Nazli provides individual psychotherapy to children, adolescents and adults, specializing in treating mood and anxiety disorders, as well as childhood trauma, grief counseling, challenges surrounding cultural adaptation, and intercultural and intergenerational conflicts. She also specializes in working with women going through life transitions. During the initial phases of individual therapy, Nazli helps her clients recognize their triggers as well as the very obstacles that have stood in their way of reaching their goals and aspirations, and their notion of self-fulfillment both personally and when it comes to the quality of their relationships. Clients are then supported through a more in-depth exploration, in order to zero in on the very changes and improvements they would like to make happen, in order to move forward in life more freely and effectively. Nazli then helps her clients accomplish these goals, through a collaborative yet individualized, insight-oriented and solution-focused approach, while utilizing a combination of strategies gathered from Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), as well as Narrative Therapy.

Just as it is in individual therapy, the most crucial step in strengthening any relationship is to be attuned to one’s own triggers and the ways in which one’s habitual responses to these triggers play a role in the outcome of his/her relationships. Similarly, when it comes to the quality of our interpersonal connections, the very nature of the empathic exchange, largely depends on the degree of attunement that exists between two people. Research in the field of Interpersonal Neurobiology shows that the way in which our deep inner experiences connect to others’ deep inner experiences determine the quality of our sense of connectedness in any relationship (Dr. Dan Siegel). Hence, Nazli uses the same concept of neural integration, in helping her clients gain better awareness of how they show up in their relationships. Additionally, through improving their communication, adopting a more effective way of responding, and learning new and more effective ways of resolving conflicts her clients improve their overall attunement to one another, ultimately leading to a greater sense of emotional connection.

“Mindfulness helps you go home to the present moment. And every time you go there and recognize a condition of happiness that you have, happiness comes.”   – Thich Nhat Hanh

Mindfulness has been originally described as: intentional, moment-to-moment awareness that is both non-judgmental and compassionate. Current clinical research strongly suggests that mindfulness-based psychotherapy, creates long-lasting changes in the brain’s neurophysiology. The good news is that these research findings are now finally being translated into evidence-based clinical practices, as well as self-directed daily practices, which will help in bringing about positive brain changes, using brain’s very own notion of neuroplasticity. These findings further support the idea that, it is not so much our past experiences that determine our success rate in bringing about the positive changes we would like to see, but it is our take on our past experiences, our attitude towards creating new and more positive experiences, as well as our determination in bringing about new and corrective experiences, that will determine the outcome we are looking for. Mindfulness practices provide us with a non-judgmental and self-compassionate sense of openness, allowing us to be fully present in the moment. In other words, rather than being enslaved to our prewired triggered responses, mindfulness allows us to shift from a place of reactivity to a place of responsiveness; this opens new windows to self-awareness, healing and personal growth.