Tyana Tavakol, M.A., AMFT

ou know something’s wrong but you can’t figure out what. You’re getting angry at things that don’t make sense. Relationships aren’t working out the way you want them to and you’ve been feeling alone. Stress is such a part of your day to day you can’t remember what it was like without it. Life as it is now is not working; you’re ready to make a change.

You deserve a safe space to explore this, those parts of ourselves that have worked somewhat until now but are starting to make our lives unbearably difficult. You are at a powerful and important point in your life. The next step is to decide to step into becoming your authentic and self-aware self.

Complex Childhood Trauma

Easy and safe are not the words you would use to describe what it was like growing up. Maybe your home was filled with arguments. Maybe you had to grow up faster than the other kids and often got told you’re an “old soul”. There’s a part of you that knows, whatever happened back then, it’s affecting your life and behavior today and it’s time to feel some more control over it.

It can be terrifying to start to look into our past, and, our past is truly what holds the key to understanding and improving ourselves in important and empowering ways. It’s common to start noticing symptoms of childhood trauma in adulthood. Childhood trauma effects can be debilitating and dysregulating, disrupting our ability to go about our daily lives. Your body and mind hold memories that, when they are ready, can be accessed to reduce their power over you and improve the sense of peace in your life.

We will go at the pace and direction that you choose, collaboratively gathering insight into how to heal from childhood trauma based on what in your past is showing up for you today. You will gain skills and tools to keep your body feeling safe and calm not just in times of going into hard memories but throughout various stressful times in your life. Instead of your triggers taking over you, the knowledge and confidence you will build will help you ride the wave and continue on with your day; your past will no longer have a grasp on your present.

Couples Therapy

Has your relationship been harder than you expected, and you and your partner can’t seem to get on the same page and are arguing about the smallest things? You don’t even remember the last time you could go a week without fighting and you’re exhausted. Even when they are around, you feel sad and alone and want to learn not to feel this way. It’s painful to think back to when it was better and wonder if you can get there again.

Whether you just started dating or have been together for years, arguing with your partner is tiring and painful. We don’t get a one size fits all handbook on how to have healthy and successful relationships, and we shouldn’t because all relationships are so different.

In couples therapy, we create a custom approach for you and your partner based on your goals, struggles, and dynamic. We will fill your relationship toolbelt with vital skills and insights into yourself, your partner, and your relationship.

Therapy for Tech Industry Professionals

You’re in a tech company that people dream of working at, that you dreamed of working at. You work hard. You stay up late. You miss gatherings with friends and family. The deadlines never end, and the grind never ends. Your stress never ends. Whether it’s having a frustrating boss or leadership, feeling unfulfilled in your responsibilities, or struggling in the persistently demanding tech culture, happiness at work and in life is getting more challenging as time goes on.

You deserve to feel happy with your life. As a past employee in a large tech company, I understand what it means to define yourself as a tech professional and what it takes to not only survive but thrive day in and day out in that culture.

In therapy, we will help shift from the feeling of being constantly behind and uncertain of your self-worth to feeling confident, calm, and on top of your life priorities. We will talk about your goals, both professionally and personally, and implement the strategies to get you on the fast track toward them. Together, we will discover how to bring a feeling of purpose and passion into your life.

BIPOC Adult Children of Immigrants (First Generation / Second Generation)

“Where do I fit”, it’s a question you’ve been asking yourself for some time but can’t figure out. You don’t feel fully American but you don’t feel fully part of a particular BIPOC community either. You’ve gotten the question “where are you from” your whole life, and while it’s frustrating just to hear the question at all, you wish you had a clearer answer yourself.

We don’t often get a space to explore the confusing and difficult experience of being a part of multiple cultures. Whether we were raised with parents with different ethnicities and cultures, or just having parents raised outside of the U.S., it can be hard to know where to start in the search for our own identity. Being a first-generation American, and second-generation immigrant leaves us with a lot of questions about where we belong. There’s a deep desire to connect with our family members as well, but there’s a constant disconnect we just don’t know how to bridge. As a child born in Los Angeles to parents who immigrated here as teenagers after the Iranian revolution, I feel this experience deeply. We all deserve to feel like we belong and get a clearer understanding of who we are.

As a BIPOC therapist, I believe in supporting improvement in BIPOC mental health across the community and first-generation and second-generation immigrants. In our time together, we will explore what it means to be you. What are all the intersectionality of your identity that makes you, you? What’s murky and unclear that we can start to define? Which parts are the hardest to understand or accept? We will hold space for you to find what it means to be uniquely you through an intergenerationally-focused, culturally curious lens.