Introducing your Therapist
Welcome! So great to meet you.
Faizah Latif is a Registered Social Worker within Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. Faizah received her Master of Social Work (MSW) degree from the University of Windsor in 2023. Faizah has experience working with individuals and families from different walks of life. Being a born and raised Canadian, Muslim religiously, Pakistani culturally and having British roots through her parents, Faizah understands what it means to have crossing identities.
Faizah works from a culturally sensitive approach, ensuring that her clients feel safe and supported. Faizah is also involved in many community projects where she delivers educational sessions and podcast appearances on mental health topics within the Muslim community. She has worked with organizations such as Wijhah Initative and Happy Strong Family. She has also conducted many healing circles online to help Muslims cope with the devastations of Palestine. She has worked with the Canadian Council Muslim Women (CCMW), Young Muslims Sisters Canada (YM), and Regent Park Mental Health Matters (MHM).
In the pursuit of gaining more Islamic knowledge to integrate into her work, Faizah will be completing an Islamic Studies diploma at Usul Academy in Fall 2024, with the hopes of pursuing Islamic Psychology in Fall 2025.
Faizah recently worked at The Darling Home for Kids as a Social Worker, where she provided support to parents managing their caregiver burnout as they had children with medical complexities. This role was very unique, as Faizah was in a position to allow parents to take care of themselves while they had many stressors in terms of caregiver stress.
Faizah previously worked at Kids Help Phone as a Counsellor where she provided support to callers. She emphasized using a Strengths Based Approach and maintained client centred care. Faizah conducted risk assessments to assess safety, and would have to curate safety plans as needed. Faizah gained crisis intervention skils through this role. Faizah also worked at the YW of Kitchener-Waterloo as an Employment Counsellor, where she worked with youth to enhance their confidence in the working field.
In her spare time, Faizah loves reading, writing, connecting with others, and coffee! Faizah's favourite colour is teal and her favourite shows are The Office and Friends. Faizah also enjoy meeting new people and collaborating on exciting projects to benefit the community. Feel free to send Faizah a message for more info!
...Despite how open, peaceful, and loving you attempt to be, people can only meet you as deeply as they've met themselves. This is the heart of clarity.
Matt Kahn
Empowering You to Thrive
Faizah's Story & Approach
Faizah has undergone many challenges in her life as a South Asian and Muslim woman, born and raised in the West. She underwent bullying at a young age, as she was a visible minority living in a predominantly white area. In adulthood, Faizah went through two short-lived marriages, where she had to pick herself back up and rebuild her identity.
Faizah embodies optimism and hope, and uses her experiences as motivation to inspire others towards positive change. Faizah is here to help you to work on your identity, and to realize your purpose here on earth. She realizes now that these experiences in her life have made her a more compassionate therapist, ready to advocate for others who are struggling. For Faizah, being a Social Worker/Therapist is not a job, it is her calling.
Faizah is first and foremost a human on the other side of the screen and she really wants you to feel at home when you speak to her. Rather than the 50-minute conversation feeling robotic and overly structured, she thrives on creating a meaningful connection with her clients. This is called authenticity, and is a value Faizah really enhances across her therapy work. She also embodies this as an important trait for her clients to carry.
Thus, Faizah's work heavily uses the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) modality to aid clients as it enhances the importance of observing one's core values. Faizah also takes concepts from Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) to aid with emotion regulation, as well as Internal Family Systems (IFS) to help her clients process trauma. She reminds clients that there are many parts of us within that we must befriend. Finally, Faizah utilizes a faith-based lens to assess cultural norms that do not tie to Islam and how to best advocate for oneself.
Faizah works from a strengths-based focus to remind her clients of the beautiful qualities that they possess. She also understands the importance of creating an intervention that works best for the client, rather than a cookie cutter approach. Faizah specializes in collaborating with the client, so that they can feel empowered to make their own choices. With Faizah, you can find comfort, ease, humour, gentleness, and the right amount of accountability.
