Meet the Founder

Throughout my career, I have consistently worked within specialist and high-complexity areas of mental health, supporting people experiencing severe and enduring mental health difficulties, psychosocial crises, psychological distress and major life disruption. This has included working with psychotic experiences, schizophrenia spectrum presentations, BPAD, personality difficulties, safeguarding concerns, adjustment difficulties and the interaction between physical and mental health.

What has always drawn me to mental health social work is the relational aspect of the work itself - being able to truly see people, recognise their potential and support them through periods of crisis, recovery and rebuilding. Some of the most meaningful parts of my career have been witnessing people regain confidence, stability and hope after experiencing significant mental health difficulties, and seeing the growth that can happen when people feel genuinely supported and understood.

My current work within specialist hospital psychiatry involves supporting patients navigating the psychological, emotional and practical impact of significant physical health conditions alongside mental health difficulties. Much of this work involves complex formulation, recovery-focused intervention, safeguarding, multidisciplinary working and helping people regain stability and confidence during periods of significant disruption.

Alongside this, training in psychotherapeutic counselling has deepened my understanding of relational work, emotional processing and therapeutic change. While my background in social work remains central to how I understand people and recovery, counselling training has further shaped the way I think about identity, relationships, emotional meaning and the therapeutic relationship itself.

Sitara was created from a growing belief that emotional wellbeing, recovery, functioning and everyday life cannot always be separated from one another.

The word Sitara means star in Urdu. For me, it represents guidance, direction, hope and movement through difficult periods of life. The name also reflects the wider vision behind the service: creating something that feels grounded, human and able to grow beyond one individual practitioner over time.

Sitara was also created from a personal vision of wanting to offer something different. For some people, traditional therapy provides meaningful and important support, and that work remains valuable. But for others, healing and recovery may require a more integrated, relational and practical approach that considers the wider realities of everyday life alongside emotional wellbeing.

The vision for Sitara is to create space for both pathways - offering thoughtful therapeutic support while also providing psychosocial and recovery-focused work that can feel more holistic, collaborative and grounded in real-life functioning and change.

My approach remains grounded, relational and collaborative. I believe meaningful change often develops through trust, consistency, understanding and creating space for people to feel both emotionally supported and practically empowered over time.

• BSc Psychology with Cognitive Neuroscience

• MA Social Work

• Level 5 Professional Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling Practice (in progress)

• Social Work England: Full Membership - SW131863

• National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS): Student Membership - NCS23-04116