Makando Mutanda, LCSW, MPH
Integrative Therapist · Founder, Sela Wellness
ABOUT
A garden's condition depends on its soil; the condition of the garden within you — spiritually, mentally, and physically — depends on the soil of your heart. That means embracing your feelings. All of them. And that means it's time to end the war.
— Dr. Anita Phillips, The Garden Within
I was born in Luanshya, Zambia, in a family and community that taught me, long before I had language for it, that people are shaped by the worlds they come from. When I moved to the United States as a first-generation immigrant, I carried that understanding with me into every room I entered, including eventually the therapy room. I know what it feels like to hold multiple truths at once, to belong fully to more than one world, and to navigate institutions that were not designed with you in mind. That experience did not leave me when I became a clinician. It became the foundation of how I practice.
I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Sex Therapist with graduate degrees in Social Work and Public Health from the University of Southern California. Over seven years of clinical practice across community mental health, behavioral health, and academic medical settings have deepened my belief that healing is not only cognitive. It is something the body participates in, something that unfolds in relationship, and something that looks different for every person who seeks it.
How I came into this work
Early in my career, I believed that insight was enough. That if a person could understand what had happened to them, they could move through it. Working closely with people navigating trauma, grief, and profound loss taught me something different. I began to see how much our bodies hold, how a nervous system shaped by years of difficulty does not simply reorganize itself through conversation alone. That recognition changed how I practice and sent me deeper into somatic and body-based approaches to healing.
I also learned, through this work, how much it asks of the person doing it. Bearing witness to suffering is meaningful, and it leaves its mark. I learned to attend to my own internal process, not to step away from the work, but to remain genuinely present within it. The practices I developed for myself continue to shape how I show up for the people I work with, with steadiness, humility, and care.
How I work
My approach is integrative and trauma-informed. I draw from Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy, somatic and attachment-based practices, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and trauma-focused approaches. I am also a Yoga Therapist, and I integrate movement- and breath-based practices when they feel supportive, because insight alone does not always reach the places that most need attention.
As a Certified Sex Therapist trained through the California Institute of Integral Studies, I bring a relational, affirming, and culturally responsive lens to questions of intimacy and sexual wellbeing. This work is offered with the same care and groundedness as every other part of the therapeutic process.
I have worked alongside veterans, children in under-resourced schools, adults navigating the justice system, medical trainees from underrepresented communities, and couples from cultures that rarely see themselves reflected in therapy. Each of those relationships taught me something I could not have learned from a textbook. They shaped how I listen, how I ask questions, and how I hold space for the complexity of a human life.
Education and Training
Degrees
MSW and MPH, University of Southern California
Sex therapy
Certified Sex Therapist, California Institute of Integral Studies
Licensure
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
California
Yoga and Somatic Therapy
300-hour Yoga Therapist, YogaX at Stanford Psychiatry
200-hour Yoga Teacher, The Tree Yoga Cooperative
Relational therapy
Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy, AEDP Institute
Neuroscience
Neurofeedback Training, University of California
You do not have to keep carrying this alone.
If something on this page resonated with you, that feeling is worth paying attention to. Reaching out does not mean you have made a decision. It means you are curious, and that is more than enough to begin.
I offer a free 20-minute consultation where we can connect, talk about what is bringing you in, and get a sense of whether working together feels like the right fit.
I am currently welcoming new individual and couples clients across California via telehealth. Sliding scale spots are available for those facing financial hardship.