Dr. Ida Karayan has a doctorate in psychology and is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT). She is also a certified Bioenergetic and Imago psychotherapist and utilizes many of these techniques in her practice. She teaches her clients about the relationship between their mind, body, and emotions, and believes that all three need to be addressed to create permanent changes. These techniques help her clients sustain more fulfilling and less stressful lives.

Ida Karayan is the Director and Supervisor of Armenian Relief Society’s Child, Youth and Family Guidance Center, which is a non-profit mental health facility that opened its doors to serve the community in February 2001. Here she supervises interns and works closely with low income populations. Services are offered in Armenian and in English to accommodate the needs of clients. Ida Karayan’s involvement with the Armenian community extends to relief efforts following the 1989 Armenian earthquake and beyond. She has also worked with severely mentally ill patients at Glendale Adventist and Las Encinas hospitals, served as council member for the City of Pasadena for over four years, and has been an active member in numerous organizations such as CASPS (California Association for Students in Public Schools), the ARS (Armenian Relief Society), and the Western Prelacy Educational Council and Board of Regents.

In addition to her doctorate in psychology, Dr. Karayan earned a Master of Science in Child Development. She also has specialized training in Sand Therapy, Play Therapy, and Art Therapy.

Dr. Karayan conducts research, most recently being part of a 25-year follow-up study on adolescent PTSD following the 1989 earthquake in Armenia that was published in 2019 in the journal Psychological Medicine. ( https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291719003891)