Sandra Mackintosh

I've been doing this work for 31 years. I trained at the Menninger Foundation, one of the most respected psychiatric training centers in the country, and I've worked in just about every setting you can imagine: inpatient units, outpatient substance abuse programs, and mental health support for military personnel around the world. What that experience gave me is the ability to meet people wherever they are — whether that's in a crisis or just trying to understand why life feels harder than it should right now.

I work with adults, teens, and older adults, and I see individuals, couples, and families. I accept Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield, Cigna, Carelon Behavioral Health, and Select Health — Colorado, and I offer both virtual and in-person sessions at my Longmont office.

My approach starts with a question I ask early on: What do you actually want to be different? Not what you think you're supposed to want — what you actually want. From there, we build a plan that's realistic and specific to your life. I draw from solution-focused techniques, psychodynamic work, family systems, and CBT depending on what fits the situation, but I don't believe in one-size-fits-all therapy. I'm direct without being harsh, structured without being rigid, and I'll tell you honestly when something isn't working so we can adjust.

I'm particularly experienced with anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, substance use and recovery, relationship and family conflict, and life transitions that hit harder than expected — including postpartum challenges, infertility, aging, and chronic illness.

Expect a real conversation, not a questionnaire. I'll ask about what's going on, what's been tried, and what you're hoping will be different. I want to understand the full picture — not just the presenting problem. Most people leave the first session feeling clearer than when they came in, even if nothing's "fixed" yet. That clarity is where we start.