Ziba Heshmatpour Nassab is the CEO and Clinical Director of Holding Hands Pediatric Therapy. Ziba has been treating infants, toddlers, school age children and teenagers with developmental and neurological disorders (Autism, Asperger's, PDD-NOS, ADHD, Down Syndrome, Mental Retardation, Epilepsy, Fragile X Syndrome, Conduct Disorder, Selective Mutism, Reactive Attachment Disorder, Rett’s Syndrome, Prairie Williams Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, and Elimination Disorders) for the past 17 years. Ziba has had the opportunity to work with children and their families in a variety of settings, which include clinics, schools, daycare facilities, hospitals, community centers, and home settings.

In addition to her pediatric experience, Ziba has also had clinical training and experience working with adults and geriatric clients with chronic mental illness (Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Panic Disorders, and Dementia) in an inpatient psychiatric hospital. Ziba has provided individual counseling, group counseling and psycho-education for this population. Ziba looks beyond the label and tries to empower her clients to do the same. According to Ziba, “The label helps me understand the diagnosis, but not the person behind the diagnosis. No one chooses to have a mental illness; each client needs to be treated with dignity and respect.”

In regards to Ziba’s educational background, she received her Associate’s degree in Child Development, Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Master’s degree in Marriage, Family Therapy (MFT) and is completing her Doctorate in Counseling Psychology. Ziba has embraced the DIR® (Developmental, Individual Differences, Relationship) modality and is currently in the DIR® certification program as a C-2 candidate, and has been attending DIR®/ Floortime™ trainings, workshops, and conferences since 1997.

Ziba also has been Trained and certified at The UCLA Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relationship Skills (PEERS) which is an evidence based 14 week social skills training intervention for adolescents and young adults.

Ziba is affiliated with the following Professional Membership:

• CAMFT/ California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
  

• Autism Society of Los Angeles / Autism Research Institute
  

• ICDL/ Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental & Learning Disorders
  

• Senate Select Committee on Autism Task Force/ Autism Regional Taskforce (SLARRT) Member
  

• Floortime™ Coalition of California/DIR® FT™ COC
  

According to Ziba, her best teacher and mentor has been her own son, who has been diagnosed with Autism. Raising her son for the past 15 years has provided Ziba with exceptional training. Ziba has four amazing children and her husband is the co-founder and CFO of Holding Hands. Ziba understands firsthand how having a child with a developmental disability can impact the entire family unit, emotionally, physically, and financially. Therefore a part of her mission was to create a multi-disciplinary clinic that supports not just the “client,” but also the entire family unit.
Ziba feels humbled and blessed to have worked with such a caring and dedicated team of clinicians. Most importantly, Ziba wants to thank all the wonderful clients she has served and continues to serve for leaving an imprint on her heart.

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Nicole Messuri, MA, LMFT, BCBA is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst. She came to the field of clinical psychology after a career in the healing arts and education. As a Certified Traditional Naturopath, Nicole studied holistic nutrition and worked in various settings with clients where she provided nutritional and wellness counseling, specifically on yeast/gluten/casein free diets. Over the past few years, she has guided many parents of children with autism, celiac disease, ADHD, food sensitivities, and general behavior-related diet issues

In 2001, Nicole became an elementary school teacher. She taught 1st and 4th grade for three years for LAUSD and worked as an Educational Therapist for Kayne-ERAS Center, where she provided instruction to children with learning and developmental needs.  In 2005, she received her Masters in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University Los Angeles. She worked in various outpatient clinical settings where she had the opportunity to work with diverse populations with a wide range of clinical conditions. After becoming a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Nicole worked as a teacher/tutor, for Gerry Grossman Seminars teaching preparation classes and providing tutoring services to MFT and MSW interns who were preparing for their California State Board Licensing Exams. For the past six years, Nicole has worked as a Supervisor for Focus Psychological and Educational Services’ school and home-based programs where she provided supervision for behavior intervention therapists in the school and home settings. During this time, Nicole has developed creative interventions and teaching tools to support the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of special needs and typical children, some of which has been used in trainings at Focus and utilized as interventions with the children and families that she worked with.

Nicole has devoted herself to solving problems with children and parents, holistically, by improving family dynamics, increasing appropriate behavior through one-to-one intervention, building skills where there are deficits, working with behavior-related diet issues, and guiding parents on their path towards better management of behavior and interaction with their children.
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Originally from Dallas, Megan moved out to Los Angeles to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming an Occupational Therapist. She graduated from the University of Southern California with both a Bachelors and Masters degree in Originally from Dallas. She graduated from the University of Southern California with both a Bachelors and Masters degree in Occupational Therapy and has since been practicing in the Los Angeles region. She loves working with children and their families and during her time at USC gained experience working in Children’s Hospitals and Early Intervention Clinics. Today Megan specializes in pediatrics with evaluation and treatment of Sensory Processing Disorders, Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Physical Disabilities and others. She continues to follow research, especially on Sensory Integration and feeding issues, and applies evidence-based treatment in her practice.

