Meet Our Team

Ziba Nassab, Psy D.

Director of Clinical Services | DIR Certified Clinician, Educator | PEERS Certified

Dr. Ziba Nassab is the CEO and Founder of Holding Hands Pediatric Therapy and Diagnostics. She believes in embracing each person’s strength and abilities, not only focusing on their disabilities or challenges, and she is an advocate for neurodiversity. Dr. Nassab has been treating toddlers, school age children, teenagers, and adults with neurodevelopment, behavioral and emotional challenges, including Autism Spectrum Disorders, ADHD, Down Syndrome, Intellectual Disability, Epilepsy, Fragile X Syndrome, Conduct Disorder, Selective Mutism, Attachment Disorder, Rett’s Syndrome, Prairie Williams Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Anxiety, Depression and Sensory Processing Disorder for the past 23 years. She had the opportunity to work with children, teens, and their families in a variety of settings, which include clinics, schools, early intervention programs, psychiatric hospitals, community centers, and home settings.

Dr. Nassab is on staff at UCLA’s Rape Treatment Center (RTC). Dr. Nassab provides crisis counseling for sexual assault victims (children, men, and women), and works collaboratively with medical professionals and law enforcement in order to provide acute forensic exams. In addition, she held a position as an Adjunct Professor at California Lutheran University (CLU), where she teaches graduate students in the Clinical Psychology Department. Dr. Nassab is certified and has taught advanced DIR® courses to clinicians and educators through the Interdisciplinary Council on Learning and Developmental Disorders (ICDL), and through out California.

In regards to Dr. Nassab’s educational background, she received her Associate’s Degree in Child Development, Bachelor’s in Psychology, Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) and her Doctorate’s in Counseling Psychology. Dr. Nassab is DIR® (Developmental, Individual Differences, and Relationships) certified through the Interdisciplinary Council on Learning and Developmental Disorders (ICDL) and is certified in PEERS (Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relationship Skills) through UCLA.

Dr. Nassab looks beyond the label and tries to empower her clients to do the same. According to Dr. Nassab, ” The label helps me better understand the diagnosis, but not the person behind the diagnosis. No one chooses to have a mental illness; each client and family need to be treated with dignity and respect.”

Developers

Carrie Hammond, LMFT, BCBA

Director of the ABA Program & Mental Health Services

Carrie Hammond is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). She started her career in the field of Psychology at the age of sixteen. Her first job consisted of working with children that were emotionally disturbed at a sleep away camp. She worked at this camp for a few years before she started her undergraduate work in Psychology at California State University at Northridge. After she received her BA in Psychology Carrie went on to receive her MA with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy at Phillips Graduate Institute. During her time at Phillips Carrie trained and interned with many diverse populations such as, children, teens, families of divorce, individuals and couples. While Carrie was obtaining her hours towards her license she worked at four different agencies that specialized in working with children on the autism spectrum. Carrie has worked with children on the autism spectrum for over seventeen years. She has been working for Holding Hands for six years. At Holding Hands Carrie directs the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) department as well as supervising MFTs, LPCCs and MSWs that are gaining hours towards their licensure.

Lisa Henry, MT-BC

DIR Certified | Associate Director of Clinical Services

Lisa Henry Overbeck is a Board Certified Music Therapist and DIR® Trained Therapist. She received her Bachelor’s of Music in Music Therapy from Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania. After receiving her degree she moved to California to complete her music therapy internship. She has over 15 years experience working with children both typically developing and those diagnosed with developmental delays. Lisa currently works as the Associate Director of Clinical Services at Holding Hands Los Angeles. She also provides Music therapy and DIR®/Floortime™ Therapy. She has been a part of Holding Hands for over 8 years. After joining Holding Hands, she gained experience and extensive training in the DIR®/Floortime™ modality. She was inspired by the relationship based model and now combines her knowledge in Music Therapy to support children and families through the DIR®/Floortime™ Therapy Services at Holding Hands. She received DIR®/Floortime™ Training through ICDL and is currently certified as an Advanced DIR®/Floortime™ Provider.

Lusine Akelyan, M.A.

Associate Director of Schools, ABA Services

Lusine Akelyan is the Behavior Intervention Program Coordinator (school and home Behavior Intervention cases) and a Clinical Supervisor for both the Burbank and the Los Angeles locations. She has 14 years of experience working with children and teens, 10 of which is with the special needs population. Prior to becoming part of the Holding Hands family in 2008, Lusine worked with young children in a private school setting, as well as with school aged children within the Los Angeles Unified School District. Lusine is bilingual (Armenian) and embraces cross-cultural diversity. She holds a B.A. in Child Development and M.A. in Arts of Teaching with a specialty in Applied Behavior Analysis.

Aside from providing Behavior Intervention services, Lusine conducts assessments for Floortime™ and Social Skills programs and greatly enjoys having the opportunity to work at a multidisciplinary clinic. Her first goal is to always make a connection with the child/teen first, which she believes paves the way to build a better relationship with the family and provide them with the support they need. Lusine feels that learning in this field is ongoing and working with other therapists with diverse educational backgrounds provides her the opportunity to build upon her knowledge.

