ABOUT
mindful therapy
with Tannaz
EMDR and Somatic Therapy for trauma, infertility, IVF, postpartum support, and bicultural adults, serving Irvine, and California
Therapy that works with your whole self, mind, body, and nervous system, to create lasting change
Meet Tannaz Alagheband, LCSW, PMH-C, and Certified EMDR Therapist
I believe that healing happens when we have a space to be seen, held, and supported—allowing us to tend to our emotional wounds and reconnect with our joy, freedom, and aliveness.
I am here as a guide and supporter, giving you a safe space to reflect, feel, and grow. Together, we’ll honor the ways you have protected yourself to survive, cultivate self-compassion, and help you reconnect with yourself and relationships from a place of self-compassion.
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My style of therapy is warm, curious, gentle, and collaborative. I view the trust, connection, and safety formed between as the most important aspects of your therapeutic process and healing. My approach to therapy honors the mind-body connection, while being trauma-informed, attachment-focused, and culturally centered.
With an attachment-focused and culturally-centered lens, we’ll examine how your earlier relationships and unique lived experiences inform the way you view yourself, show up in your relationships, and begin to shift the patterns that once helped you but no longer serve you.
With integrating mindfulness of the body into talk therapy, I may ask you to notice what’s happening in your body as you tell me about your challenges, thoughts, and feelings. This pausing and noticing can allow you to become more present and grounded, to examine how you hold stress, tension, and trauma in your body, and ultimately release emotions that remain in your body from past difficult experiences.
With EMDR therapy, we’ll help you reduce your distress re: past painful events and restore a sense of safety through tapping into your brain and body’s natural ability to move towards healing.
Depending on your goals/needs, we may do EMDR, somatic-based talk therapy, or a combination of the two to help you on your healing journey.
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B.A. in Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine (UCI), 2009
M.A. in Social Welfare, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), 2012
Advanced EMDR trainings: EMDR and Ego States; EMDR and Somatic-Therapy
EMDR Level 1 and Level 2 trained through Institute for Creative Mindfulness
Postpartum International Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders: Components of care
Postpartum International: Advanced Perinatal Mental Health Therapy
Hakomi Level I Mindfulness-Based Somatic Psychotherapy, Hakomi Institute
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Yoga and mindfulness practices for Trauma UCLA
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Certified EMDR Therapist through EMDRIA
Perinatal Mental Health Certified through Postpartum Support International
LCS #67172
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English
Farsi/Persian
My Journey of Becoming a Therapist:
My areas of specialty are deeply connected to my own experiences and healing journey. Growing up with a bicultural identity and living in between two worlds, sparked my interest in psychology. When I immigrated at age 17 from Iran and had to re-define who I was in a new place, I became interested in how our upbringing, environment, and cultural background shape our identities.
This passion led me to earn my master’s degree in social work, where I focused on supporting others through immigration, displacement, and the mental health challenges of adapting to a new environment.
I began my career at community mental health agencies, providing long-term therapy to culturally diverse adults struggling with anxiety, depression, trauma, life transitions, chronic medical conditions, sexual abuse, relationship difficulties, and family conflict.
After completing my licensure, I spent over a decade working in group private practices and University of Southern California (USC Keck) student health center supporting medical students, health professionals, creatives, artists, first- and second-generation graduate students, and new mothers.
As I worked closely with clients and peeled back the layers of their stories, I noticed a common thread: many wounds and traumas had gone unseen and unhealed. This realization inspired me to train extensively in trauma-focused therapies, including EMDR and somatic approaches like the Hakomi Method.
My personal journey fuels my passion for supporting individuals navigating infertility and reproductive trauma, high achieving bicultural/immigrant adults, and new moms navigating the transition to motherhood.
When I’m not working, I like to spend time with my family and friends, read, listen to music, and spend time in nature.
What truly feeds me is sharing good food with loved ones, dancing freely to music, and spending time in nature
What energizes me is moving my body, making or looking at art, traveling to new places, and learning new things.
What grounds me is connecting with my breath, taking time to reflect through journaling and my own therapy, and getting a good night of sleep.