Sandy Vaughn

Biography

Sandy Vaughn, LCSW, PPSC (she/her/hers), is a cisgendered, white, lesbian from a working class background and the first to graduate college in her extended family.   A graduate of SF State’s MSW program, her work for over twenty years has focused on advancing social justice and helping people heal. Her professional journey includes roles as a school social worker, clinical therapist, and program manager serving diverse populations including unhoused individuals, people living with HIV/AIDS, adolescents with dual diagnoses, and students and families in Title I public schools and community colleges.

In educational settings Sandy developed and coordinated programming including restorative justice initiatives, psychological crisis response, and comprehensive school-based mental health programs. Her direct service clinical practice is client-centered, strengths-based, and trauma-informed utilizing modalities such as psychodynamic and attachment therapies, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Brainspotting, and Accelerated Resolution Therapy. This extensive background deeply informs her pedagogical approach.

At SF State, Sandy coordinates the PPS School Social Work Credential Program and the Public Behavioral Health Training Stipend program. She teaches courses in School Social Work, Diagnosis, Casework, and Seminar.