Myths About Therapy Busted By Muslim Therapists | Ustadha Dr. Rania Awaad
Channel: Muslim Community Center - MCC East Bay
Date: 2022-08-19

Dr. Rania Awaad gives comforting spiritual insights into the rich Islamic tradition of psychology and mental health.

Dr. Rania is the Executive Director of Maristan, a local non-profit organization grounded in Islamic traditions and advancing services, research and awareness in holistic, mental & spiritual wellness.

Dr. Rania is joined by Maristan’s clinical team, Saha Jamshed, Nuzhath Quadri and Hamed Fatahian as well as as Sara Mostafav, Maristan's Deputy Director, and Jannah Sellars. They debunk myths around the topic of therapy and other help-seeking behaviors.

- More mental health talks: http://mcceastbay.org/mental-health
- More Dr. Rania: http://mcceastbay.org/rania
- More from Maristan: http://mcceastbay.org/maristan
- More Friday Night Series: http://mcceastbay.org/friday-night

Grounded in Islamic traditions, Maristan aims to lead professional clinical care, education, and research in advancing holistic, mental, and spiritual wellness. Maristan strives to revive the Islamic legacy of research & education that informs holistic healing and provides culturally and spiritually congruent, professional, accessible and affordable mental health care for all. Learn more: http://maristan.org

Rania Awaad, M.D. is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine where she is the Director of the Stanford Muslim Mental Health & Islamic Psychology Lab as well as Stanford University’s Affiliate Chaplain. She also serves as the Associate Division Chief for Public Mental Health and Population Sciences as well as the Section Co-Chief of Diversity and Cultural Mental Health. In addition, she is a faculty member of the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies at Stanford University. She pursued her psychiatric residency training at Stanford where she also completed a postdoctoral clinical research fellowship with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

Sara Mostafavi, Secretary of the Board of Directors, Co-Founder, is an attorney who has focused on immigration & nationality law since 2005, with practice interests including VAWA (Violence Against Women Act), human-rights based asylum cases, as well as addressing national security scrutiny faced by Muslims here in the United States. 

She has degrees in Sociology and Microbiology from U.C. Davis and has a Juris Doctorate from the George Washington University Law School. Sara lives in Danville with her husband and two daughters and enjoys hiking, camping, traveling, reading, studying about Islamic spirituality.

Saha Jamshed, LCSW
Saha is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the state of California and currently practices as a Mental Health Therapist at Axis Community Health and Maristan. Saha provides support to individuals, couples, and families from diverse backgrounds presenting with symptoms of depression, anxiety, marital conflict and low self-esteem. She completed her master’s at University of Southern California and completed her training with a focus on Mental Health at John George Psychiatric Hospital. Saha utilizes a multitude of therapeutic intervention modalities based on the needs of the client including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Mindfulness, Solution Focused Therapy, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and stress management. Saha is certified as a Positive Discipline Parent Educator. She provides services in Dari and English. Simultaneously, Saha has been working at NISA, a Muslim domestic violence organization for over 15 years where she provides counseling and case management for survivors of domestic violence and abuse.

Nuzhath Quadri, LMFT
Nuzhath is a licensed marriage and family therapist. She holds a Masters in Counseling Psychology from University of San Francisco. Most of her 10+ year career has been spent working with youth and their families through the Santa Clara Unified School District school-based therapy program.

Alongside the school work, her experience also includes working in community clinics with clients experiencing anxiety, depression, relationship challenges, grief and personal life challenges. Her education focused on family systems approach but she pulls from various modalities, including CPT, DPT, mindfulness-based interventions, play therapy to meet her clients’ needs.

Hamed Fatahian, AMFT
Hamed is a Registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist and Registered Associate Professional Clinical Counselor who graduated with a master's in counseling psychology from Palo Alto University. He works at New Paths (Couples Recovery Center). He specializes in couple therapy, especially with the Muslim population. He has also trained in EFT over the past few years from ICEEFT (International Center for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy).

This panel was delivered at Muslim Community Center - East Bay (MCC East Bay) in Pleasanton, California on August 19, 2022.