Farbod “Freddy” Valinia is the owner of Cognizant Mental Health and a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor with a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.

Upon graduation, Freddy worked for a community health center as a therapist and provided mental health counseling to children, adolescents, and adults facing socioeconomic and cultural adversities. Freddy has also had experience in the field of grief and bereavement. His work within hospice has exposed him to a wide and varied array of complex psychological and emotional problems pertaining to grief and loss. Throughout his career, Freddy has worked closely with Crisis Text Line; a global not-for-profit organization providing free mental health texting services through confidential crisis interventions via SMS messages. This experience has afforded Freddy the ability to handle complex cases pertaining to self-harm and suicidality.

As a therapist, Freddy aims to establish a strong therapeutic alliance built on warmth, acceptance, and trust with clients. Using curiosity and compassion, Freddy believes in creating a non-judgmental environment where each client is able to better understand and explore how they relate to their thoughts, feelings, and emotions. When working with clients, Freddy utilizes the Person-Centered approach, along with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT).

Freddy’s life experiences, coupled with his own experience in therapy and a rich history of both formal and informal training have afforded him the opportunity to practice as a confident and skillful clinician, well suited to partner with his clients through the process of psychotherapy.