Raquel Tahvildari

A Little More About Me: 

Hi, I’m Raquel!

Sometimes, the hardest part isn’t seeing the pattern. It’s knowing what’s happening and still feeling caught inside it. You can understand yourself deeply and still struggle to live differently. It can wear on your mind, your body, your relationships, even your sense of who you are or what any of this is for. Still, you adapt, perform, mask, care, and keep showing up. But there may be little left for you.

Together, we can explore how your experiences have shaped the way you think, feel, relate, and move through the world. We can work with what shows up in your mind and body, make room for what needs to be felt, and try new ways of responding. Depending on what fits, I may draw from EMDR, grounding, mindfulness, creativity, reflection, psychoeducation, and practical resources as we create more room for choice. Some things need skills. Some need understanding. Some need grieving. Some need changing. And some simply need somewhere to finally exist.

I see therapy as a real human connection held within ethical boundaries and shared goals. I bring training, perspective, resources, and attunement; you bring self-knowledge, lived experience, values, and autonomy. I want you to tell me when I miss the mark. Your feedback can make therapy a place to practice new ways of relating. My work is LGBTQIA+ and neurodiversity affirming, and I welcome your culture, identities, spirituality or religion, relationships, community, and the realities shaping your life.

Pain deserves to be witnessed and taken seriously, and you are more than what hurts. Therapy can help us understand what you learned, inherited, or adapted to, what still supports you, what no longer does, what feels genuinely yours, and where choice remains. There is room for meaning, connection, joy, and aliveness too. In my own life, I find these through writing, film, literature, nature, spirituality, learning, and time with the people and animals I love.

I am a registered Associate Professional Clinical Counselor (APCC #23899) practicing at Beach Cities Mental Health under the supervision of Dr. Kevin Niehaus, PsyD, LPCC #8824.