Clay Johnson, M.A., MFTI

DIR Clinician | Floortime Program Coordinator | Clinical Supervisor

Clay Johnson has been a valuable member of the Holding Hands team since 2007. Clay is the Floortime™ Coordinator and leads the weekly DIR® trainings for the staff at Holding Hands Burbank. He also is a Floortime™ new hire trainer. Clay provides direct services, clinical supervision and parent training in DIR®/Floortime™, PEERS, Social Skills, SEEDS and Psychotherapy services. Clay has worked with children for close to 20 years now. He started out as general education elementary school teacher for seven years in the Los Angeles Unified School District then transitioned to Holding Hands in 2007. Clay has his Minor in Music, B.A. in Education and M.A. in Counseling Psychology. He is working his way towards his Marriage and Family Therapy licensure (L.M.F.T.) and is well known within the DIR®/Floortime™ community. He believes that the rapport that you establish with clients sets the foundation for successful therapy, “When the relationship is strong, that’s when real change in therapy can happen.” He prides himself in his ability to meet the client where they are then assisting them towards their goals. Holding Hands is a perfect platform for Clay to implement his inherent therapeutic traits and to expand upon learned skills.

Support

Monica Terrell, Psy. D

Social Skills Program Coordinator

Dr. Monica Terrell has worked at Holding Hands for 9 years. She holds the position of Social Skills Program Coordinator/Clinical Supervisor. Dr. Monica graduated from the California School of Professional Psychology with a Doctorate in Family Systems with an emphasis in Child Development. She also holds a Masters from Alliant International University in Marital Family Therapy and a Masters from Pepperdine University in Clinical Psychology. She has worked with children on the spectrum for over 10 years and is very excited to see and participate in their growth and development.

Candida Gallegos, B.A.

DIR Certified | DIR Program Coordinator

Candida Gallegos has her B.A. in Child Development and has been serving children and teens with Special Needs over the past 20 years. Candida is certified in DIR®/Floortime™ through ICDL and currently coordinates the DIR® program for the SCLARC and FDLRC in our Los Angeles office. Candida has been a valued employee at Holding Hands for the past 13 years and she is committed to serving the client and their family, based on their individual needs. Candida is cross-trained in Child Development, ABA, DIR®, and Social Skills.

Alice Arabian, M.S., BCBA

Associate Director of In-Home ABA Services

Alice Arabian received her Master of Science degree in Applied Behavior Analysis in 2012, from California State University, Los Angeles. She completed her thesis, The Effects of Response Interruption and Redirection on Vocal Stereotypy in Naturalistic Settings, under the supervision and advisement of Dr. Henry Schlinger and Dr. Daniel Shabani. Alice is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) with more than 8 years of experience in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis and developmental disabilities, in both home and school settings. She is the Associate Director of In-Home ABA Services at Holding Hands.

Tara Kozoll, M.A., BCBA, E-RYT

Clinical Supervisor

Tara Kozoll, MA, BCBA, E-RYT is a Board Certified Behavioral Analysts, yogi, and fitness instructor. She has been serving in the Autism and yoga communities for over a decade in the capacities as an educator, behavioral therapist, Occupational Therapy and Physical therapy aide, Case supervisor and clinical director of ABA services. Tara has been teaching the practices of yoga and other related disciplines to all ages for over a decade as well. Tara deeply values wellness, not only for herself but the families she serves, her coworkers, and everyone she meets. She is a cheery and kind soul with tons of creative strategies to help her clients pursue their goal and meet their potential.

Siminia Eshtenhardi, Ph.D, MFTI

Pyschotherapist

Dr. Simina (Ph.D., Hypnotherapy, MFTI) has been working with Holding Hands since 2009. She has been providing Floortime™ services to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, and parent training to their families. She is involved in the assessment process of these children, as well supervises some of these cases.

Currently, she is a Marriage and Family Therapy intern (MFTI) and is working on achieving her MFT license. She incorporates a unique combination of advanced training in Somatic Psychology (Body/Mind orientation) with her doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology to reach her mental health adult clients at many different levels. Her high degree of compassion, enthusiasm and understanding helps her clients gain self-acceptance, self-awareness and self-love. With these skills, her clients discover new ways to develop tools for overcoming obstacles, create joy in their relationships, and achieve personal goals.

Dr. Simina has 8 years of experience working with individuals, couples, families, and facilitating groups. She provides a safe atmosphere, using an experiential and holistic approach to healing the relationship of one’s body and self.

Elicit Gonzalez, M.S., MFTI

Social Skills Program Coordinator | Bilingual Parent Teacher

Elicet Gonzalez (M.S., Marriage and Family Therapist Registered Intern #66625) is the Social Skills Program Coordinator and Bilingual Parent Trainer at Holding Hands Los Angeles. She has been a part of the Holding Hands team since 2012, and has been blessed with the opportunity to provide a variety of modalities of therapy ranging the age group of 2 to 40 years old. Elicet has her B.A. in Psychology, with a minor in Spanish and her Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy from San Diego State University. She has completed her 3,000 intern hours in counseling. Elicet has been providing parent training, DIR®/Floortime™, counseling (individual, family, groups), and has ran social skills groups for the past 4 years. She strongly believes in focusing on the strengths and abilities of each individual and families in order to support them.

Alice Arabian, M.S., BCBA

Associate Director of In-Home ABA Services

Tara Kozoll, M.A., BCBA, E-RYT

Clinical Supervisor