Sandy received her undergraduate degree in 1981 from the University of Virginia College of Arts and Sciences, her JD in 1996 from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and her PhD in Psychology (Consciousness and Society) in 2017 from the University of West Georgia.  Sandy’s dissertation concerned the use of altered states of consciousness to heal chronic childhood trauma.  In this way and others, she has studied and experienced the use of consciousness for healing both physically and emotionally.  Her doctoral program also emphasized epistemology in the interest of promoting the study of subjectivity and consciousness.  She and her cohort were taught the scientific method (and its undeniable strengths), but also encouraged to consider its limitations in terms of the problem of subjectivity and nonduality.  The emphasis was on keeping epistemological rigor while allowing greater diversity in research design.  Her other PSY related interests include the placebo effect, the nonlinearity of time (such as how precognition is embedded in neurological function), ESP, remote viewing, and clairsentience.  She is also interested in the intersection of quantum physics, relativity, and biology / psychology.  

In addition to her formal training, Sandy has had active Yoga (Ashtanga) and meditation (Zen and Theravadin) practices since 2001.  She has read widely about consciousness and PSY phenomenon aside from her degree programs.  She has an interest in looking at consciousness both from the perspective of wisdom traditions and from the perspective of an unfolding understanding of physics.  Her preference is to discuss PSY phenomenon not as studies in the occult or paranormal, but as part of an improving understanding of the (normal) operations of physics.