Gidai Maaza started his own family therapy practice during the pandemic, helping young Black men and boys heal from trauma.

A local therapist is using his own life story as a refugee to help young Black men and boys heal from trauma.

Gidai Maaza, LMFT (Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist), is a Fresno-based mental health professional counseling Black men and boys ages five and up, elementary aged children, adolescents and families.

For Maaza, his family’s refugee identity and experience planted the seed for his work as a mental health clinician.

Maaza’s parents were displaced during Ethiopia’s Civil War, described by Maaza as “one of the most catastrophic manmade famines” that displaced close to 1 million Tigary, Maaza’s ethnic identity.

“During this time, my mother decided to leave and walk with me on her back into Sudan,” said Maaza. “From Sudan we met more of our family that also left the war, became refugees and by the time we settled into the country [Sudan], we also began our journey to become sponsored by a church to come to the States.”

At the age of four, Maaza along with his family moved to the U.S. and settled in Chicago, Illinois. Once in Chicago he and his family moved to the designated projects for immigrants and refugees, where he grew up with individuals from various African countries and the Middle East.

While living with his mother, stepfather as well as five other siblings, Maaza and family had to become resourceful for things such as food and clothes. But limited space never prevented the family from welcoming others into their home.

As the cook of the community, Maaza’s mother brought people together and emphasized the importance of family-style dining to learn from one another.

 

 

“We always had a room available to the next refugee or immigrant that was coming in,” said Maaza. “Ethiopians were huge on breaking bread and coming together around food to talk. So, I grew up in that thought all the time.”

It was Maaza’s childhood that led him to the field of psychology and counseling. His journey, in conjunction with the resilience of his community, taught him how to survive and thrive — a trait he wanted to pass on to others.

“I was raised to learn that part of our wellness as a community was tied to how we came together, but also supported our mental health,” said Maaza.

Maaza opened his practice at the height of COVID-19 after moving on from another practice. The pandemic accelerated the process of creating his own business, and with the support of his mentor and wife, Gidai Maaza, LMFT Private Practice was born.

The pandemic transformed the legal infrastructure and platforms in which people received care. Services that were once required to be in person were suddenly moved to virtual mediums, allowing more people to access Maaza’s services in multiple formats.

“I can’t recall any other time in our history as mental health practitioners we’ve been allowed to create space in a global context,” said Maaza.

Maaza pulls from his own experience living in his community and applies how he grew up to his practice. It centers on the holistic approach of building an environment, or container, that facilitates being present and speaking with one another about life and your struggles.

“I’ve brought my experience and created an environment, or in what our profession we call a container, to therapy. What I have learned is that everyone is capable of life but not all of us have the proper environment or container to thrive,” said Maaza.

Maaza counsels on ADD/ADHD, PTSD, oppositional and conduct disorders, schizophrenia and psychosis, developmental delays, trauma abandonment, dysfunctional family systems and addiction. Maaza also focuses on identifying conflict in immigrant communities and first-generation youth who are navigating racial and cultural oppression and barriers, especially young Black men and boys.

Through his practice Maaza strives to create an environment that promotes healing and growth by providing his clients with a safe environment and healthy coping skills they need to thrive.

“We can’t be well nor ask to be supported in a system that has historically viewed Black men and boys as disposable or as boogiemen within a mental health system geared to pathologize our being as such. With that understanding, I wanted to create a container where we could speak to truths without filters and walk towards healing,” said Maaza.