Anger Management 818 Facilitator Biographies

Anita Avedian, M.S., MFT
Certified Anger Management Facilitator
Director, Anger Management 818

Anita Avedian was born in Beirut, Lebanon. Until age 8, she had lived in Istanbul, Turkey, and London, England. In 1981, Anita’s family decided to move to Encino, California, so that she could attend an Armenian school, and persevere with her culture. Although she did go to a public school during a few years in high school, Anita returned to Ferrahian to graduate in 1990.

In 1995, Anita graduated California State University of Northridge with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. During her undergraduate years, Anita was very involved with student organizations. She became a Director of Associated Students and a Senator for the student body at three different levels. Through her interest in organizations, Anita decided to incorporate business with psychology.

In 1998, she graduated from California State University of Northridge with her Master of Science in Educational Psychology, emphasizing in Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling. In order to integrate her interest in organizations and business, Anita had an additional emphasis in Business, Industry and Government in her counseling studies. Upon graduation, she had successfully completed two Master’s level certifications: 1) Human Resources (Consulting, and Organizational Development); and 2) Employee Assistance Program.

Anita began her first internship with Family Violence Project. She worked in a battered woman’s shelter counseling the children and teens, as well as teaching parenting to the women. Within five years, Anita headed the Children and Teen’s Program at Tamar House (a 30-day emergency shelter) and at Hope Cottage (a 6-month transitional house for battered women and their children). At Hope Cottage, Anita formulated many children and teen groups focusing on the trauma they experienced. Anita facilitated family groups where she had the opportunity to intervene with the mothers and model more effective ways of communicating with their children.

During these years, Anita also participated in an internship as an Employee Assistance Professional (EAP) at Glendale Adventist Medical Center (GAMC). Anita coordinated and facilitated workshops in Assertive Communication for the employees of GAMC. She also co-facilitated a critical incident stress debriefing for one of the departments. She was responsible for providing brief counseling for their employees, assessment, and appropriate referrals.

Another internship during these years included Guess Corporation at the Training and Development Department. There, Anita learned various ways in which a company motivates their employees. This involved teaching supervisors about leadership and management.

Anita worked at UCLA, Center for Community Health, as an Intervention Coordinator for two different research projects studying the efficacy of structured counseling programs for HIV positive teens and adults. She was also involved with an additional study focusing on group counseling for children and teens with an HIV positive parent.

In 2002, Anita began her private practice in Tarzana and Bel-Air. As her practice grew, she opened an office in Sherman Oaks. In 2003, Anita became certified in conducting Critical Incident Stress Debriefing. Through one of the conferences, she also became certified in conducting Thought Field Therapy, which enriches her practice by incorporating energy therapy.

In 2003, Anita became an EAP consultant for Dorris & Associates and provides assessment, referral and counseling services for employees who are contracted through Dorris & Associates. She currently is contracted with over 5 EAP companies.

In 2003, Anita became an Anderson-Certified Anger Management Facilitator. In 2005, Anita and her partner, Laurie Brumfield, incorporated a new company named ABC Centers for Self-Improvement which then dissolved in December or 2007. Anita continued her work with Anger Management and named her company Anger Management 818.

Anita is very involved with the professional community. She currently serves on the local chapter boards for both Employee Assistance Professional Association (EAPA) and California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT). She also is the co-founder of the Armenian International Association of Mental Health and Social Services. In addition, she is part of the steering committee for the Group List.

Anita finds her work with the various fields and populations successful and rewarding.

Molly Lyda, M.A., MFT Intern
Certified Anger Management Facilitator

Molly Lyda adds to the team of talented clinicians at Anger Management 818 with her extensive clinical training and certification in anger management. Molly is incredibly passionate about her work in the mental health field, as shown by the journey that brought her to the work.

Originally from Oregon, where she finished her undergraduate degree, Molly moved to Los Angeles and landed a career in entertainment. After 10 successful years in television production, she felt called to do something more personal. Molly identified her desire to work in a profession that assists people in overcoming emotional pain while helping them to achieve their real hopes and dreams. Being a therapist became Molly’s calling.

Her master’s degree in psychology is from Phillips Graduate Institute, with an emphasis on marriage and family therapy and post modern theory. Molly graduated with honors and, while finishing her degree, she participated in two post modern traineeships at the California Family Counseling Center.

Molly has worked with diverse populations and has received special training in domestic violence, elder and dependent adult treatment, child abuse, substance use, and psychopharmacology. She also received training with Anderson and Anderson and is an Anderson-Certified Anger Management Facilitator.

Molly works from a strengths-based approach, believing that problems do not innately reside within clients, but rather that clients find themselves in circumstances or relationships that present challenges. She believes that each of her clients have all the strengths and resources needed to have a fulfilling and abundant life. Molly collaborates with her clients to envision a life aligned with their most true priorities and to strategize tangibly how to achieve that preferred life. Molly especially enjoys working with young adults and couples, as well as many diverse clientele.

(Molly Lyda is a Registered Marriage and Family Therapy Intern (IMF 51060) and works under the supervision of Anita Avedian, MFT, MFC 38403).

Paul Surace, M.A., MFT
Certified Anger Management Facilitator

Paul Surace was born in Queens, New York, the son of Italian parents; his father built some 500 homes in and around the LaGuardia Airport in New York.

Paul’s undergraduate degree in Speech Communication is from St. John’s University in New York. He was voted “Outstanding Speech Graduate” in his class of ’78 by the faculty. Paul later went on to teach at his alma mater facilitating classes in Speech and Group Communication. He has also taught Public Speaking and Rhetoric to incoming first-year students at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.

After college, having been accepted into law school, Paul chose instead to pursue the creative arts—studying acting in New York and Los Angeles, performing stand-up comedy, writing and performing plays, and writing and developing screenplays. In 1995, Walt Disney Company offered him a job writing and developing movie scripts, so he moved from New York to Los Angeles and worked for Disney for three years. After having several scripts go into “development hell,” but never produced, Paul decided to change careers to pursue something more “soul-satisfying.”

Utilizing his knowledge of creative writing and performing skills, Paul taught English to middle and high school students at several L.A.U.S.D. schools from 1998-2003. During this time, Paul met many angry, hyper, and perpetually distracted students in his classrooms. And Paul was drawn to working with them. He focused a great deal of his time and energy to learn ways to channel their youthful energy and moodiness to more positive directions. His successful experiences with these students led Paul to enter Antioch University to study Clinical Psychology in 2000. Paul graduated with his M.A. degree in 2002.

Since that time, Paul served in several positions working as an intern. He gained a great deal of practical experience working with families, couples, and young adolescents at the California Family Counseling Center in Encino, Valley Trauma Center (the #1 rape crisis center in L.A. County) in Van Nuys, and The Help Group in Van Nuys. In 2006, Paul began facilitating a parenting group at The Help Group for parents who want to learn more effective parenting and communication skills with their children.

In 2003, Paul became certified in the field of Mediation with couples and families at which time he became familiar with many “negotiating” techniques. In 2004, Paul became an Anderson-Certified Anger Management Facilitator for Adults and Adolescents. He facilitates anger management classes and works with individuals who want to focus on issues of anger. Since 2004, Paul has worked in a private practice setting in Sherman Oaks (supervised by Anita Avedian, MFT) until November of 2006, when Paul became a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist. He now operates his own private practice in Sherman Oaks in addition to continuing his work with Anger Management 818.

Paul’s specialty is working with families that struggle with anger and conflict. Paul believes he is especially good at forming connections and working with angry adolescents, as he’s had much interaction with that age group in multiple school and clinical settings.