Sheila Sayani is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (MFC 48734) in Encino, CA, and has been practicing for almost 15 years. She also serves as adjunct faculty at Pepperdine University, where she is a professor of Human Sexuality. She received her Master's in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University and her Bachelor's degree in Clinical Psychology from UC San Diego.

In her practice, Sheila specializes in relationship issues, couples work, sexuality, intimacy, codependency, as well as general issues related to trauma, depression, and anxiety. She works with her clients through the lens of attachment. The attachment approach looks at how past relational experiences have shaped a person, and maintains that the brain can be rewired to impact current and future relational experiences, by correcting faulty attachment patterns. 

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As a specialized couples therapist, Sheila has a background in a variety of couples therapies, and approaches each couple as a unique unit. She describes her style as more directive and involved in order to help clients find immediate solutions, while also considering systemic issues and long-term solutions.  

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Sheila is also trained in EMDR (Eye Movement & Desensitization Reprocessing), a highly effective technique that helps heal past traumas and experiences that are still playing a negative role in current life. Additionally, Sheila is trained in the Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM), a model that is body-focused and helps recenter the body when it might be stuck in a "fight-flight-freeze" response. 

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