Nazli Saliminejad is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with over 9 years of (pre- and post-licensure) clinical experience, as well as 10 years of prior experience in the field of neuroscience research at UCLA’s Neuropsychiatric Institute, and University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. She holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology with emphasis on Marriage & Family Therapy from Graduate School of Education and Psychology at Pepperdine University (2009), as well as a bachelor’s degree in Biology, with emphasis on biotechnology and genetics (1995).
Her extensive knowledge of neurobiology as well as her own personal journey has allowed Nazli to not only have a better understanding of how our thoughts, feelings and behaviors are directly affected by our biology, but also how our brain is continuously being sculpted by our experiences, even through adulthood (neuroplasticity). Nazli brings this to her clients helping them rewire their brain through repeated patterns of these positive experiences, ultimately creating new neuronal pathways and leading to personal growth and satisfaction.
Approach
Nazli follows a more mind-body integrative and strength-based approach to psychotherapy, utilizing a wide-range of treatment strategies gathered from various psychological orientations, combined with the teachings of Eastern schools of thought. She views psychotherapy as a tool that enables us to transcend beyond our previously adopted ways of coping with life’s challenges, empowering us to live our lives more fully. In doing so, in the initial phases of the therapeutic process, Nazli uses a neurobiology informed mindfulness-based model of psychotherapy helping her clients develop a deeper sense of conscious awareness into the connections between their thoughts, feelings and actions, and their overall sense of wellbeing. In the latter phases of therapy, she uses practical tools and strategies derived from Mindfulness-Based Stress-Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) to help her clients gain the skills necessary to rise above their habitual patterns of thinking and reacting, and to reshape their thoughts, feelings and actions by tackling them in the moment, as they arise. This approach will further empower clients by allowing them to show up more mindfully, and more effectively, not only for themselves, but also in the ways in which they show up in their relationships, and as they move through life’s transitions.
