Negin Ascher, LMFT, SEP

I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (#143784) and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner in private practice, dedicated to helping clients navigate anxiety, depression, trauma, PTSD, grief, chronic pain, and other stress disorders.

Negin is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (#143784) and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner in private practice. She helps clients achieve their full potential by navigating anxiety, depression, trauma, PTSD, grief, chronic pain, and other stress disorders. She also works closely with parents, providing support and guidance on parenting issues, child/family dynamics, and child/adolescent development.

Negin operates at the intersection of psychotherapy and somatic work, deploying an integrative approach to healing and wellbeing that acknowledges the whole person. She draws upon Psychodynamic Therapy, Somatic Experiencing, and Mindfulness in her practice:

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Individual Therapy (one-on-one sessions to help clients explore the deepest parts of themselves in a supportive and caring environment):
- Negin helps clients achieve their full potential by navigating anxiety, depression, trauma, PTSD, grief, chronic pain, and other stress disorders. Her one-on-one sessions integrate Psychotherapy, Somatic Experiencing, and Mindfulness to ensure a comprehensive approach to mind, emotion, and the body.
- Negin believes in using a multi-pronged approach in individual therapy. Talk therapy helps surface thoughts that are hidden in the unconscious; the awareness of these thoughts empowers the client to address them and their associated behaviors. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a powerful mechanism to change destructive or disturbing thought patterns, behaviors, and emotions. Somatic work is a compelling way to regulate the nervous system. These modalities are even more impactful when combined, enabling a holistic approach to healing the entire self.
- Take trauma as an example. It may have deep psychological roots and attachments best addressed through psychotherapy. But it may be stored in the body - potentially manifesting in the form of anxiety, depression, chronic pain, PTSD, or dissociation - and may ultimately require somatic work to resolve fully. The intersection of psychotherapy and bodywork holds the greatest promise for breaking through.\
- Negin's passion is guiding and supporting her clients on the journey to becoming their best selves.

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Somatic Experiencing (a body-oriented therapeutic technique that invites the body into the therapeutic conversation and enables holistic healing)
- Somatic Experiencing is an approach to treating trauma and stressor-related disorders like PTSD that was developed by Dr. Peter A. Levine. In his own words: "I have worked to develop a safe, gentle, and effective way for people to heal from trauma. It works by understanding that trauma is primarily physiological. Trauma is something that happens initially to our bodies and our instincts. Only then do its effects spread to our minds, emotions, and spirits.
- SE is a time-tested method with more than 45 years of clinical application. It is informed by neuroscience, polyvagal theory, psychology, stress physiology, biology, indigenous healing practices, and medical biophysics. Speaking to the body allows the therapist and client to obtain information and memories that are more difficult to access through talk therapy alone, and can accelerate healing as a supplement to psychotherapy.
- Negin is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and received the SEP certificate through Somatic Experiencing International (SEI) after completing the Professional Training curriculum, which involves 8 modules spaced out over approximately 3 years. She now assists SEI faculty during trainings.
- SE is particularly salient in addressing traumatic experiences. These could include developmental trauma, relational trauma, sexual assault, car accidents, sports injuries, surgical injuries, exposure to natural disasters, and chronic pain, among others.

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Parental Consultation (personalized guidance for parents navigating what is simultaneously one of life's most rewarding and challenging journeys)
- Parents spend seemingly infinite hours supporting their children. Don't they deserve some support too?
- Negin serves as a support resource for parents and provides actionable advice to help them raise children who are well-adjusted and resilient. Her approach is anchored in Reflective Parenting, which entails helping parents comprehend the developmentally appropriate stages for each child and the mental headspace that may be informing a child's emotions and behaviors. Understanding developmental stages helps parents calibrate their demands and expectations for their children and provides context for the behaviors they are observing. Understanding a child's mental headspace - which is sometimes referred to as "mentalizing" - promotes empathy, enhances the parent's ability to connect with the child, and suggests solutions to challenges.
- Negin works with parents of children of all ages, from newborns to young adults. From determining when and how to remove the pacifier, to addressing issues with sleeping or eating; from navigating problems with friends in school, to tackling questions around social media and gaming; from evaluating whether testing or assessment is indicated for a child who is facing challenges, to working with schools on IEP and 504 plans; from game-planning how to seek the right treatment for anxiety and depression, to advising on adolescent development. Negin also assists parents in handling the impact of divorce and co-parenting on children.
- Daniel J. Siegel notes that “... the roots of security and resilience are to be found in the sense of being understood by and having the sense of existing in the heart and mind of a loving, caring, attuned and self-processed other, an other with a mind and heart of her own.” Parental consultation may involve one or more parents who are dedicated to playing the role of this "other."

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More about Negin:

Negin received a Masters in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University. She then served as an Associate at Maple Counseling, obtaining extensive training through both the Adult Program and the Child & Family Program, and as an Associate MFT under the supervision of Dr. Rebecca Udell. In addition, she received the SEP certificate through Somatic Experiencing International (SEI).

Prior to becoming a psychologist, Negin was an attorney and then Executive Director of Nurture Now, a non-profit focused on early childhood care and advocacy that she founded with support from Early Learning Ventures. She holds a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law and a B.A. from the University of California at Los Angeles.