Welcome to NEZ Integrative Psychotherapy
We're Here to Listen
About Dr. Nezhat Edalatian
My name is Nezhat, pronounced as Nez-Hat; (once I introduced myself to a young child client of mine, and she said, “Miss Hat?” Close enough). I graduated with a doctorate degree in Psychology from Peabody College of Vanderbilt University in 1984. Before this date and continuing after, I have worn different professional ‘hats,’ mostly concurrently, in teaching, research, counseling and psychotherapy. The common thread in all these 'hats' has been betterment of life for children and adults using science of psychology.
I remember as a 6 year old I decided, "all teachers should be psychologists!" The impetus for such declaration was that my first grade teacher was the star of the school with her most modern style of teaching the alphabets, envy of others. However, she was very strict and harsh. I, as a very sensitive child, secretly thought, if only she was a psychologist! If she was, she would know how hurtful and unfair she is to her young students.
I believe all persons , regardless of how debilitating their symptoms might be are endowed with a core self who is perceptive and remains intact. This core thrives when acknowledged with respect and validated in interactions with others. In the face of the opposite, they hide inside, making themselves as invisible as needed in order for the person to survive--survive by any means. These ‘means’ are often what later are called ‘symptoms’.
This is particularly so when the person is very young and totally dependent on grown-ups to survive. For a young child, the biologically programed instinct for survival makes sure they survive physically first and foremost. To survive, in the shadow of the incongruity between the core and the emotional environment, the child pushes the core, the true self, hidden, invisible. Sometimes, in the presence of severe abuse this invisibility is so complete that the self becomes invisible to the persons themselves. In cases like these, sustained and in-depth therapy is needed.
However, not every client has such a complicated profile. Any adverse life event can overwhelm the normal adaptive capacity of any person at any age. With early expert help, this normal capacity can be restored rather quickly. Effective early therapy prevents the establishment of symptoms and the formation of dysfunctional coping strategies and habits. In these cases the therapy is short-term, consisting of just a few sessions.
In my practice, I see clients whose history falls in either of these two groups or somewhere in between. It is my experience that given the right emotional environment, and with advanced therapeutic tools now available, everyone can work to overcome their psychological obstacles and restore their own natural adaptive capacity to negotiate normal challenges of life without needing to resort to “symptoms” or dysfunctional patterns of thought, emotion, or behavior.