Meet Mastaneh Moghadam of Sherman Oaks

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mastaneh Moghadam

Hi Mastaneh, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My family moved to Los Angeles from Tehran, Iran when I was 5 years old. Growing up as an immigrant offered me first hand insight into the differences and similarities that various cultures share and sparked my interest in the mental and emotional challenges as well as the stories that come out of the immigrant experience. This is where my love for psychology and story telling was born.

I grew up in the San Fernando Valley and attended California State University Northridge as an undergrad and then went on to receive my Masters in Social Work from California State University Long Beach. By chance, I was placed at the private non-profit organization, Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles to do my field placement internship for graduate school. During the initial interview at JFSLA, it was brought up that I am originally from Iran and that I speak Persian and this lead to a conversation about the limited social and mental health services available to Iranian immigrants and the cultural stigma around mental health issues that lead this population to not reach out for therapy services. Thus, it became my task, to figure out a way to break down these barriers, decrease stigma and engage the Persian speaking population in activities and programs that would address their mental and emotional health needs in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner. I was lucky enough to spend the next 15 years at JFSLA, learning from wonderful supervisors and mentors and working with a variety of insightful and compassionate clinicians. During this time I was able to work with the Iranian community, individually as a therapist and in the area of community organization, in my role as the Iranian Outreach and Engagement Coordinator at JFSLA. In 2005, after receiving my license and becoming an LCSW, I also got the opportunity to supervise other clinicians and offer trainings in a variety of topics related to mental health and immigrants. During this time, I also started doing a great deal of work with the Iranian LGBTQ+ populations and their families as well as with survivors of domestic violence and their children.

It was also during those early years at JFSLA that I met and married my husband Dustin Ellis. Dustin’s background in writing, directing and producing animation, ignited my interest in story telling. Dustin and I, having both been raised in dual cultures, shard an immense interest in stories that pertained to the immigrant experience in particular. Therefore, we also worked together in creating (what is now a cult classic), the cartoon Babak and Friends: A First Norooz. The success of Babak and Friends, led to us developing a 13 episode animated series for PBS called Mixed Nuts, which I got to write and produce alongside Dustin and a team of talented artists and storytellers.

A few years after the birth of my daughter, Darya Ellis, the time came for me to leave JFSLA and to embark on a project that I didn’t even realize I wanted until the idea was ignited through the multitude of questions asked by my supervisees and co-workers, around what I will be doing and where I will be going next. Dustin and I had spend a few years imagining a non-profit organization focused on bridging cultural gaps and celebrating diversity. And in a blink of an eye, it became clear to us that this non-profit organization should focus on uplifting immigrants through therapy, education and the arts. This mission was the marriage of all the healing modalities that we were experienced and interested in and our passion of working with immigrants and multicultural communities. In January of 2016, Cross Cultural Expressions (CCE) was born.

As the Executive Director of CCE, I have had the good fortune of developing and implementing programs that focus on increasing dialogue and understanding amongst immigrants and other underserved populations, thus uplifting individuals, families and communities. By better understanding the cultural subtleties, nuances of language and varied forms of expression, we are able to better serve our clients and further our vision of a connected, unified world celebrating the rich diversity of all its inhabitants. The Cross Cultural Expressions Community Counseling Center (CCECCC), is one of our proudest achievements. Through the center we are able to provide culturally sensitive therapeutic services for our clients, and through the workshops and trainings that we offer, we help other professionals and volunteers to do the same.

It has also been my absolute pleasure to be able to further engage our diverse communities and to help decrease stigma and increase dialogue around mental and emotional health issues and wellbeing, through the various creative art projects that we have done over the last 7 years. Our partnership with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health has made is possible for us to create a variety of storytelling outreach and engagement programs. I have had the incredible opportunity to write and produce three mental health feature length films, all focusing on the immigrant experience. Our first movie, Wake Up Sleeping Beauty, which was directed by the very talented Shila Ommi, was released on the CCE YouTube channel, CCE Productions in 2021. CCE was again given the opportunity to create another feature length movie titled, The Djinn In The Pen, which I got to not only write and produce, but also direct. This movie was released in 2023 and is also on the CCE Youtube channel. And I am overjoyed that for a third time, I have been given the privilege of writing, producing and directing another mental health movie, Trapped, which will be released in the summer of 2025.

Additionally, in 2024, CCE created and published the books, Our Immigrant Stories: A Collection of Essays from The Iranian Diaspora; and Our Immigrant Stories: A Collection of Essays from The Eastern European Diaspora. The opportunity to once again use the art of storytelling to uplift and connect individuals and communities, this time through the medium of a coffee table book, was another one of my dreams come true. Both of these books can currently be purchased on the CCE website.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Our life stories always include obstacles and challenges, which, some would argue, make the wins even sweeter. I am no exception to this rule. Just like all others, my family and I have experienced our fair share of loss, illness, and disappointments. As a therapist and a person who is always in search of healing and wellbeing, I have tried my best to use each one of these experiences to not just learn about myself, but also to learn about the world around me. Our relationship to ourselves is the foundation of how we relate to others and our environment. As an immigrant, learning how to navigate a bi-cultural world that often sent conflicting messaging, was in itself quite a challenge. However, this experience also helped me cultivate the ability to view the world and the people in it from a wider lens. This experience challenged me to broaden my perspectives and thus be much more compassionate and accepting not just of myself, but with those around me. The life challenges that I have been through has also offered me the opportunity to recognize the great gift of being flexible in nature and to follow my bliss every chance I get. Walking away from a secure and stable job to follow my dream of creating a non-profit organization was a big gamble. But I figured, we are here on this earth to create and sometimes that means taking risks. So, I just took it one day at a time and in every instance did my best to be true to myself and authentic with those around me. I hope to continue to do the same with every coming year.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Although I am a psychotherapist, supervisor and executive director by trade. I think I have always viewed myself as more of an artist/creative. My passion, of course is in healing. However, I don’t think healing is truly possible without the arts. From the beginning, my interest was in modalities that incorporated the arts as a pathway to upliftment and wellbeing. As an undergrad, I studied psychology with an emphasis in music therapy, because as a person who played piano and violin since the age of 5, I knew full well the power that music held when it came to my mental and emotional wellbeing.

After receiving my Masters in Social Work and beginning my career as a mental health clinician, I continued to use modalities such as dance, movement, art and of course storytelling with my clients. I found that the clients that utilized the creative arts in their recovery, achieved a sense of wellbeing far quicker than those clients who focused on talk therapy sessions alone. I also came to realize that the creative arts helps us to integrate what we have learned and thus the learning goes deeper and transforms us in a more profound way.

So, I guess what I am most proud of and what I feel sets me apart from most other therapists is the work that I have done in the creative arts that has enhanced not just my own life, but the life of the clients that I serve and the communities that I work with. The movies that I have written, produced and directed; the books that I have helped create and publish; the multitude of workshops and trainings that I have offered that incorporate therapy and the arts, these are the things that I am most passionate about and what I consider to be my most memorable achievements.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Well, I think my clients and those who know me purely within the field of psychotherapy, would probably be very surprised to learn that I am a writer, a director, a producer and that I play musical instruments and danced with a dance company for five years…it’s always fun when I get to share that aspect of myself and my life with others.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://crossculturalexpressions.org
• Instagram: @cce.ccc
• Facebook: Cross Cultural Expressions
• Youtube: CCE Productions