(she/her)
"I am a queer, Palestinian-Lebanese, chronically ill, expressive arts therapist based in occupied Ohlone land (Oakland, CA). I received my Masters in Counseling Psychology with a Focus in Expressive Arts Therapy from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in 2020. My role as a therapist is to provide clients with deep listening, reflection, and validation. I offer tools that clients can use to support their personal growth and healing, both during and outside of sessions. My approach is warm, patient, strengths based, and practical.
I offer clients tangible skills to use in their lives outside of therapy. Building distress tolerance, learning emotional regulation skills, and transforming inner dialog can help clients engage in more regular practices of radical self love and compassion. I support clients in finding meaning and cultivating a deeper sense of connection to themselves and the world around them. I also encourage them to create a personalized therapeutic toolkit they can carry with them as they move through the world.
I believe that my clients are the experts of their own lives, and I work collaboratively with them to find language that best validates their experiences. I am committed to bringing decolonial and anti-racist practices to my work with clients. Our identities impact all of our relationships, and I welcome discussion about how identity shows up in therapy.
I use a combination of talk therapy, expressive arts therapy, mindfulness, and elements of somatic therapy, CBT, and DBT when working with clients. I use a client centered approach, which means I support clients in pursuing their healing interests and goals. I also practice culturally sensitive therapy, as cultural context largely informs how we feel, think, and behave.
I offer support in the following areas:
- Stress Management
- Work/Life Balance
- Relationships With Family, Romantic Partners, and Friends
- Chronic Illness and Disability
- LGBTQIA+ Identities
- Depression
- Life Ending Thoughts
- Anxiety
- Neurodivergencies, (including ADHD and Autism)
- Trauma (Including Relational Trauma)
- Interpersonal Communication Skills
- Parenting
- & More
Website: https://www.summarabdallah.com/
Email: therapy.summar@gmail.com
Phone: (510)-214-2310
Registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist
AMFT #144630
Employed by Margin to Center
Supervised by Dr. Sheila Addison, LMFT #49616