Do you feel alone in your own struggles, even if you have family around you? Perhaps you want to practice your Deen, but feel so detached due to anxiety or depression, you don’t know how to. This is a common issue and you are not alone. Reach out now for help!
If so, then know that many of my clients felt the same as you. However, starting therapy gave them an unexpected sense of relief and peace. Allah (SWT) reminds us: “Indeed, Allah does not change the condition of a people, until they change what is inside themselves” Qur’an (13:11)
Take the first step, at no cost to you, without feeling you have to suffer in silence. The heart is not meant to feel ‘dis-ease’, it longs to be purified, it wants to re-connect to its Lord.
People work very hard to cut themselves off from their hearts and the natural feelings found there, the pressures to do this are very strong in our modern culture
Purification of the Heart by Hamza Yusuf (p5. 2004)
As a British revert of 16 years, and a practicing Muslim myself, I offer a bespoke, Islamic counselling service that is compassionate and non-judgmental allowing for a safe, integrated Islamic dialogue alongside conventional therapeutic counselling.
What do I offer?
BACP approved professional member
Online or face-to-face 1 hr sessions for individuals
Bespoke client-led service including 25 mins FREE consultation
Discounted block bookings available – for 6 and 12 sessions
CBT and Holistic psychotherapy service for short- or long-term sessions
Unique goal-focused coaching service
Trained in neurodiversity issues in adults and children (ADHD, ASD, Dyslexia etc.)
Mindfulness ‘mental health’ workshops for Muslim sisters and youth
Psychoeducation with neuroscience interventions aligned with Qur’an & Sunnah
What are the benefits?
Reconnect to your deen and find solace
Understand yourself better, feeling enhanced confidence and self-esteem
Achieve greater focus & concentration
Feel overall better health and less overwhelm
Empowered with knowledge, effective tools & coping strategies
Improve communication skills and feel closer to loved ones
Feel calmer in social situations and cope better with conflict
Become aware of your reactions and unconscious processes
Develop clear boundaries, self-awareness, value and self-worth
Muslimah coaching service
Whether you are a revert/convert or born Muslimah, this service is designed for the sister in mind. Offered as individual sessions for 30 minutes or 1 hour, or as an additional session that complements your counselling journey. Some clients require a more productive approach and this option considers their lifestyle, goals and aspirations in a practical way. If you are interested in this service, please mention this during your FREE 25-minute consultation and a bespoke package can be arranged to suit all your needs.
What kind of issues do you deal with in the Muslim communities?
There are so many reasons that Muslims seek counselling and here is a list of some of the most common reasons. I see all issues but if I feel your unique issue is outside of my professional scope, I will recommend another resource to try or sign post you to a more relevant and specialised service.
– Family issues and breakdowns – All forms of abuse, domestic, sexual, incest, physical and emotional/psychological – OCD (obsessive compulsive behaviours) and intrusive thoughts including phobias – Childhood trauma and abuse – Rape survivors – Cultural or religious problems or pressures – Identity crisis and confidence issues – All forms of anxiety and depression (mild to clinical) – Physical issues affecting client (pains, migraines, exhaustion, chronic Fatique etc) – Issues related to Neurodiversity (ADHD, ASD etc.) – Workplace issues including discrimination and bullying – Substance abuse issues – Self-harm or suicide ideation – Low self-esteem and anxiety-related stress – Panic attacks and flashbacks – PTSD or Complex PTSD (for more than one trauma incident) – Menopause and women’s issues – Cultural issues including feeling isolation and loneliness – Weight issues and identity – Recovery from Narcissistic relationships – Parenting issues and family or sibling conflict – Grief from the death of a family or friend – Loss from Divorce, separation from family members or other related issues – Accident recovery from injury and loss – Relationship problems in marriages
Is counselling and therapy the same thing?
Yes, these are just words used interchangeably both in the UK and internationally. Counselling and therapy in the context of my work is talking therapy. I am trained to work as an integrative counsellor and holistic psychotherapist, this means that I offer short or long term therapy using CBT (one type of therapy that focuses more on the here and now and immediate issues and problems) or longer and deeper therapy (that might start with CBT and move into psychodynamic psychotherapy, which allows us to go back to your past and make links to understand how your unconscious processing is a reflection of some past childhood trauma for example).
What is Islamic counselling?
So traditional integrative counselling is talking therapy using modern theoretical interventions to allow clients to heal and process past or present issues using modalities from CBT, humanistic and psychodynamic theories. Islamic counselling is a way for clients to integrate their Islamic identity into sessions and bring in any issues that they want to discuss to help them enhance their healing journey with a compassionate, practicing Muslim counsellor.
I offer interventions from many Islamic sources and share resources and workbooks that are client-led and collaborative to ensure client’s personal needs are met at all times and fits with the client’s own journey at a pace that suits them. It is always bespoke and client-driven and offers inspiring insight to many clients. Many clients have expressed enormous relief to be free to discuss all issues related to Islamic and cultural identity in a confidential and safe space. Please view my ‘testimonial’ section to see what other Muslim clients have said about their therapeutic journey with me.
Do you see male clients?
