Career History

Fereshteh has been a faculty member of Phillips’ MMFT program since 1997. She has been the Director of the School Based Child Therapy Program at Cal Fam Counseling Center since 2002. She was the coordinator for the Social Skills and Violence Prevention Program, which has been implemented in many LAUSD schools. Prior to these roles, Fereshteh was a Petroleum Engineer at Tosco Corporation, working in the oil fields as production and operation supervisor.

Education

• M.A., Marriage and Family Therapy, California Family Study Center
• M.S., Petroleum Engineering, University of Southern California
• B.S., Chemical Engineering, Pahlavi University

Courses Taught

• MFC 507- Foundations of Counseling and Psychotherapy-Existential and Gestalt Therapies, Behaviorism and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• MFC 502 – Family Therapy: Systemic Approaches-Structural Family Therapy
• MFC 524 – Assessment and Treatment in a Developmental Context-working with Children, Adolescents, and Families

Fereshteh has also taught Working with Children, Social Skills and Violence Prevention.

Practice/Areas of Focus

Fereshteh’s major area of focus at Phillips was the development, management and administration of the School Based Child Therapy Program, as well as training and supervision of master and post-master’s level students in this program and in the counseling center. She teaches in the MFT program and her primary psychotherapeutic orientation is Family Systems, Cognitive Behavioral, Post Modern Narrative Therapy, Humanistic/Existential, and Mindfulness-Based Therapies. She also teaches and advocates for working with children as well as promoting and training students to run social skills and violence prevention groups. She has a small private practice, and sees child, adolescent and adult individuals and families.

Professional Organizations

Fereshteh is a long-time clinical member of California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) and the American Association of Marital and Family Therapy (AAMFT). She is an AAMFT Approved Supervisor. She is a frequent guest speaker at School PTA and LAUSD meetings. She was a guest speaker on the topic of “Working with Middle Eastern Clients” at AAMFT-CA San Fernando Valley Chapter. She has served on several committees for the Southern California Persian community. Fereshteh has been a mental health consultant and advocate for children’s rights and parenting education. In this capacity, she has served as a consultant to Persian television and radio programs.

Publications

Fereshteh co-developed and wrote a 9-volume manual on social skills and violence
prevention, which is implemented in many LAUSD schools and also utilized for clinical training at Cal Fam Counseling Center.