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Mental Health With Maliha, Dallas, TX (2026)

05/21/2026

Created in light of the recent Anti-Muslim hate (Islamophobia) crime in Connecticut where two 12-year old Muslim girls were taregetted and physically assaulted at Wallace Middle School for wearing the hijab. We must do better as a community to support Muslims as the current climate of this country moves towards inciting discrimination and hate towards Muslims.

Resources:
https://islamophobia.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024_Fatal_The_Resurgence_of_Anti-Muslim_Hate-1.pdf

04/30/2026

When you get married, you think you’re entering a relationship with one person, but as time goes by, you begin to realize the roles they have been carrying with them. The weight begins to show up slowly.

For some people, especially in South Asian and diaspora families, this can be rooted in parentification. From a young age, they may have been positioned to manage what was happening around them: keeping things steady, absorbing stress, anticipating needs before they were spoken. In diaspora families, the role might be heavier. It stops becoming about helping and becomes about holding on to family.

The pressure is hidden under the love. It feels like care. It feels like a responsibility that you are not supposed to question. Right in that moment is where support is needed.

Therapy helps you process what the dynamic feels like, without shoving it under the rug. Therapy gives you the space to understand your needs, build your boundaries, and be present without losing yourself. Marriage is not meant to feel like a box you need to fit inside; it can be a space where you can fully exist.

🛋 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐗 👉 Virtual therapy for South Asian, SWANA (Middle Eastern) & Muslims
🔗 Book a free 15-min consult through the link in my bio

04/28/2026

Most mental health advice wasn’t created with our communities in mind. So people are left trying to apply ideas that don’t fully account for culture, family systems, migration, or faith, and it shows.
This internship is about learning how to think differently about mental health. It focuses on South Asian, SWANA (MENA), and Muslim communities, and how psychological concepts like the ones below take on different meaning when viewed through cultural context:
- generational trauma
- identity and belonging
- family dynamics and expectations
- resilience

You’ll be engaging with these ideas in a way that is:
- grounded in psychology
- rooted in lived experience
- and relevant to the communities we serve

The goal isn’t just to “learn concepts,” it’s to understand how to make them meaningful and accessible in real life.
This is a 5 hr/week remote internship with mentorship, designed for students who want to deepen their understanding of culturally grounded mental health.
If this resonates, you can apply through the link in my bio.
Deadline: May 8, 2026

04/23/2026

Pleasing others may be a strategy we learned at an early age to survive difficult situations and was reinforced through generational patterns in our families and communities. This way of operating is very common in the South Asian Muslim diaspora, where putting other people’s needs before ours is highly valued.

While care and community matter, completely putting yourself on the side can leave you unsure of your own needs, struggling to understand your emotions, and feeling like you’re walking on eggshells.

Wanting to be loved is human. However, when everything already feels heavy, this can put us at risk for burnout, resentment, anxiety, and depression. Over time, this can cause us to run away from the very people we were trying to find our worth through, leading to us being more disconnected from our community and loved ones. During moments like this, checking in with yourself matters too.

Therapy can help you realign with your values and guiding posts. Through this you can learn how to show up in relationships in a more grounded way that allows for space for yourself and others ✨️

🛋 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐗 👉 Virtual therapy for South Asian, SWANA (Middle Eastern) & Muslims
🔗 Book a free 15-min consult through the link in my bio

04/22/2026

Sometimes it doesn't feel like something big. It shows up in the small moments. Starting a conversation about mental health can feel difficult. Not just because of what’s being said, but because of everything that's being carried into that moment.

The effects of an intergenerational nervous system don't just stay in the past. They continue to live in the present. When the world is heavy, and we are witnessing conflict, the weight may keep it external. You may notice the emotional effects in your home, relationships, and even your body.

Right now, conversations might feel harder, and stabilizing others' emotions might feel heavier. You might find yourself holding space for others while quietly feeling overwhelmed yourself. If this sounds familiar to you, it makes sense. When you are holding personal and collective stress, it becomes harder to feel grounded. Change takes time. Some conversions plant a seed, and others require patience.

Therapy helps make sense of this. It helps you understand what you’re carrying and why. It gives you space to process both what’s happening around you and what's happening within you. Therapy helps you be present in these conversations with more regulation and intention. So later on, you will react from a place that feels more grounded, rather than reacting to what you’ve absorbed.

