Meet Sepideh Hakimzadeh | Mother, Psychotherapist, Visionary

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sepideh Hakimzadeh and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sepideh, how do you think about risk?
When I think about risk I don’t think about it in the conventional way. For me risk taking is defined by following my intuition and not what is expected of me or what something is supposed to look like. I allow myself to feel into what is guiding me — my guides, ancestors, and intuition. This has meant that things have felt harder and success as we define it within Western culture has come later in life. Marriage, children, a successful career. But it also means I feel confident in my choices and life path because I have chosen to take a path that is not as direct and obvious which has allowed me to do deep healing and trauma work and connect me to my spiritual path. I think it’s an act of revolution to allow your spirituality (not as defined by organized religion) but nature based and ancestral based spirituality to guide you.

I also think risk taking involves a lot of trust and faith in the unknown. You have your vision and you work hard but you have to surrender what you assume or expect it to look like and you have to surrender a strict time line. You have to be flexible and stay grounded. You also have to have a lot of trust and faith in yourself and what you are creating and what you have to offer.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I pivoted to creating Whole Mother Therapy after I had my son two years ago. I had abstractly been aware of the challenges and hardships of postpartum but until I had my own experience with my son I didn’t realize the lack of conversation and support from society and culture around parenting and birthing. My hope with Whole Mother Therapy is to provide healing and services for birthing folx and parents who are looking to break generational cycles and raise the next generation. We live in a deeply divided world, the pandemic really highlighted this and I believe parenting is a revolutionary act. It opens us to a deeper layer of healing, that is ancestral. This is especially true for BI&POC folx, b/c we carry the weight and trauma of colonialism and imperialism and internalized white perfectionism. I see this so much with the parents and moms I work with. That’s also why Whole Mother Therapy really focuses on BI&POC parents because we need to do the deeper work of dismantling the systems of operation we’ve inherited. My vision and hope with Whole Mother Therapy is that it’s not just a therapy service but a way of healing that opens folx up to parenting their children to continue to break through the system we live and create something new. This work is both easy and it isn’t. It’s easy in that I can feel and see how what I’m doing resonates with people and it’s challenging because I have very real limitations of time and energy.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
LA is such a foody city. I would definitely take them to some of my favorite restaurants. Redbird is my all time favorite. And, we would hit up Smorgeburg at the Row in DTLA. I love the diversity of food and people who show up. I would also take them for a drive up the coast in Malibu and for a hike in Charmlee State Park which is one of the most magical hikes in the Santa Monica Mountains. We would visit The Huntington Botanical Gardens and Descanso both beautiful in different ways. And we would spend time in NELA visiting and walking around the different neighborhoods.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
First and foremost my mom and husband. The Family Room who believe in me and my vision.
My amazing community, Annie Armstrong Miyao.
My amazing team, Mitra Karimi-Taleghani & Francia Telesford

Website: www.wholemothertherapy.com

Instagram: @wholemothertherapy @mother_musings

Image Credits
1st slide professional photo Gina Pecho 2nd photo professional Gina Pecho Birth photo Rebecca Coursey all rest husband Jay A. Fernandez