Women’s Counsellor

About Me

Women walk away from therapy with me, feeling assured that they matter, acknowledging and owning their strengths.

As a result of therapy they begin to break free from the need of validation and approval from others. They learn to accept themselves without guilt and blame.

Have you ever bent over backwards simply to please people in your life?

Were you too afraid of disappointing people so you put yourself last?

I am not sure about you, but for the longest time I worried about what people thought of me. Whether they liked me or not. I obsessed over not upsetting them and so saying ‘No’ was so hard for me.

As a result, my authentic voice and ‘self’ drowned amongst the opinions and needs of others and I lost touch with the real ‘me’. It started to show up adversely at home, at work and in my social life too. I had so many dreams to fulfil but my negative thoughts and self-deprecating beliefs took me hostage and I began playing small and became almost invisible.

I tried many things, because I wasn’t prepared to give up. I wrote positive affirmations denying my unhelpful beliefs. I stuck these on my bathroom mirror, above the kitchen stove and at my workstation. Every few days I would come up with newer affirmations.

But I knew these were band-aid measures which only lifted me in the moment. The very next minute my mind would mock me saying ‘you don’t believe that, do you?’ I knew something needed to change as I couldn’t go on like that. It was costing me career opportunities and my relationships too. So as a next step, I started listening to some expert podcasts that would charge me up briefly but when things would get real, I would totally shrink to accommodate others. I was beginning to get frustrated. Finally a friend suggested that I should see a professional for help. Seeking counselling was unthinkable. It was taboo.

How a Women’s Counsellor helped me

I couldn’t imagine opening up to a stranger ever. Sharing my inner most thoughts and being vulnerable sounded terrifying. But the cost of not doing anything was also unbearable so I took the leap of faith that took enormous amounts of courage. I found a culturally informed counsellor who helped me in my growth and reset journey. It was clunky initially, as I was so sceptical and then I came around it. I began to discover aspects of myself that I hadn’t known.

I began to come alive to my values and what I stood for and it was so refreshing. I learnt some techniques to let go of unhelpful thoughts and live a meaningful life. Slowly I began reclaiming my authentic self. It didn’t happen overnight but there was so much I learnt along the way and for that I am ever so grateful.

I always knew this was no way to live my one precious life and I wanted to make the most of it. I have learnt to rein in my own demons as I have come to choose this life of being a trained counsellor whilst helping so many women who could be struggling.

I hope my journey resonates with you and gives you hope that change is possible if you give yourself a chance.

If you would like to chat with a culturally informed women’s counsellor, I welcome you to make an appointment with me. I am a migrant myself, now settled in Australia, and have travelled and lived in multiple countries – and I also speak Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi.

Tahira