​Samar Tehrani, MEd/PSY., LSATP, CATC IV.

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Samar Tehrani is the founder of Helix Counseling and Life Coaching Services; she is a Certified Addictions Treatment Counselor and a Life Coach with over 20 years of experience in the field of human services.  She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Metropolitan State University of Denver. She furthered her studies by earning a master’s degree in educational psychology from University of Colorado at Denver and later completed a post-master’s program in substance abuse counseling.
 
Samar started her career in Denver, Colorado where she grew up. For two years, she was a victim advocate for the Denver Police Department and later dedicated 10 years of her career to the Department of Youth Correction. For the past 12 years, she enjoyed being in the classroom to share her knowledge and simultaneously learn from her students. These experiences provided a unique opportunity to work with people from all walks of life in a variety of settings.
 
Samar pursues her passion for empowering individuals by teaching college psychology courses, while working as a counselor in a private practice as well.
 
She recently spent a year and half in Iran working in the field of addiction. She integrated herself within the community. She worked with AA/NA groups, held seminars for families of addicted individuals, and worked with the academic, public, and private sectors in the area of addiction treatment education.

Samar strongly believes that "eradication  of addiction is not legalization, treatment, or adjudication... eradication of addiction is prevention through awareness by means of education." 

Her career extends from Colorado, Virginia/DC areas, to Tehran, southern California, and now back to Virginia/DC area where she has joined Virginia Family Medicine.
 
Samar’s passion is to work with individuals from all walks of life dealing with challenges in life. She is particularly interested in helping immigrants with matters around migration, as well as helping those facing co-occurring disorders and/or substance abuse. Growing up in a dual-culture, she believes that by strengthening the family structure, immigrant communities as well as non-immigrant communities live healthier lives. Her bilingual abilities are in English and Farsi, which make her session unique in effectively working with multicultural/Farsi speaking communities.   

Her motto: "'Education = awareness' Plant the seed. It may give you fruit in a year - it may give you fruit in 10 years -  inevitably you will  get fruit. My work is to plant the seed." Once you have awareness, you can't go back.

Her professional time is consumed by:
1. Private practice
2. Public speaking on issues around prevention, mostly concerning youth
3. Teaching