(RCC), M.ACP.
About Zahra Lakhdhir
Registered Clinical Counsellor (#25181)
Hi, I'm Zahra.
How long has it been since you actually felt okay? Not great, just okay. You are exhausted but you cannot sleep. Your brain will not slow down no matter what you do. You replay what you said in that conversation three days ago. You second-guess everything. And somehow on top of all of it you still feel like you should be doing better.
It might look like snapping at someone you love and then hating yourself for it. Cancelling plans because you just cannot face them. Feeling like everyone thinks you have it together while you are falling apart inside. Promising yourself things will change and then nothing does. You know you should be grateful. You tell yourself other people have it worse. And then you feel guilty for struggling at all, which somehow makes everything heavier.
Something shifted. A breakup, a job, something with your family, and you do not recognize yourself anymore. You have been running on empty for so long you cannot remember what full felt like. Old stuff is coming back up and you are exhausted from pretending it is not.
I work with young women and adults, especially BIPOC women,who are so used to managing everything that they did not even realize they were struggling until their body started making it impossible to ignore.
You do not have to have it figured out to start. We look at what is actually going on. Slowly things start to shift.
The noise gets quieter. You are sleeping. You stop replaying every conversation. You can sit with the people you love and actually be present instead of somewhere else in your head. You stop being your own worst critic. Not because life is suddenly perfect, but because you are not carrying it alone anymore.
Clinical Hours
Sunday : 9am-5pm
Tuesday: 5:30pm-7:30pm
Specialties
Perfectionism
Guilt & Shame
Modalities
DBT
EMDR
Satir Family Systems,
Gottman Couples Therapy
Education
EMDR (2025)
Gottman Level 1 (2024)
Beyond the Bio
Because therapy is human & so are we.
Walks with my dog, Dina
The best part of my day is seeing her happy.
Favourite Album: Trilogy
Oldschool Weeknd just hits different.
Travel for Culture
My top priority when I travel is to find historic religious architecture. Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, FR, is a personal favourite!
Are you feeling stuck in old patterns or overwhelmed by the demands of relationships, work, or your own expectations?
Are you hoping for change but find yourself weighed down by anxiety, confusion, or emotional exhaustion?
FAQs
Is therapy worth it if my problems aren't that bad?
1
If you're questioning whether your problems are bad enough for therapy, that's usually reason enough to go.
You don't have to be in crisis. You don't need a dramatic story or a perfectly articulated explanation of what's wrong. Therapy isn't reserved for worst-case scenarios. It's for when something feels heavy, stuck, confusing, or just harder than it needs to be.
If you're constantly anxious, exhausted, overwhelmed by transitions, or quietly struggling while looking "fine" on the outside, that matters. Your pain doesn't have to be extreme to be valid. If it's affecting your quality of life, your relationships, or how you feel about yourself, it's worth paying attention to.
Do I have to talk about my trauma in therapy right away?
2
You don't have to talk about your trauma in therapy right away. We move at your pace, always.
You're never required to share anything before you feel ready. Safety comes first. If and when we process trauma (including through EMDR), it's done thoughtfully and collaboratively. We build grounding skills and emotional stability first so you feel resourced, not overwhelmed. Therapy should feel challenging in a growth-oriented way, not retraumatizing.
Do therapists actually understand cultural and family pressure?
3
A good therapist will understand cultural and family pressure without you having to over-explain yourself.
A lot of the women I work with are navigating cultural expectations, family dynamics, and generational pressures that are layered and complex. You won't have to justify why something feels heavy or convince me that it's hard to love your culture and still feel exhausted by certain expectations.
Your experience is uniquely yours and I approach it with curiosity and cultural humility. You deserve a space where your full identity is understood as context, not complication.
What if I freeze up and can't talk about my feelings in therapy?
4
Freezing up or not knowing how to talk about your feelings in therapy is more common than you think, and it's completely okay.
You don't have to be emotionally fluent to benefit from therapy. Some people think in stories. Some think in logic. Some feel things in their body before they can name them. We work with however your system communicates. Part of the process can actually be learning the language of your own emotions at your own pace. There's no performance required. You don't have to "do therapy right."
I tried therapy before and it didn't work. Should I try again?
5
If therapy hasn't worked for you before, that doesn't mean it can't work for you now.
Sometimes it comes down to fit. Sometimes it's timing. Sometimes insight alone just wasn't enough to create real change. My approach balances understanding your patterns with practical tools and nervous system work, so change isn't just something you intellectually understand. It's something you actually feel.
If you've left therapy before feeling stuck or unchanged, we can talk about that. We'll adjust. Therapy should feel collaborative, not one-directional. You deserve support that actually resonates.
