Educational Consultation and Planning

An individualized educational plan can be tailored to match one’s career goals, aptitudes, and academic achievement. This process can include the following:

• Gather pertinent information from the individual and/or family members

• Assess aptitudes and values

• Explore physical, mental, and emotional capabilities and limitations

• Identifying academic strengths and weaknesses and providing resources to improve skills.

• Finding appropriate colleges/training programs

• Identifying accommodations needed and process to apply

• Psychoeducational Evaluation (referrals to consultants)

• Providing Study skills:

  • Calendar blocking

  • Note taking styles

  • Gadgets and apps available for organizational skills and recording lectures

Career Consultation and Planning

Career exploration is the process of learning about various occupations and how particular jobs "fit" an individual’s skills and preferences. Factors such as, past work, volunteer history, educational background, labor market information, appropriate work environment and barriers to employment can be considered. They can find out additional skills/training necessary for their career goal or advancement in a current occupation.

We can assist with:

• Resume development and/or editing

• Connecting with job coaching agencies

• Learning about current job fairs

• How to obtain industry driven credentials and certificates

Strategies to deal with common barriers:

• Avoidance patterns

• Anxiety

• Procrastination

• Time management

• Lack of motivation

• Attention and focusing issues

• Unresolved trauma

• Automatic negative thoughts

Anxiety Reducing Strategies:

Mindfulness strategies for acute stress, general anxiety, performance, and social anxieties

• Flow activity guidance

• Therapeutic art activities

• Simple and quick activities for acute stress

• Expert consultant can provide: Breath work, Tapping, Meditation, Visualization, Yoga, or sound healing

Interventions

Psychological interventions are designed to foster healthy emotions, attitudes and habits. Individuals may have numerous health care providers, including a therapist, psychiatrist, primary care physician and nutritionist. Each provider may have a unique treatment plan to help understand and treat issues and conditions. An intervention conducted by the advocate may occasionally be necessary, especially when an individual needs help to regain the capacity to take action that previously seemed impossible due to irrational thoughts, emotional reasoning, cognitive distortions, fear of failure, self -sabotaging behavior/thoughts and/or other factors. The intervention consists of goals for change, a step-by-step action plan, consequences of inaction, and accountability to family/community supports.

Conflict Resolution

Individuals are typically not in isolation and their family/friends and support groups may be involved in their healing or recovery. When there is conflict and dispute among the members, a third impartial advocate can help resolve conflicts and establish agreement. For example, in cases of divorce where someone can mediate between the parties, our approach could be to:

• Prioritize goals

• Set appropriate time to discuss and debate each category 

• Set discussion parameters to ensure everyone gets a fair chance to voice their opinion, questions, or concerns

• Understand individual’s background and circumstances as it relates to the goals

• Establish trust and respect and safe environment of privacy

• With respect to emotions try to help individuals focus on rational solutions and reduce ineffective arguments

• Make thorough notes on points of agreement

• When necessary consider lawyer inputs and question

• Create a document of agreed items

Connect to Resources:

Finding appropriate resources in the community and utilizing available and personally created data bases for:

• Therapists (different specialties)

• Nutritionists

• Housing

• Job coaches

• Physicians/Functional Medicine

• Mental health treatment centers

• Substance abuse recovery and treatment centers

• IOP programs

• Therapeutic schools

• For individuals on the Autism Spectrum:

  • Targeted schools/programs

  • Workforce initiatives and programs

  • Independent organizations

  • Federal and State resources

Testimonial - Persia R.

Goli is one of the best out there. She has helped me in numerous ways & showed me many times that she genuinely cares about my well being & how to reach my goals. She has gone the extra mile many times to ensure I got the resources I needed. Not only is she genuine but she is caring & knows how to ask all the right questions to get your mind to dig deep. The depth & length she goes to find out the root causes shows how dedicated she is to her work as a mentor & therapist. I have gained so much knowledge while working with her & feel that she has contributed highly to my life as it is today. She helped me find the path I wanted to be on & helped me with many other steps along the way. She is an amazing listener & created a safe environment where I felt like I could tell her anything and everything. I HIGHLY recommended her, you won’t go wrong.

GOLI SOTOOHI - FOUNDER

Goli Sotoohi’s graduate work is in counseling and school psychology. She has had additional training on dealing with individuals with past trauma and anxiety. She founded Transition Advocacy, inspired by having worked with adults, students, and families going through significant transitions and is passionate about helping them create a meaningful and productive life.

She has over 25 years combined experience as a:

• Trauma informed counselor and evaluator, advocating for students and adults with various disabling mental/physical conditions.

• Educational/social researcher involved in projects aimed at understanding optimal learning environments, learning styles, early interventions, and instructional methods;

• College educator teaching critical thinking skills, interdisciplinary studies and advising students;

• Life coach/advocate helping clients create a practical and feasible action plan to achieve their goals.

She believes through a deep understanding of an individual’s circumstances, past history, and identifying root causes of their issues, we can systematically create a plan that is solution oriented and practical. She empathetically helps her clients realize progress or setbacks and helps them use strategies to deal with stagnation or barriers.