MUSLIM THERAPIST BASED IN EDMONTON, AB & AVAILABLE ACROSS AB, NB, NS, NU & QC
Islamic Therapy
Your journey to Mental health Recovery AND Spiritual Growth.
You’re feeling exhausted from constantly battling anxiety, depression, and self-doubt. On top of that, you’ve realized that the trauma you’ve experienced has been weighing on your mind more than ever before.
You have been thinking that perhaps therapy could be helpful.
However, your concerns – which are extremely important ones, Masha’Allah – are that you may be viewed negatively because you adhere to the Islamic faith or that you may be asked to do things that compromise your faith.
As a Muslim Psychologist who values her deen, I totally get where you’re coming from; one of my biggest fears is to unintentionally misguide one of my clients. This is why I decided to embark on the journey of increasing my knowledge about Islam in general as well as Islamic Psychology, and acquire insight that has helped me re-evaluate and modify my practice in accordance with Islamic teachings, Alhamdoulillah.
This has been very important to me; while I recovered from decades of trauma-related anxiety with the help of TEAM-CBT, working on my deen has helped me achieve levels of mental well-being and resilience that I never thought to be even remotely possible, Subhan’Allah.
I can’t wait to embark on this journey with you!
What is Islamic therapy?
Islamic therapy with me merges the wealth of knowledge compiled by classical Islamic scholars about Islamic Psychology and other relevant information – which is derived from the Qu’ran, Ahadiths and Seerah – with the TEAM-CBT approach.
Islamic teachings derived from the Qu’ran, Ahadiths and Seerah offer the solutions that we want to eventually get to as they will help us to attain both mental well-being and spiritual growth, In Sha Allah.
At the same time, TEAM-CBT provides the framework that organizes the different components that help make the therapy process successful in a way that aligns with Islam, instead of going against it. These include:
- creating a safe, non-judgmental space where you can talk about your struggles – so I can understand and help you better with them. This aligns with prophetic tradition as our Prophet SAW used to create safe spaces to allow Sahabbas to feel comfortable seeking guidance ;
- gathering data that will help measure your baseline and track your progress in therapy to ensure that our work together is helping;
- helping you overcome the blocks that typically show up on one’s therapy journey, in a warm and empathetic manner.
The Muslim women I work with often report that their loved ones may encourage them to pray more regularly or read Qu’ran as a way to overcome mental health challenges. These are indeed essential ingredients of mental health recovery, and at the same time, developing these habits may genuinely feel very difficult. TEAM-CBT helps disrupt unhelpful behavioural patterns such as procrastination and establishing new ones that feel more aligned. TEAM-CBT also offers tools that are powerful in helping us understand what exactly happens in moments when you get stuck in unhelpful patterns, giving us an opportunity to just talk about these challenges in a non-judgmental space and when you’re ready, move on to working on empowering you to overcome them in a way that feels good to you, In Sha Allah.
I have also found Masha’Allah that the majority of the Muslim women I work with have Islamic knowledge that can help them attain well-being while strengthening their relationship with Allah SWT. However, that knowledge is at times at a surface level and not fully integrated. TEAM-CBT offers a range of powerful techniques that help can help us achieve this, In Sha Allah.
And Allah SWT knows best. May He guide us all.
Source: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2687
Interested in therapy that does NOT compromise your faith?
Islamic Therapy is available online to women in edmonton, ab & across Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Nunavut and Quebec
FAQS
Frequently asked questions about Islamic Therapy
The timeline can vary based on your unique goals & personal history. Clients who fully engage in the process and complete their therapy homework – which consists of readings, written exercises and practising techniques I will teach you in session – experience relief after about five sessions.
The entire therapy course averages 12 to 24 sessions.
Your investment will be $220 per 50-minute session or $350 per 80-minute session. Longer sessions are available at the same rate.
As services that are offered by a psychologist, my therapy sessions are covered by most insurance policies, although I recommend that you call your insurance provider to check. It may also be beneficial to ask if you have a health spending account that you may also use toward therapy.
My fees may be claimed under tax deductible health care expenses on your income tax return.
If you are eligible for these programs, please note that I also have an agreement to provide services under and direct-bill:
- the NIHB (Non-Insured Health Benefits) program which provides eligible First Nations and Inuit clients with coverage for various benefits, including mental health counselling. Through this program, eligible clients can receive up to 22 hours of counselling a year.
- the Bigstone Health benefits program which provides benefits to members of Bigstone Cree nation. Through this program, clients can receive up to 22 hours of counselling every 12 months.
- federal programs such as the Interim Federal Health program (IFHP) administered under Immigration, Regufees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC); this program provides limited, temporary coverage of health care benefits for specific groups of people who don’t have provincial, territorial, or private health care coverage. I also direct-bill federal programs such as programs for members of the Canadian armed forces (CAF), Royal Canadian Mounted police (RCMP), and Veteran Affairs Canada (VAC).
I also have a partnership with Sisters Dialogue that allows Muslim women residing in Alberta to see me free of charge, for 5 sessions with the possiblity to extend coverage.
If this is something that has been causing you stress, it would be relevant to therapy work. However, I am not a Scholar and if may be dealing with Islamic rulings, for example, we will seek guidance from reliable sources such as by consulting with an imam In Sha Allah, while maintaining your privacy.
I would love for you to reach out, In Sha Allah. From my perspective, most of us have periods in our lives when our iman is lower and it does not make sense to judge each other on that basis. Admitting that there is an issue is the first step to making positive changes. I look forward to meeting you!
You may email me at audrey@overanxietypsych.com or schedule a free 15-minute consultation here.