Dr. Aida

Providing care since 2006. Fluent in English, Persian/Farsi, and Spanish. Lover of the divine, health, longevity of life, dancing, music and adventure travel.

The Story

Born in Iran, Dr. Aida emigrated as a child and grew up navigating two worlds—a journey that sparked a lifelong fascination with the human mind. She earned her BA at UCLA (Sociology, with studies in cultural anthropology and psychology), her MA at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, and her PhD in Human Behavior from American Premier University.

Her early career took her deep inside the system: behavioral therapist with children on the autism spectrum, foster care social worker, Marriage and Family Therapist II at the County of Orange, Compliance Auditor for OCHCA Authority and Quality Improvement Services, and Utilization Review Coordinator at Mission Hospital's Behavioral Health unit. She later worked as a care manager for Magellan Health and Beacon Health Options. Throughout, she served Iranian-American, Middle-Eastern, Latin-American, and South-Asian communities in English, Farsi, and Spanish.

What the system couldn't offer, she sought elsewhere — training in Regression Hypnotherapy under Dr. Brian Weiss at the Omega Institute, a year of Transformational Breathwork, a year of Shamanic training, a week-long advanced retreat and Breath of Life AFU with Dr. Joe Dispenza, and deep study across Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Tibetan Buddhism, Raja Yoga, and Native American mysticism. Her work with plant medicines — ayahuasca, bufo, peyote, mescaline, San Pedro, cacao, and psilocybin — added yet another dimension to her understanding of consciousness and healing.

Today her private practice is a labor of love: merging western psychology with eastern wisdom, evidence-based training with sacred tradition, and clinical rigor with genuine compassion.

Speaking & Advocacy

Dr. Aida is a passionate advocate for mental health destigmatization, with 20+ years of community presentations and international conference appearances spanning the worlds of clinical practice and electronic music culture.

Local, National and International Conferences

  • Amsterdam Dance Event — Mental Health & Artists Panel (2019)

  • Amsterdam Dance Event — Navigating the Next 6 Months, Virtual (2020)

  • International Music Summit — Stress Management & Breathwork, Ibiza (2019)

  • AFEM — Association For Electronic Music, Mental Health Advocacy, Ibiza

  • Scottish Electronic Music Conference — Music Connects Us Report (2021)

  • Beatport — Ask the Doctor Segment, Virtual (2020)

  • Beatport — The Mental Health Report Discussion (2021)

  • Gaggle Webinar — Mental Health for Educators & Youth (2020)

  • UCI Psychiatric Symposium

  • UCI OBGYN Department

  • Lupus LA — Orange County Branch

  • March of Dimes

  • UCLA Alumni Peer Mentorship Program

Community Presentations

  • Postpartum Depression — Psychiatrist Symposium, Orange (2012)

  • Abuse & Trauma — Iranian American Mental Health Society (2012)

  • Postpartum Depression — March of Dimes, Santa Ana (2013)

  • Clinical Success Cases — Stakeholder Presentation, Santa Ana (2013)

  • Acculturation — Iranian Women's Aid Society, Laguna Hills (2013)

  • Postpartum Depression — UCI OBGYN Department (2013)

  • Acculturation — Norooz Clinic, Irvine (2014)

  • Abuse & Trauma — Norooz Clinic, Irvine (2014)

  • Emotional Coping with Autoimmune Disorder — Lupus LA, Irvine (2015)

  • Stress Management & Emotional Eating — Lindora, Costa Mesa (2017)

Education

  • PhD, Human Behavior— American Premier University (2019) — Capstone: The Power of Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds

  • MA, Marriage & Family Therapy— Chicago School of Professional Psychology

  • BA, Sociology— UCLA — Studies in cultural anthropology, psychology; Treasurer, UCLA PsychSociety

Clinical Training & Credentials

Evidence-Based Practice Certifications

  • ERP — Exposure & Response Prevention

  • CBT — Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

  • TF-CBT — Trauma-Focused CBT

  • PCIT — Parent-Child Interaction Therapy

  • DTT — Discrete Trial Training

  • Solution-Focused Therapy

  • Crisis Intervention

The Inner Path

Alongside her clinical career, Dr. Aida has spent decades in dedicated study and practice across spiritual traditions and somatic healing modalities.

