Our Team

We are a small team of talented professionals with a wide range of skills and experience. We love what we do, and we do it with passion. We look forward to working with you.

Dr. Tamarah Gehlen, LMFT LADC CCTP FLE

Owner & Founder

Dr. Tam (she/her) is a national-level speaker with 3 TEDx talks available online, an author, and a graduate-level professor of addiction and mental health at St. Mary’s University Twin Cities. She is passionate about working with the LGBTQIA+ community, helping individuals and families address addiction and mental health concerns, as well as grief and loss. She has a strong track record of supporting persons who are in demanding positions navigate stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout, and can also provide leadership coaching and mentoring.

If you are seeking to become the best and most authentic version of yourself – Dr. Tam will be a powerful partner in your journey.

Dr. Tam utilizes holistic approaches to care. She favors Solution Focused Therapy methods, Adlerian Counseling, and Internal Family Systems approaches to the work she does with clients. She brings humor, directness, and deep compassion to the work she does with others.

Get in touch: Dr.Tam@transformationaltherapymn.com 612-465-9910

Layla (she/her) is a second-generation Iranian immigrant, who comes from a lineage of storytellers. Because of this, clients’ stories hold immense importance to her. Her cultural values emphasize treating people with dignity and respect, especially those who have been labeled as "difficult" or “oppositional” by others. Layla’s clinical experience has been centered around helping individuals rediscover their sense of self while processing past traumatic experiences and navigating ongoing stress. 

Layla’s therapeutic approach, grounded in holistic, mind-body, and compassionate inquiry techniques, allows her to recognize and empower clients’ voices and strengths across various aspects of their life. Her approach to mental health symptoms or “presenting problems” is not one of enigmatic phenomena or mere byproducts of genetics, but, rather, as a normal consequence of living in an abnormal, unnatural, and pathologizing world. This simple reframe offers clients a fresh perspective on their mental health, facilitating the release of deep-rooted, ingrained shame and creating the necessary space for healing and growth.

Layla will be a recent graduate of Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota in April 2023, graduating with her Master of Arts Degree in Counseling and Psychological Services and a Graduate Certificate in Addiction Studies. She brings authenticity, a sense of humor, and unending curiosity to learn from clients throughout the therapeutic process. She works with clients ages 10+ from all walks of life addressing challenges such as navigating stress and mood disorders, approaching addiction or substance use concerns through a harm-reduction lens, processing childhood trauma and experiences, managing daily expectations and responsibilities of everyday life, coping with social anxiety in a post-pandemic world, combating perfectionistic tendencies, and exploring the complexities of relationships with oneself and others, both in-person and on social media. In addition, Layla also integrates mind-body techniques from her background as a yoga instructor, creating a truly holistic therapeutic approach.

Layla Berenjian, LADC

Mental Health Practitioner

Layla (she/her) is a second-generation Iranian immigrant, who comes from a lineage of storytellers. Because of this, clients’ stories hold immense importance to her. Her cultural values emphasize treating people with dignity and respect, especially those who have been labeled as “difficult” or “oppositional” by others.

Layla’s therapeutic approach, grounded in holistic, mind-body, and compassionate inquiry techniques, allows her to recognize and empower clients’ voices and strengths across various aspects of their life.

She works with clients ages 10+ from all walks of life addressing challenges such as navigating stress and mood disorders, approaching addiction or substance use concerns through a harm-reduction lens, processing childhood trauma and experiences, managing daily expectations and responsibilities of everyday life, coping with a post-pandemic world, combating perfectionistic tendencies, and exploring the complexities of relationships. Get in Touch: 612-234-2246 or via email at layla@transformationaltherapymn.com



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