🛋 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐗 👉 Virtual therapy for South Asian, SWANA (Middle Eastern) & Muslims
🔗 Book a free 15-min consult through the link in my bio

04/15/2026

Sometimes the weight we feel isn’t just for our own lives, but from what we are trying to make sense of. It is okay to care deeply and engage in meaningful ways. The next time you feel that heaviness that pulls you down, take a moment to realign with bearing witness and engaging with care.

💬𝗖𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 👇🏻 what is one way you can show up that is sustainable for you?

🛋 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐗 👉 Virtual therapy for South Asian, SWANA (Middle Eastern) & Muslims 🔗 Book a free 15-min consult through the link in my bio

arabheritagemonth

04/14/2026

At times, a lot of us are carrying more than we can name. Some of it may be personal, and some of it may be from what's happened before us or even what's happening around. Even though our experiences may not be the same, it doesn't make them any less real for anyone.

Muslims are not a monolith. Our histories, experiences, and realities shape our identity and coping responses. The truth is that what feels heavy for one person may show up very differently for another. At the same time, we can honor and hold space for both.

When you notice yourself feeling heavy and overwhelmed, take a moment to check in with yourself. There is space for your experience, even if it looks different from someone else's. Your story matters in its full context.

🛋 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐗 👉 Virtual therapy for South Asian, SWANA (Middle Eastern & North African) & Muslims
🔗 Book a free 15-min consult through the link in my bio

04/02/2026

“Therapy is making people more isolated.” I often hear South Asian folks (especially aunties) say therapy will make people leave their families. That boundaries don’t work because in our communities, showing up unconditionally is what makes someone a good person.

It makes sense where this comes from. In South Asian culture, community, loyalty, and respect for elders shape how we relate to each other. Our decisions are often relational, not just individual. So when therapy invites reflecting on relationships, it can feel like a threat.

Now add another layer: loneliness. An APA report (2025) found over half of adults feel emotionally disconnected, isolated, left out, or lack companionship. And research shows this isn’t just about people “cutting others off.”

Loneliness today is linked to:
- relationships that lack emotional depth, even when people are present
- chronic stress and burnout, leaving little capacity to connect
- social division and mistrust, making it harder to feel safe with others

So no, therapy is not creating loneliness. If anything, it’s responding to it.

Culturally affirming therapy isn’t about:
- cutting people off: it’s about shifting patterns that cause harm, even when they’re normalized
- becoming reclusive: it’s about building relationships that feel mutual and aligned
- being disrespectful: it’s about developing a voice that holds respect for you and others

Yes, change can feel uncomfortable. But discomfort is not the same as disconnection. Many people have always felt alone in their families, they just didn’t have language for it.

Culturally affirming therapy doesn’t ask you to choose between yourself and your community. It helps you stay connected without disappearing in the process.

🛋 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐗 👉 Virtual therapy for South Asian, SWANA (Middle Eastern) & Muslims

🔗 Book a free 15-min consult through the link in my bio

Reference:
https://www.apa.org/pubs/reports/stress-in-america/2025/index.html
southas

04/01/2026

In times of collective stress, you begin to realize that each person expresses how they feel differently. The emotions we bring to a moment come from everything we’ve experienced + holded. So when a small moment starts to feel big, it’s often because it's connected to something much deeper.

Everyone's reality looks different today, and we are all carrying different layers of stress. Take a moment to pause and check in with yourself.
Inspired by Bessel van der Kolk (The Body Keeps the Score, 2014) and Abdallah Rothman & Alison Coyle (Toward a Framework for Islamic Psychology and Psychotherapy, 2018)

📊 👇🏼𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐌𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐋 Do small conflicts feel bigger than they used to be?

04/01/2026

In times of collective stress, you begin to realize that each person expresses how they feel differently. The emotions we bring to a moment come from everything we’ve experienced + holded. So when a small moment starts to feel big, it’s often because it's connected to something much deeper.

Everyone's reality looks different today, and we are all carrying different layers of stress. Take a moment to pause and check in with yourself.

Inspired by Bessel van der Kolk (The Body Keeps the Score, 2014) and Abdallah Rothman & Alison Coyle (Toward a Framework for Islamic Psychology and Psychotherapy, 2018)

📊 👇🏼𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐌𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐋 Do small conflicts feel bigger than they used to be?

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