meet heba

background

I am an Egyptian-Filipina second-generation cisgender woman (she/her/هي). I moved to Maryland in my adult years, the ancestral home of the Piscataway Conoy, and was raised in culturally and racially diverse communities in New York City. I am a sister, daughter, aunt, and devoted dog mom of two! Growing up  as the daughter of immigrant parents in a multicultural, multifaith, and multiracial family, I have often found myself in the in-betweens, creating spaces to exist as someone who never felt like I fully belonged. After struggling to find a therapist who really “got it” this intensified my passion to create a space for those who share similar stories.

Arab Filipino multicultural therapist smiling

therapy with me

Building meaningful relationships is medicinal and this is the heartbeat of our time together in therapy, it is deeply relational; healing embodied through cultivating connection. I support clients in returning to their cultural and ancestral roots, their embodied wisdom, in an environment that invites warmth, compassion, safety, and radical acceptance. The therapeutic work we do together leans away from what is wrong with you and leans into understanding what has impacted you internally and externally, steeped in a critical consciousness of existing systems of oppression, power, and privilege, and how these collective pieces impact your sense of alignment, your felt safety, trust, and emotional wellness.

experience

My journey with learning has come through different mediums including academia, cultural wisdom, tradition, embodied knowing, learning then unlearning, and through making mistakes. Prior to my work as a private practice therapist, I spent over fifteen years working in various mental health roles and healing capacities in critical care hospital settings, facilitating end-of-life-conversations with families, providing education on organ and tissue donation, and as a hospital chaplain supporting families experiencing traumatic grief. I am a cancer survivor with lived experience navigating infertility and non traditional family planning, and am able to support clients on their unique journeys who may have similar experiences.

credentials

Licensed Graduate Professional Counselor (LGPC)

State of Maryland, License #LGP14383 | District of Columbia, License # LGPC200001644 | Supervised by Maryam Elbalghiti-Williams, LCSW-C License #21931

Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Johns Hopkins University, Summa Cum Laude | Recipient of Chi Sigma Iota Outstanding Emerging Practitioner Award

Master of Divinity & Graduate Certificate in Chaplaincy

Hartford International University for Peace, Magna Cum Laude | Thesis Defense, A Pastoral Approach to Grief and Bereavement in the Islamic Tradition

Bachelor of Arts in English & Journalism

University at Albany