Natalie Abrahami

LCSW
Founder of Transcend Anxiety

The human psyche, our underlying motivations and how we make sense of our life, the world and our purpose in it has always fascinated me. Life is such a rich and dynamic tapestry and helping others create meaning in theirs is a meaningful part of my personal purpose. Following my personal calling, I pursued a Bachelor’s in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). While at UCLA I became extremely interested in the area of anxiety disorders and was a research assistant in the area of Panic Disorder at the Anxiety Disorder Research Center laboratory under the direction of renowned anxiety researcher Michelle Craske, PhD. During this time, I also began volunteering at the Obsessive Compulsive Disorders (OCD) Intensive Treatment Program at UCLA where I continued to volunteer for 6 years as a behavioral coach providing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Exposure Response Prevention Therapy for people suffering from OCD. After a few years as a volunteer, I joined various research teams as a Staff Research Associate where I worked on a number of research protocols related to the areas of Panic Disorder, OCD, Hoarding, and Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD).

 I took some time off in order to grow personally and professionally and returned to UCLA to earn my Masters in Social Welfare in 2009. Upon graduation, I established my private practice under the supervision of my mentor while pursuing new passions and interests. My post graduate training includes Child and Family Therapy at Saint John’s Child and Family Development Center where I was trained in Structural Family Therapy. It was here that I fell in love with family work. In my time at St. John’s I provided one-on-one and family treatment, conducted multidisciplinary assessments for children placed in foster care, and facilitated groups with teenagers dealing with issues related to self esteem. In keeping with my passion for anxiety disorders, I also received training and experience in assessing children with anxiety disorders at the UCLA Childhood OCD, Anxiety and Tic Disorders program. In 2015 I completed a 4 year position at the UCLA Anxiety Disorders Clinic under the direction of the esteemed Dr. Jamie Feusner where I provided intensive treatment for OCD as part of an extensive research protocol. Since then it has been my pleasure to focus solely on expanding my private practice. In 2017, I was happy to have Associates join my practice and begin the creation of an integrative group practice. My own experience with chronic illness in the last decade has greatly informed my growth as a therapist. It has taught me that true healing is a holistic journey; one of the body and the spirit as well as the mind. This holistic lens inspired me to build a practice which honors and values the connections between mind, body and spirit in the human healing journey and actively uses them as doorways to support people. Transcend Anxiety is ever evolving and committed to incorporating and creating treatment approaches that go beyond traditional CBT and Exposure Therapy in the treatment of anxiety disorders in order to support people in their overall journey into greater harmony and integration of the self.