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Caitlin Broderick is a graduate of Berklee College of Music and a board certified Music Therapist. Caitlin holds a certificate from the DIR® program and is a Floortime™ Therapist and Supervisor.In addition, Caitlinparticipated in Dr. Stanley Greenspan’s national conference in Washington D.C. Through all of her therapeutic experiences, including working with individuals with Alzheimer’s, Schizophrenia, physical disabilities and other special needs, Caitlin has found working with children with Autism to be the most gratifying.  Another rewarding accomplishment came when she won the national songwriting contest for Jane Magazine in 2004. Caitlin is very grateful to have the opportunity to combine her love of music with her love of child development.

Caitlin believes that each child is unique and with the right support he/she can reach maximum potential. She has been working at Holding Hands Pediatrics and Diagnostics since 2005 and is proud to be a member of such a multi-faceted faculty.

"I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music, It seems to infuse strength into my limbs and ideas into my brain. Life seems to go on without effort, when I am filled with music."
George Eliot, English novelist (1819-1880)

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Carrie Hammond has been working for Holding Hands as a Clinical Supervisor for over one year.  Carrie is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA).  Her position at Holding Hands consists of supervising Marriage and Family Therapist trainees and interns towards the 3000 hours they must collect to become a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She also supervises therapists who practice Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) in the home and school settings.
Carrie received her undergraduate education from California State University, Northridge.  She then completed her graduate work at Phillips Graduate Institute receiving her license in Marriage and Family Therapy.  In 2010 she received a BCBA certification from California State University, Northridge.

Carrie has been working in the field of special needs for over 11 years. During this time, she has worked for four agencies specializing in autism spectrum disorders using the methods of ABA and Floortime.  She reports that when she first started in the special needs field she looked at her job as just a job, but through the ensuing years she now realizes that her job has become much more than a job. It is now an important part of her life and who she is.  

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Josef is the coordinator for the Behavior Intervention and Social Skills Program at Holding Hands, as well as a supervisor and clinical mentor. He has 14 years of experience working with children with special needs. Josef has provided services for the San Diego Unified School District, the Los Angeles Unified School District, and began working for Holding Hands in 2006. He became certified as a Behavior Analyst in 2008 and specializes in training parents in Applied Behavior Analysis.

Josef seeks to provide families with a warm, supportive environment in which parents and children can learn new skills. Josef enjoys supervising and facilitating Social Skills groups, where children learn to initiate and sustain interactions with peers, turn-take during fun, interactive activities, negotiate and compromise on ideas, and engage in elaborate symbolic play sequences. What Josef enjoys most about Holding Hands is that it allows him to guide parents in improving the quality of their child’s life so he or she can grow to love and enjoy the family that surrounds them. Josef’s personal philosophy is that a child is limited only by the limitations that are placed upon them by others.

“The real benefits of this job are when you witness a mother or father learn to engage, interact with, and relate to their child in new ways that help their child create and sustain relationships and adapt to the world in which they live” (Josef Nash).

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Jennifer has been working with children and families for over 15 years.  Her experience includes early childhood education, early intervention, developmental disorders, PTSD and at risk youth.She is pursuing a PhD in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health through the ICDL Graduate School and is a recipient of the Stanley Greenspan Memorial Scholarship.  She holds a Master’s degree from NYU in drama therapy and is a registered drama therapist.  She has published a book chapter and articles on DIR®/Floortime™ and Autism.

Jennifer has worked at Holding Hands – Burbank since March 2008.  She began by providing direct intervention and supervision for Floortime™ cases.  She moved into a Program Coordinator position the following year, developing programs and providing more staff training and support.  Jennifer is excited to have the opportunity to expand her role working with children and families as Associate Director of Clinical Services. She continues to value the time she has working directly with children and parents and looks forward to creating more partnerships with families, schools, regional centers and other community resources.

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Karla Cardoza is a certified bilingual (Spanish and English) Speech-Language Pathologist Assistant and DIR® level C clinician at Holding Hands Pediatrics. Currently, Mrs. Cardoza is the Clinical Program Coordinator for the DIR/Floortime™ program, where she is responsible for the quality of therapeutic services provided within the program. In addition, she provides staff training and supervision, parent training, consultation, and direct treatment to clients and their families. She has over 10 years of experience treating diverse populations including early intervention, school age and adolescents presenting with a variety of developmental disorders, including Autism, Down Syndrome, Rett's Syndrome, Mental Retardation, PDD-NOS AND Speech and Language Disorders.

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Kathleen Walker is a Speech Language Pathologist - Clinical Supervisor at Holding Hands in Burbank.  She has over 13 years experience in the field and has worked in the school, private practice and clinic settings.  She received her B.S. from Emerson College and M.A. from California State University of Los Angeles.  Kathleen's philosophy is to treat each client as an individual and develop a treatment program based on their own personal needs.

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