Trainings & Certifications

  • PLR (Past Life Regression) — week-long training with Dr. Brian Weiss, Omega Institute

  • Dr. Joe Dispenza — week-long Advanced Retreat + AFU Breath of Life retreat

  • Transformational Breathwork — 1-year training

  • Shamanic Training — 1-year program, The Teachings of Tibetan Buddhism and Native American Plant Medicine Teachers

Sacred Traditions and Spiritual Studies

  • The Baháʼí Faith · Islam · Christianity · Judaism

  • Zoroastrianism

  • Tibetan Buddhism

  • Raja Yoga

  • Native American Mysticism

Plant Medicine Work and Retreat Participation

  • Ayahuasca - Grandmother Medicine (N-DMT)

  • Bufo - Toad Secretion - The Great Reset (5-MeO-DMT)

  • San Pedro and Peyote - Grandfather Medicine (Mescaline)

  • Cacao - The Heart Opener (Theobromine)

  • Sacred Mushrooms - The Children (Psilocybin)

“I met Dr. Vazin in my role as CEO and Founder of Gaggle, Inc. Gaggle is an early warning system to identify students in crisis before a tragedy takes place. We use a combination of technology and safety experts to provide real-time analysis of students’ use of school-issued online collaboration platforms. Dr. Vazin’s extensive knowledge of her subject area made her a vital part of our national launch of new teletherapy service. Simply put, she wants kids to get the help they need.

I reached out to dozens of professionals over a period of time, and it was Dr. Vazin who saw the vision. I knew I wanted to offer teletherapy to districts, but I didn’t know where to start or what questions needed to be asked. Dr. Vazin’s impact was immediate in both senses: she was readily and enthusiastically available, and she was integral in launching this new service. Gaggle Therapy started as an idea, and Dr. Vazin’s expertise in teletherapy has enabled us to bring this service to five school districts in less than three months. Without her help, these districts would not be getting started, and the students would not be getting the help they need.

This is what made Dr. Vazin such an asset to our organization. She taught our leadership team the information we needed to understand before deploying this service. She helped us with everything from billing insurance and medicaid to vetting quality candidates to creating video content for district customers, individual clients, and trained psychologists. Whether she was presenting in a pre-recorded video or live in a webinar, she spoke with knowledge and authority, and I was confident in her ability to represent Gaggle’s mission. It was clear her passion was the same: helping students.

She did all of this while maintaining the well-being of her personal clients and pursuing an active research project in Montana. Her work with farmers and veterans and their self-perception of masculinity fueled her involvement with Gaggle. We know individuals of all ages struggle with suicide, and we see those victims far too often. What we don’t see is postvention. Not only do students need support when suicidal ideations manifest, but students need support when they see friends take their own lives. Dr. Vazin’s collaborative enthusiasm is helping those students get that support.

Not only did Dr. Vazin see the potential for this work, but she knew what to do to enact it. She taught us how to do it, and she collaborated with an eagerness I don’t see often. Dr. Vazin could have responded like the dozens of therapists I contacted, but she didn’t. Her knowledge of the subject matter is top-notch, and she can discuss it with anyone helping even the uninitiated fully understand. Whether it was a one-on-one call or a public presentation, her voice was always smiling and sincere. Her extensive, diverse background in both lived experiences and research allows her to communicate effectively with anyone. As a direct result of her involvement, hundreds of students are receiving the mental health care they need.”

Jeff Patterson

CEO & Founder

Gaggle.Net, Inc.

“I have worked alongside Dr. Vazin since 2018 on preventative suicide measures for Montana, specifically among military veterans, farmers and ranchers, and Montana teens. Through my position as a Montana State Senator, I have relied on Dr. Vazin's research to drive my office's behavioral health policy and strategy. Her research and consultation will result in multiple pieces of legislation for Montana's 2021 legislative session as well as a proposed suicide prevention technology once funding has been secured.

In regard to the aforementioned technology, Dr. Vazin has shown she is committed to innovation through technology while at the same time understanding how to communicate with demographics that are typically slow to adopt them. She is also exceptional at translating psychological and behavioral health nuances to an easy-to-understand language that everyone from politicians to those who have historically been weary of mental health services can understand.

Dr. Vazin has shown the utmost dedication to the subject by moving her residence to one of the most rural areas of the country to get a better understanding of the culture and to conduct in-person interviews of affected demographics. My office is not afforded a budget for outside staff, so she did this voluntarily to address the epidemic in Montana and rural America as a whole. While living in the community, Dr. Vazin also mentored a local woman entering college that wanted to pursue a career in behavioral healthcare. These selfless acts speak directly to the character of Dr. Vazin.”

Kenneth Bogner

State Senator, Montana District 19