Santa Molina- Marshall, LCSW

Holistic Psychotherapist, Author, Celebrated Healer, Yoga Teacher, Ordained Interfaith Minister, Massage Therapist, Certified Reiki Master, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner & Community Leader

Santa Molina-Marshall

About Santa

Santa Molina-Marshall is a Clinical Licensed Holistic Psychotherapist and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, who has been in the field of trauma and sexual violence since 1990. In April 2014, she was awarded the National Sexual Violence Resource Centers, 2014 Visionary Voice Award, for her outstanding work in the field of anti-sexual violence within her community.

For eight years she held the position of Director of Counseling and Advocacy at the DC Rape Crisis Center, where she directed the Center’s counseling program; provided individual and group counseling; and supervised all clinical staff and graduate social work students.  Prior to her employment with the Center Ms. Molina; served as “Lifeline for Kids” Project Coordinator for the Center for Adoption Support and Education, Inc.; she worked as an Adoptions/Subsidy Social Worker for the Child and Family Services Agency, in Washington, DC; and served as Clinical Director at Sanctuary for Families, Inc., a domestic violence organization in New York City.

Presently, she manages her private practice in Washington, DC and is a national and international speaker on Women, Trauma, Mindfulness, Grief and Loss, Compassion Fatigue, Neurobiology of Trauma, and other topics. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner.  Santa specializes on issues of loss and grief, bereavement, and adult and childhood sexual abuse.  She has been providing services to the community for the last 26 years.  She has developed a holistic approach to addressing the needs of survivors of trauma that encompass addressing the body, mind, and spirit.  Ms. Molina-Marshall is a compassionate, dedicated clinician and administrator.

Her new book, Running Through Darkness: Memoir of a Spiritual Warrior serves as healing manual, guiding reader to move from trauma to triumph, and reclaim our divine birthright to be whole, happy, joyous and free!

Professional Credentials

Licenses, Certifications, Educational Background

  • Licensed Clinical Social Worker: District of Columbia – USA / LC50077742
  • Hunter College School of Social Work – Graduated: 1987  
  • Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute – Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP – Certified 2011)
  • Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health-  MassageTherapist
  • Satchidananda Ashram –  Integral Yoga Teacher
  • Usui Tradition -Reiki Master
  • New Seminary -Ordained Interfaith Minister 

Professional Experience

Holistic Psychotherapy By Santa, LLC offers a signature brand of integrative holistic psychotherapy used with clients over the last three decades. Santa uses an approach to wellness that incorporates body, mind and spirit, and uses cutting edge approaches including somatic experiencing, mindfulness, and psychodynamic interventions.

About Jordan

 Jordan, is my 9 lbs beige/tan Yorkie-Poo.  He came to my life 8 years ago and it was love at first sight.  So sweet, tender and in need of gentle loving care.  Just like me he loves launching, going for walks and bathing in the sun.  When I need to feel love or love, he is the perfect living being, always ready to cuddle and express excitement about being with me. Now, if i can un-teach him how to fetch,  all would be perfect between Jordan and I.  Jordan has an obsessive personality, tends to be a bully at times, and is very persistent, especially when it comes to fetching.  Good for him, I am a Therapist. 

Warning:  Be careful what you teach your dog!

Jordan my greatest resources

This debut memoir chronicles a woman’s spiritual exploration and growth as she overcame a disturbing childhood and helped others heal.

Brought to America from the Dominican Republic as a youngster, Molina-Marshall should have led a happy life. Her father was a diligent worker, and his large family wanted for nothing. But the author recounts that her dad had a drinking problem and was a serial philanderer. Molina-Marshall’s long-suffering mother left him for a woman. Then it was all downhill for the bright, 12-year-old girl, who was shuttled between foster care and relatives. According to the author, she was sexually abused by the husband of one of her siblings. This resulted in Molina-Marshall becoming alienated and moody. By 15, she simply tried to survive. In her favor were grit and a restless intelligence. She quit school, rented a room, and found a factory job. Time went by, and for a while she was happily married. Yet when her husband left her, her life truly began. She turned to religion for answers but decided that blaming God for her woes was a cop-out. 

In this absorbing and moving memoir, Molina-Marshall’s vivid storytelling is fearless. She frankly discusses the truths she discovered and the indignities she suffered. These admissions are disclosed with a touch of resignation and plenty of bite. However painful, everything she experienced was a lesson, and she bravely realized that she was part of the problem: “The fear of being hurt, rejected, or abused often led to me feeling lonely and misunderstood. No one knew the agonizing pain I felt being trapped in my thoughts and anger. I was becoming my biggest threat.” 

The author skillfully recounts her intricate spiritual journey. To deal with her psychic wounds, she searched for an inspirational system. Her open-mindedness led her to the interfaith concept—cherry-picking from various religions and spiritual movements, yoga, and Indigenous beliefs as a way of finding peace. Along with her female partner, she built a therapy practice, making use of every spiritual element that aided her and others. The road was bumpy, and she found that women of color in same-sex relationships were not welcomed everywhere. To do good works—and finally live on her own terms—she effectively overcame bigotry.

An engrossing, cathartic account of empathy and success through determination and confidence.

Pub Date: May 3, 2022   |    ISBN: 978-0-578-38315-6  |   Page Count: 264    | Publisher: From Trauma to Triumph  |   Review Posted Online: June 13, 2022