I am an ordained Rabbi and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. I wasn’t always a Rabbi. I was born in Tehran, Iran and moved to the states when I was eight years old. I was raised through the public-school system of Forest Hills, Queens, which at the time was one of the more diverse multicultural communities in New York City. It is to that upbringing that I attribute my understanding and acceptance of different cultures and ethnic groups.
By the 11th grade I was radicalized (in a good way) into Orthodox Judaism, and destiny landed me in Baltimore, Maryland to finish up high school. And thanks to my inherent dichotomous, black and white thinking patterns, I felt that it wasn’t enough to just be religious, but that I needed to know everything about my
By then, destiny (or as I was beginning to call it, ”Divine providence”) was at it again and in 2006 my family and I moved to Los Angeles to serve as one of the Rabbis at the Yachad Outreach Center. It was a great experience, as I was finally able to be involved in and interact with the community, teaching that which I had learned for so many years.
Finally, In 2013, I decided to pursue a career in psychology. This was due to the fact that I had always been intrigued
Most of my work as a therapist has been with adolescents, adults, and couples. I am trained in different
For those who are interested in revealing their unconscious content and perhaps understanding how repressed earlier emotions and experiences affect current decision-making, behavior, and relationships, I also have a passion for psychodynamic/analytic work.
When working with couples, I gravitate more toward the attachment- Based model. Couples that avoid expressing their feelings to each other put themselves at greater risk of becoming emotionally distant, and ultimately isolate and disconnect completely. To address this, I help couples bring out the emotions and thoughts that they fear to express to each other. In addition, I focus on helping the partners communicate more effectively, identify and fix the repetitive negative interaction cycles, help maintain a sense of intimacy, promote strengths, and build resilience in the relationship.