Yes, I offer an online service for Muslim men. Men are often more reluctant or shy to speak openly but suffer just as a much as women do. Often there has been a stigma that men shouldn’t open up and show their feelings, but from my experience, not doing this has caused a great deal of distress for many of my male clients.
They found huge relief in being able to speak freely with a professional, who is also a Muslim and understand the unique aspects of the Muslim communities. I feel it is an extremely important part of my work to ensure that everyone knows they have access to seeking help and feeling free of judgment or stigma to speak in a safe and confidential environment. I also see couples to help with their relationships too.
Do you offer Islamic couples counselling?
I am qualified to see couples, but at the moment I don’t have the capacity to offer this service. You can however contact me, and I can signpost you onto the right service you require for couple counselling.
What is your Muslimah Coaching service?
This service is geared towards the Muslim sister and was set up to provide additional support to the counselling process, although it can be used as a ‘stand-alone service’ too. It is more goal-focused and advisory and resources based.
The counselling service aims to work clients towards autonomy and working on unresolved issues and is not advice driven. However, a coaching service offers clients the chance to seek and discuss future positive goals and outcomes to build Iman and knowledge as a Muslim woman, seeking to fulfil their dreams through task setting, gaining support and advice (often with reference to outside sources) to build up their community and social interactions and gain confidence to pursue their passions and aspirations an social networks.
This is ideal for a new convert Muslim for example, or a Muslim who would like to reconnect to their Deen again, and maybe wants to both heal from their mental health issues as well as progress towards becoming a productive positive-focused Muslim.
What are your fees?
My fees are all laid out in the bookings & fees section on the Counselling Services page and you can make a choice to book either individual or couple ‘pay as you go’ sessions or individual (single person) discounted (6 or 12 session) block bookings (paid in advance) either weekly or bi-weekly (every 2 weeks).
There is a generous 20% discount for referrals from family or friends or you may even be eligible for an further discount, if you can prove financial hardship or being in receipt of full benefits. Feel free to reach out and ask me, and I will do my best to accomodate you, inshaAllah.
In order to best decide, you will need to first book a FREE 25-minute consultation via my website and we will put together the right programme for you. Go to “book a session” and choose the option for “Free Online Consultation”. I will direct you back to the website, once we have discussed your situation and personal circumstances and you can decide what you want to book after that. There is no obligation however.
How many sessions do I need?
Generally, the minimum I recommend is six sessions as it takes a while to understand all your issues, process and take time out to reflect. Each client is very different and sometimes coming for a few sessions is enough for some clients, whilst for others, they have a lot to process, unpack and other issues occur that means they want to stay longer.
The average time for most clients I would say is 6-20 sessions and some clients decide to stay with me for 6 months to 1 year or longer. I normally suggest weekly sessions but I may consider fortnightly if the circumstances work better for the client. I also advise as the process comes to an end, that some clients transition down from weekly to fortnightly and even monthly before finishing, as endings can be challenging for some clients to let go and plays a very important part in acceptance and safety for a client.
Do I always have to talk about my childhood or past in counselling?
This question comes up a lot with Muslims seeking help. Some clients are worried and reluctant to speak about past issues, especially related to family, because there has been a lot of stigmas given about Muslims seeking help outside of their family environment as it can be seen to bring ‘shame’ to the family structure or network of communities and many Muslims have been raised to believe, culturally, that it is dishonourable and harmful to the family dynamics.
I have been trained professionally to deal with all kinds of cultural aspects and effectively work sensitively with difference and diversity, and I always explain to clients at the start, how counselling works and that the process of talking and holistic therapy is to bring out the best in you (mind, body and soul), to focus on you (not your family) and building up your self-awareness, understand past learnt behaviours and patterns of relating and breaking down some of the stigmas and myths attached to the counselling process generally.
Once clients understand the process is about them, not their family, they relax and begin to see the huge benefits it brings, and for most, it brings huge relief and joy to let go and find themselves again. The process of speaking about your past, only happens when you feel ready to do so, it will only be in the context of making connections to your past and how they affect you with your emotions and feelings and unconscious processes and doesn’t focus on speaking directly about named family members at all or what they have done (specifically).
In fact, I tend to shift clients away from talking about others (as it can be used as an avoidance for not looking at their own issues). Give my FREE 25-minute consultation a try and you can ask me any questions you like in complete confidence then. If you still aren’t sure, you have lost nothing and don’t need to book any sessions at all. Please note I also abide by the strict regulations of the BACP on confidentiality too and adhere to the GDPR regulations, please see my privacy policy for more information on this.
No personal information needs to be stored or kept, if you do not wish it to be, after your free consultation process, if you chose to not take counselling further. This can bring peace of mind to clients as well. The consultation is simply a place to trial it out and get to know me a little better.
Get Started Now
Set up your free initial assessment using the book button or visit our contact page if you’d prefer to have a chat with us first
Take your first step in counselling
Do you suffer with panic attacks or anxiety as a result of abuse?
Are you a parent who feels overwhelmed in how help your teenager?
Are you seeking a sensitive female counsellor, who understands the importance of cultural identity?
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