About
About Dr. Sonya Rodriguez
My mission is to guide individuals, couples, and families through their struggles; helping them repair, recover, and thrive.
This innate desire motivated my journey to earn a PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy and keeps me training.
You will find my style to be experiential, solution focused, and attachment oriented. I'm known for my direct, honest, and empathetic style, infused with a playful and adventurous spirit. Over the years, I have developed a specialization with families whose teens and young adult children are struggling. I also work with individuals, couples, families, and groups outside in nature.
My Philosophy
Three things that are important for you to know about our work:
We work in an intensives format.
This means we schedule and meet for longer periods of time than a traditional 50-minute weekly session. This allows us time to get deeper quicker and stay with, working the issue from different vantages until the topic has a natural pause.
We work together in your home, parks, trailheads, water’s edge, or retreat centers.
In your home, we examine family interactions as they happen and where they happen. In nature, individuals become deeply present as their nervous systems calm. In recreation we experience the trauma and anxiety leaving our body as we move.
Our work is rather short-term.
The intensive format of our sessions equips you to make shifts in yourself, which then leads to shifts in those around you. You will develop confidence in your own intuition. An invitation to continue services in the future is open if you feel the need for a tune-up, and I find immense joy in hearing about your progress over time.
My work is grounded in the well researched methods of family systems and attachment-based therapy, such as
- Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Attachment Based Family Therapy (ABFT)
- Bowen Family Systems Therapy (BFST)
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
My somatic lens incorporates a neurobiological and physiological perspective to understand how our bodies hold and react to emotions and how to release the debris.
These modalities guide my work in helping individuals discover how to calm their nervous systems and emotional thinking, giving way to more empathy, understanding, and openness.
One of my own driving resources is knowing that I do hard things. I find joy in walking beside people as they move towards something challenging as it takes determination and faith to conquer the difficulty. I share in their savoring the overcoming and their takeaway from the experience. We call this resourcing. I am firmly rooted in the belief that our mistakes don't define us; it's how we learn, grow, and connect that truly matters. It is how we recover.
Professional Experience
My background includes experience in various settings such as nonprofits, wilderness, residential programs, and private practice. I am a specialist with struggling teens and their families as well as those in life transitions. I supervise aspiring Marriage and Family Therapy master’s and doctoral level students in their clinical training and dissertation research at National University.
I am licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist in Texas, Colorado, Utah, and Florida; and am an AAMFT Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Supervisor.
Professional Memberships
- American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (AAMFT)
- Texas Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (TAMFT)
- Relational Therapist of Dallas (formerly DAMFT)
- National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP)
- Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare (OBH)
- Association of Experiential Education (AEE)

Community Leadership and Involvement
I have been involved in a wide range of volunteer and leadership activities throughout my life. This includes work with refugees, mental health organizations, youth-focused initiatives, schools, churches, and schools. I've been a board member, fundraiser, camp counselor, lifeguard, water safety instructor, divemaster and master scuba diver, ropes course facilitator, NIA dance instructor, and Girl Scout outdoor leadership trainer. I am currently a NOLS First Responder.
A Bit More About Me
I was born and raised in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex. We moved our young family to Europe and then raised our kids in the mountains of Colorado. I’m currently based in the Dallas area.
My DNA is wired for adventure. I love to be challenged and explore new places. I enjoy hiking tall mountains, skiing down the bumpier sides of the mountains, riding roaring rivers, and take part in experiences that take training of my mind and body.
I'm an avid traveler. I'm a pilot and a future astronaut, so you’ll find me at Oshkosh. I cherish lunches with girlfriends and time in nature with my family and loved ones.
The most rewarding accomplishments of my life are being married for over 30 years to a political refugee and raising 4 incredible young adults.