I’m a messy human, psychotherapist, a lover of the psyche, and explorer of the inner world. 

Multilingual and multicultural, I am an immigrant South-Asian woman with a profound desire to help others who are on a similar journey of searching and seeking for meaning and belonging in a world that sometimes feels alienating.

This is what brings me here.

As an immigrant woman of colour from Pakistan, my formative years up until the age of 17 were spent in Karachi; a city notorious for economic inequality, political violence, and systemic oppression. Few countries on the planet have seen more human suffering than my country, where the intersection of class, gender, and race is evident through the lack of accessibility to human rights and basic social services, which are often reserved for an exclusive and privileged demographic.

Growing up observing these polarities, I started volunteering alongside my mother at a very young age. What struck me the most during these coming-of-age years was the lack of rights and support systems for children, women, and other marginalized identities. These early experiences formed a base, integral to my career as a helping professional. Through these experiences I recognized my innate ability for working with vulnerable people and cultivated emotional resiliency integral to this line of work. Having the opportunity to practice empathy and learning to connect with people from diverse backgrounds at an early age helped me hone interpersonal skills that enable me to be a culturally informed and competent mental health worker today. It is from these experiences that I cultivated thick skin and a soft heart, both strengths that I value in myself. 

As a rebel at heart growing up in a Muslim home, I both understand the beauty and importance of grounding in spirituality and know what it’s like to not subscribe to what I’m being told to do, given the patriarchal backdrop in which I was being raised in. Having the privilege and opportunity to leave home a few times to live in different parts of the world has pushed me to confront and embrace themes of belonging and displacement, questions around identity and intersectionality, which are integral to my practice in supporting others move through similar experiences of individuation. 

I draw from a number of treatment models rooted in trauma-informed, somatic, and mindfulness-based therapies such as Polyvagal Theory, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Internal Family Systems (IFS),  Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Brief-Solution Focused Therapy, Depth Psychology, Pyschodynamic therapy, and Humanistic Therapy. My overarching approach to all these modalities is strength-based, culturally adaptive, holistic, trauma-informed, and anti-oppressive. My specialties include supporting folks living with trauma, anxiety, depression, issues around identity and belonging, relationship/family conflict, low self-esteem, existentialism, intergenerational trauma and anyone called towards a deeper self-exploration and self-actualization. 

I am committed to decolonizing mental health in my own work as well as in my work with others. For this reason, embodiment is at the center of my practice. I believe in the power of dance, movement, song, art, poetry, music, and community as access points for personal and collective liberation. This is where we belong - in our bodies, in our expression of our authenticity, and in community. Psychotherapy is one way of exploring these realms. I also believe this work starts within; my ability do my own work underpins the work I do with others. This is a lifelong commitment. 

I engage in ongoing professional development to continue improving and strengthening my skills. This include bi-weekly clinical supervision with an experienced psychotherapist, peer consultations, and attending psychotherapy-related trainings and workshops throughout the year.