Ana Maria Sanchez, MA
Ana Maria Sanchez, M.S. holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology and is a Holistic Counselor and founder of Free the Light Within. Her desire to help others was greatly stemmed by the trauma she suffered as a victim of childhood sexual abuse. However, her education and career couldn’t overcome the lasting effects and feelings of unworthiness from that abuse, and the risky behaviors she engaged in as a teen exacerbated, leaving her deeply depressed and in pain.
For 10 years, Ana Maria worked with San Mateo County in Special Education and The Mental Health Department, specifically with the probationary population. Within that period, her duties ranged from substitute teacher to case manager, social worker, then bilingual therapist. She enjoyed her career until she was no longer able to ignore the inner pain she’d been repressing and could no longer escape it with alcohol or drugs. Naturally, her lack of self-esteem resulted in even more abuse and unhappiness as she found herself in a series of volatile domestic relationships.
With the pain came the memories she’d repressed for so long, and Ana Maria found herself in the dreaded “dark night of the soul,” which ironically, became the best thing that could have happened to her, for it would eventually lend itself to a period of growth, healing, and spiritual renewal.
For two years, Ana Maria stayed in her dark, depressed state, emerging out of the house only to retrieve necessities, such as groceries, then quickly rushing back to the comfort and security of her bed. Having gone from one extreme to another, though, Ana Maria could no longer sustain the misery of her self-inflicted solitude and feverishly began her search for the fulfillment and inner peace she desperately craved. Her quest became her lifelong passion, as she was introduced to and embraced all forms of personal spiritual development, which culminated into the joyful survivor she is today.
Ana Maria is a Licensed Louise Hay Heal Your Life Teacher and Workshop Facilitator http://www.healyourlifeworkshops.com/index….. She received her Reiki Training and Attunements from Reiki Master Teacher, Geneveive Vulser, M.A.http://www.heavenonearthnetwork.org/.
In addition, Ana Maria has studied with internationally-renowned healer Master Stephen Co http://www.pranichealing.com/master-stephen… and she received Certification in Pranic Energy Healing and has also extensively studied the esoteric teachings of The Kabbalah (The Tree of Life) with Jim and Megan Larkin, Ph.D.http://www.treeoflifeteachings.com/kabbalah.
Ana Maria has a passion for learning and continues to take a variety of psycho-spiritual courses at The Institute of Transpersonal Psychologyhttp://www.itp.edu/resources/divinefeminine… and East West Bookshophttp://www.eastwest.com/events.html. She lives in a spiritual community called Anandahttp://www.anandacommunity.org/, which continuously propels her to be a seeker of truth, always diligently working on herself to be able to better serve her clients and humanity. Ana Maria is a compassionate healer, providing a depth of understanding that comes from personal experience and knowledge of pain, self-sabotaging behaviors, healing, and the sometimes inevitable setbacks that challenge us as we peel away the layers of pain to reveal the beauty of the inner spirit that is individually our own.
Ana Maria Sanchez is also the bestselling author of Girl From the Hood Gone Good: One Woman’s Mission to Help Others Overcome a Pain Filled Past.
Click on the link below for more information:
Retreat Wellness Services
For 10 years, Ana Maria worked with San Mateo County in Special Education and The Mental Health Department, specifically with the probationary population. Within that period, her duties ranged from substitute teacher to case manager, social worker, then bilingual therapist. She enjoyed her career until she was no longer able to ignore the inner pain she’d been repressing and could no longer escape it with alcohol or drugs. Naturally, her lack of self-esteem resulted in even more abuse and unhappiness as she found herself in a series of volatile domestic relationships.
With the pain came the memories she’d repressed for so long, and Ana Maria found herself in the dreaded “dark night of the soul,” which ironically, became the best thing that could have happened to her, for it would eventually lend itself to a period of growth, healing, and spiritual renewal.
For two years, Ana Maria stayed in her dark, depressed state, emerging out of the house only to retrieve necessities, such as groceries, then quickly rushing back to the comfort and security of her bed. Having gone from one extreme to another, though, Ana Maria could no longer sustain the misery of her self-inflicted solitude and feverishly began her search for the fulfillment and inner peace she desperately craved. Her quest became her lifelong passion, as she was introduced to and embraced all forms of personal spiritual development, which culminated into the joyful survivor she is today.
Ana Maria is a Licensed Louise Hay Heal Your Life Teacher and Workshop Facilitator http://www.healyourlifeworkshops.com/index….. She received her Reiki Training and Attunements from Reiki Master Teacher, Geneveive Vulser, M.A.http://www.heavenonearthnetwork.org/.
In addition, Ana Maria has studied with internationally-renowned healer Master Stephen Co http://www.pranichealing.com/master-stephen… and she received Certification in Pranic Energy Healing and has also extensively studied the esoteric teachings of The Kabbalah (The Tree of Life) with Jim and Megan Larkin, Ph.D.http://www.treeoflifeteachings.com/kabbalah.
Ana Maria has a passion for learning and continues to take a variety of psycho-spiritual courses at The Institute of Transpersonal Psychologyhttp://www.itp.edu/resources/divinefeminine… and East West Bookshophttp://www.eastwest.com/events.html. She lives in a spiritual community called Anandahttp://www.anandacommunity.org/, which continuously propels her to be a seeker of truth, always diligently working on herself to be able to better serve her clients and humanity. Ana Maria is a compassionate healer, providing a depth of understanding that comes from personal experience and knowledge of pain, self-sabotaging behaviors, healing, and the sometimes inevitable setbacks that challenge us as we peel away the layers of pain to reveal the beauty of the inner spirit that is individually our own.
Ana Maria Sanchez is also the bestselling author of Girl From the Hood Gone Good: One Woman’s Mission to Help Others Overcome a Pain Filled Past.
Click on the link below for more information:
Retreat Wellness Services
