My Approach
My approach to therapy is multifaceted. Finding greater ease and connection with yourself, with others, and in the world, and working on healing parts of yourself, includes many things, including feeling, knowing, and integrating that there is space for all of you, your mind, body, and spirit, and all aspects of your identities.
I integrate talk therapy with other modalities, including mind/body easing methods like Somatic Experiencing (SE), AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dymanic Psychotherapy), Brainspotting, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), CRM (the Comprehensive Resource Model), Kathy Kain’s Somatic Skills for Online therapists, and PACT (Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy). These modalities can allow us to work with traumatic experiences, mind/body disconnections, including attachment trauma that stemmed from family as well as other systems, and trauma around neurotype/disability/race/culture/ethnicity/religion/gender/sexuality; find ways to recognize safety in your body and to self-regulate and co-regulate; and approach therapy in an integrative, holistic way.
I try not to make assumptions about other people’s experiences. Instead I aim to make more space for you to show up, and just be, as you are. I intentionally work to collaborate and co-create with you through your process, bringing curiosity and openness to our work together.
Mahyar Nili, LMFT, SEP (she/they)
Mahyar Nili is a trauma-informed/competent, holistic, somatic, neurodiversity-loving , Islamo-friendly, invisible illness/disability understanding, bicultural therapist of color. They specialize in supporting first- and second-generation immigrants, SWANA, BIPOC/people of the Global Majority, Muslims, Iranians, Neurodivergent people (Neuro-Queer, AuDHD, Autistic, ADHD, OCD, sensory processing, highly sensitive, late diagnosed, self-diagnosed/self-realized, exploring,….), chronically ill and disabled people, people with PMDD, people experiencing perimenopause and post-menopause, QTBIPOC, LGBTQQIA, non-binary people, women, and people of all genders and sexualities, cultural workers, activists, artists and other creatives, and all spiritual people.
Mahyar is a Marriage Family Therapist and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner with training in AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy), EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), Kathy Kain’s Somatic Skills Online, Brainspotting, CRM (Comprehensive Resource Model), and PACT (Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy). She has an MA in Counseling Psychology, with an emphasis in Expressive Arts Therapy, from California Institute of Integral Studies, and BA’s in Art, and Gender Studies, with concentrations in intersectional and global feminisms, summa cum laude, from UCLA.
Mahyar is a conversational Farsi speaker. She is dedicated to an ongoing practice of decolonization, and ongoing learning of social justices, including a commitment to disability justice, neurodivergent affirmative care, in movement towards collective liberation. They love dancing, hanging out with trees and by the water, spending time with loved ones (human and other animals), resisting as well as resting and connecting.
Licenure
I am licensed under my legal name, Nina Mahyar Nili as a Marriage Family Therapist in CA (90969), and OR (T2937)
Words people have used to describe working with Mahyar:
accepting, understanding, comfortable, neurodivergent-affirming, safe
“Mahyar brings deep compassion and wisdom to our work, and helped me tremendously to just listen to, notice and be present with what happens, allowing me to just sit with intense feelings and let them pass. I’ve been able to work gently and easily through pain and lingering traumas I wasn’t even aware of (but my body certainly was). Mahyar’s presence, thoughtfulness and willingness to show up and do the work with clients is beautiful and transformative. Anyone would be lucky (and smart) to work with her.” ~ offered by R.T. after doing Somatic Experiencing with Mahyar