Hi! I'm Leyla. Welcome. I am glad you're here. Are you sick and tired of existing in a White Supremacist capitalistic hellscape? The pain inside of you is reflective of the collective chaos outside of you. Your feelings are valid. 🫂 If this resonates with you, look no further. Your anti-capitalist therapist is here. I believe that healing as individuals requires recognition of the trauma of structural oppression and dominance. With this in mind, I center anti-racist + anti-oppressive, LGBTQIA+-affirming, disability justice, and intersectional feminist values into my practice. I reflect on and recognize the privileges I hold and how these have assisted me in navigating the world. The lens I look through may be of interest to you. I am a second generation immigrant settler from Lebanon/Sweden. I am Autistic, ADHD and a survivor. I am able-bodied and live with chronic illness. I am cis-gender and queer. I am a Person of the Global Majority (PoGM). I live in the colonized portion of Wabanaki territory now known as Mount Desert Island, Maine. I support gender-diverse individuals with many neurotypes. My clients tend to be highly intellectual & deep thinkers -- "Talented & Gifted burn-out kids" who are in the process of unmasking. Many of my clients are late-diagnosed/un-diagnosed Autistic and//or ADHD, hyper-sensitive//hyper-self aware//highly anxious folx who may experience obsessive thinking, executive dysfunction, social withdrawl, sensory overwhelm and relationship conflict. Many of my clients identify as the black sheep or scapegoat of their families and are cycle breakers of intergenerational trauma. I vibe with symbolic thinkers who are interested in understanding themselves and how their early childhood experiences shaped their relational patterns today. If this sounds like you, I look forward to supporting you on this journey!
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
As your therapist, I will create space for you to go deeper. Whatever needs to present itself will. Therapy is a space for you and it will be what it needs to be. I am here to help you figure out what that is if you aren't sure yet. I will modify my therapeutic orientation to provide the container necessary to hold and empower you. The therapeutic bond we build is where the work starts. I serve as a warm witness as you begin the work of unlearning & healing. My approach to therapy is transpersonal, humanistic and deep. As our work together evolves, I will begin to recognize your patterns and will then inquire to see if you notice what I do. I will meet you where you're at, no matter where that is <3 <3 <3
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
My clients describe me as calm, empowering, authentic, solution-focused + attuned. I am skilled at pattern recognition within the thinking and behavior of individuals + family systems. I have a niche interest in generational trauma and the impact of this from generation to generation. Another one of my special interests is in advocacy for de-pathologizing the human experience + shifting the Mental Health Paradigm from the Disease model to Neurodiversity affirming care, language + support. I see my clients as the experts of their lives and provide space + compassionate inquiry to encourage introspection. I love being present as my clients experience "aha" moments and un-learn narratives + habits they developed in order to feel safe but are no longer needed to protect them. I feel my lived experience makes me a bad ass therapist. I go to therapy weekly and think everyone should. You are not broken or disordered. Nothing is wrong with you. You just haven't been given the support you need to be ✨TRULY✨YOU✨!