background

I am a cultural hybrid Arab Egyptian Filipina therapist, second-generation cis woman (she/her/هي). I moved to Maryland in my adult years, and was raised in culturally and racially diverse communities in New York City. Growing up  within 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.

therapy with me

My social justice values are deeply embedded in who I am as a human being and inextricable from the work I do as a therapist. I am a queer and trans affirming ally who centers the needs of BIPOC communities locally and globally. I take a culturally integrative, trauma-informed approach, while supporting 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 or continues to impact 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, lived experience, cultural wisdom, tradition, embodied knowing, 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 where I facilitated end-of-life-conversations and provided support to families experiencing traumatic grief.

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 Arts in Interfaith Relations & 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