welcome to
calamansi counseling
culturally integrative therapy & community care
hello, kumustaka, ahlan wa sahlan !
I’m *Heba, an Arab Egyptian Filipina mental health therapist and I am so honored to welcome you to Calamansi Counseling! Hospitality was weaved into the fabric of the cultures that shaped me, and if I could, I would invite you in for a bottomless cup of tea as we nourish our spirits by way of authentic connection, sharing in cultural conversation, laughter, tears, and community. I am passionate about transforming and reclaiming healing traditions by centering culture in the therapy space.
*pronounced heb-uh or hib-uh
culturally integrative care
Calamansi Counseling provides anti-oppressive mental health therapy in Maryland, Washington DC, and select countries abroad. We specialize in the unique experiences of children of immigrants, queer Muslims, cultural hybrids, and third culture kids. Our work is anchored in healing that is liberatory, culturally integrative, and LGBTQ+ affirming, centering the needs of communities of color with liberatory politics.
for those who dare to disrupt the norm
The hybrids, chameleons, or nonconformers who occupy space outside of the box.
Those of us wounded by failing systems and oppressive institutions, and looking for spaces that center the intersection of social justice and anti-oppressive healing.
Those of us feeling severed from our ancestral lineages and culture(s) of origin and desire to experience reconnection.
Those of us who are the children of immigrant parents and have had to figure out how to navigate the experience of having a foot in two, three, or more cultural worlds.
Those whose names were ever mispronounced, or asked where are you really from, feeling exhausted by the stress of racism, colonialism, and having to minimize parts of who you are to experience safety or acceptance.
Those of us with hyphenated identities, othered for defying eurocentric / americacentric ‘norms.’
what is calamansi?
Calamansi, a Tagalog word, is a citrus hybrid fruit native to the Philippines and other parts of Southeast Asia. As a hybrid, it’s part kumquat, part mandarin orange, and a total chameleon. Its flavors can be sweet, bitter, and sour. Inside is yellow-orangey and the outside anywhere from a green to bright orange. Calamansi is a staple in Filipino dishes, and for many, a symbolic of a connection to one’s heritage, cultural identity, and a warm reminder of home. Being that calamansi is a hybrid fruit, it seemed so very fitting for the name of our practice which is a space for cultural hybrids!
healing \ an act of resistance
part of speech in therapy, verb
“True resistance begins with people confronting pain…and wanting to do something to change it”
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social justice
Calamansi Counseling is an Apartheid Free Zone (AFZ). AFZs are an expression of solidarity with the Palestinian people and are about creating spaces free of racism, oppression, and racial discrimination in Palestine and elsewhere ♡
