Culturally ResponsiveTherapy for First & Second-Generation Immigrants in California (Irvine & Los Angeles)

Do you identify with more than one culture? Did you move from one country to another and feel that your heart is torn between two places, while neither place feels like home?

Do you feel like an outsider within your family and the larger culture? Do you struggle with being true to yourself while honoring your family’s cultural values?

Do you have guilt about setting boundaries with your family? Do you feel that your outside achievements define your inner-worth?

What is culturally affirming therapy?

Culturally affirming therapy (also known as multicultural or cross-cultural therapy) provides a safe, nonjudgmental space to explore your emotions, identity, and experiences. Whether you're navigating cultural expectations, grief from immigration, or intergenerational trauma, this work helps you reconnect with your voice, values, and sense of self.

Therapist for Cross-Cultural and Multicultural Therapy, Tannaz Alaghband smiling at the camera in Irvine, California

My approach to culturally responsive therapy:

I’m an Iranian-American/SWANA therapist. As an immigrant and ethnic minority,  I understand the complexities of navigating life in between two cultures and I practice from a place of cultural humility while honoring people’s lived experiences and stories.  I also provide LGBTQ+ affirming therapy and hold space for the unique ways that sexual orientation and gender identity can intersect with cultural and family dynamics. Whether you're navigating coming out, family acceptance, or identity exploration, you are welcome here.

How does therapy help immigrants or people who identify with more than one culture?

  • Provide a safe and affirming space for you to share your true feelings without fearing shame or judgment. 

  • Help you explore and break patterns of intergenerational trauma through EMDR.

  • Give you space to grieve the loss of your homeland, or of not getting to live in your ancestral home.

  • Understand how shame and guilt have influenced the way you view yourself.

  • Learn tools how to negotiate healthy boundaries in a way that is aligned with your values.

  • Cultivate self-compassion and separate inner-worth from outside achievements

If you're navigating life between cultures, you carry a unique strength. Therapy can help you tap into that strength, honor your heritage, and create a life that aligns with your true self. I offer culturally affirming therapy for first and second-generation immigrants in Irvine, Los Angeles, and throughout California. Schedule your free consult today.

FAQ

  • Yes, I work with both Farsi speaking individuals and Iranian-Americans who were born and raised in the states and feel more comfortable experssing themselves in English. They often tell me that it helps to have a person “who gets them” even if we don’t do therapy in Farsi.

  • Not at all. I work with clients from a wide range of immigrant backgrounds. My practice is inclusive and trauma-informed.

  • Yes — I offer telehealth sessions statewide, and in-person therapy in Irvine, CA.