactions to impossible systemic and societal demands. My clients know they won’t be met with pity or passive nodding, but thoughtful, innovative guidance with plenty of humor and human empathy. I want readers to know that you don’t have to choose between being a powerful leader and a whole, rested human being. At Satya, we do the hard work of aligning your internal values with your external reality, so you can stop surviving the day-to-day and start living a life that actually reflects the best of you.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
My biggest piece of advice for therapists and entrepreneurs just starting out is this: Stop trying to be a “generalist” to cast a wide net, and have the courage to niche down into the problems you are most uniquely equipped to solve. Otherwise you are being ruled by a fixed, scarcity mindset.
When I started out on my own, I felt pressure to be everything to everyone and offer a standard menu of services that fit the traditional therapy mold. I wished I had known earlier that your “too specific” focus is actually your greatest asset. Once I stopped holding back my direct style, my sociological perspective, and my focus on high-stakes issues like damaged reputations and support for executive women who are often caring for everyone else, my practice really shifted.
I realized that the clients who need you most are looking for exactly what you offer, not a watered-down version of it. So I would definitely encourage you not to hide your lived experience or your specialized way of implementing your skills. Lean into it! The right clients for you want someone who has walked the specific path they are on and knows the way out.
Secondly, build your business on sustainability. In a field like mine that is driven by empathy and connection, it is easy to think “hard work” means over-functioning. But saying yes to every client, fill every slot, and ignore your own nervous system until you burn out is not the way to build a business. I wish I had set firmer boundaries around my time, energy, and pricing as a matter of clinical necessity. If you design your practice model (like my Therapy Intensives) to respect your ideal work rhythms as much as your clients’ than you’ll be able to do the work you love for years to come.
Pricing:
- Weekly Individual Therapy (50 mins) $300
- 2-Day Therapy Intensives (3 hrs) $2,425
- Gottman Couples Counseling (75 mins) $475
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.satyacounselingandyoga.com/therapy-maryland-executives
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/satya.counseling.yoga/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linda-sanderville-she-her-85a37364
