About Me

I am a Clinical Assistant Professor at Loyola University Maryland and the co-founder and Mental Health Director of the H.E.A.L. Refugee Health & Asylum Collaborative in Baltimore, M.D. 

 

My clinical work, research, training and consulting focuses on trauma, torture, grief, and loss with survivors of war, violence, and persecution, as well as on culturally responsive care for Muslim youth and families. I was the program director of a mental health agency serving refugees and immigrants from the Middle East, South Asia and North/East/West Africa that I built from the ground up in Maryland and have developed integrative community mental health programs in schools and communities. My clinical and broader psycho-social work has served diverse refugees, LGBTQ+ seekers, BIPOC youth, incarcerated males, survivors of sexual trafficking, indigenous women and more. On a university-wide level, I also served as an Equity and Inclusion Faculty Fellow from 2020 - 2021.

 

I hold a PhD in Counseling from George Washington University, an M.A. in Trauma and Violence Transdisciplinary Studies from New York University, and am shaped by my work as an artist, arts-activist and (former) doula. I am from Kashmir, was raised in New York and have lived in the Washington DC / Maryland Area for over 15 years.