Eva “Sofia” Mendoza is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCS28884) who is a native of South Central Los Angeles. Sofia is passionate about increasing access to mental health services and helping clients achieve personal liberation. Sofia has been delivering outpatient mental health services in Los Angeles since she was an MSW intern starting in 2007. She is a seasoned clinical supervisor in community mental health setting where she blends holistic and evidence practices to service the BIPOC families of all ages. She has expertise in treating children, teens, adults and parents in the perinatal period. She’s been in private practice since 2016, where she’s specialized in helping people of color, first generation helping professionals recover from trauma and burnout. Sofia is also passionate about immigrant mental health. In 2017 when DACA was rescinded, Sofia led a support group and created a mental health coping guide for DACA recipients facing uncertainty of their legal status. That experience led her to creating the “When Fear Becomes Reality” Webinar the therapists when ICE raids and kidnappings became rampant in Los Angeles in 2025. This webinar was rooted in DBT, EMDR and Trauma Informed practices for immigrant population and their families.

When it comes to mental health care and education, Sofia’s core value is to make the information digestible — because that’s how you make it accessible. With her child and teen training, Sofia’s versed in explaining mental health concepts for all to understand. She uses this approach in her writing, with her clients and trainees. She’s also authored a number of mental health workbooks and notebooks to make mental health accessible, for “the entire familia” regardless of their age.

She’s achieved certification in the following EBPs: 

– Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) for ages 2-8

-Triple P Parenting

-Trauma Focused CBT (TFCBT) for ages 4 and up

-Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): specialties include children, pregnancy/child loss, medical traumas, complex trauma, family separation, racial trauma, community violence, and many other traumas. 

-Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) for ages 4 and up

-CBT Clinical Champion for training therapists

-Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) teens and adults

– Mothers and Babies EBP for Perinatal Mental Health

As a certified EMDR therapist and Approved EMDRIA Consultant, Sofia has supervised and consulted with many EMDR therapists who service inner city and community based clients. She also serves as a clinical consultant on many complex issues such maternal mental health, emotion dysregulation, and race-based trauma. 

In 2026, Sofia co-authored the book, Stand Up, Speak Up and Heal: Overcome Race Based Traumatic Stress, Self-Advocate and Stay Grounded (pre-orders available now, pub date Nov 2026) for the consumer who is healing from race based traumatic stress. Many of the practical skills in the book are rooted in DBT – Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Liberation Psychology philosophy, coupled with specific BIPOC and trauma adaptations. It’s got real stories, exercises, and reflections in each chapter. It was the book Sofia needed as a brand new therapist, providing DBT to inner city youth and families, knowing that there were systemic issues and vulnerabilities, specific to BIPOC that none of the evidence based methods were discussing. 

In the book, Sofia offers The Liberation Touchstone, which is a framework that pulls all the skills from the book together to help clients align with liberation practices in their daily lives. Sofia trains therapists on how to use the Liberation Touchstone with themselves and their clients.