Hey! I’m Aziza
My goal is to support the places within you that feel despair, anxiety, or disconnection. Healing begins with embracing all of who you are, especially the parts that are hurting. Together, we’ll create a compassionate space where you can reconnect with yourself and find the peace and balance you’ve been missing.
We’ll work to help each part of you feel seen, heard, and understood. By honouring and nurturing these parts, you’ll move toward living with greater purpose, authenticity, and fulfillment.
You already have the strength and tools for healing within you. My role is to help bring them into conscious awareness, so you can tap into your inner wisdom and begin your journey toward wholeness.
My promise to you is that I will show up in my authenticity and humanness to support you in your process, so you don’t have to take it all on alone.
I am a Nanaimo, BC based therapist, offering depth-oriented care that welcomes the fullness of your experience.
Who am I?
I’m a Registered Social Worker in good standing with both the British Columbia College of Social Workers (BCCSW) and the Ontario College of Social Workers & Social Service Workers (OCSWSSW). I hold a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Calgary (Clinical Specialization).
Over the past eight years, I’ve worked in mental health, supporting adults and youth across Alberta and British Columbia. My experience spans a variety of community settings, where I’ve witnessed the incredible resilience and strength people carry.
I came to this work out of a deep desire to connect with others on their healing journeys. Like many, I’ve experienced times of difficulty, turbulence, and uncertainty. These moments have shaped my understanding of what it truly means to be human. I’ve always been drawn to the deeper questions of life—what it means to live fully, to grow, and to heal. Over the past decade, I’ve dedicated myself to my own healing and self-discovery. This personal journey continues to fuel my passion for supporting others as they navigate their own paths toward growth and transformation.
My practice is informed by these experiences, which have deepened my understanding of how past experiences shape our mind, body, and relationships. I honour the full range of human experience—joy and sorrow, success and struggle, beauty and heartbreak—and aim to create a space where every part of you is seen and accepted.
Together, we’ll uncover the strength, insight, and resilience that already exist within you.
Opening up can feel impossible - scary even - like no one could truly understand the parts of you you keep hidden.
Reaching out can be the first step toward healing.
Healing isn’t a one-time fix—it’s a gentle, committed journey of returning to yourself again and again, allowing the wounded parts of you to slowly come into harmony. Our work together honours the depth of your experience and the time it takes for each part of you to be seen, held, and integrated.
Together, we move toward connection and wholeness, reclaiming the parts of yourself that are ready to fully thrive.
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Sometimes just “talking it through” isn’t enough. Healing happens in the mind, body, and spirit.
That’s why I combine somatic (body-based) approaches, cognitive (mind-based) work, and relational, cultural, and spiritual practices. Together, these create a trauma-informed approach that gently guides your exploration, helping you feel seen, held, and supported.
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Depth‑oriented therapy goes beyond symptom relief to explore the deeper patterns, emotions, and relational experiences that shape your life. Instead of focusing only on coping strategies, we gently look at the root causes of emotional pain and recurring patterns, supporting lasting transformation and self-awareness. Healing in this way supports not just symptom relief, but deeper growth, integration, and a fuller sense of wholeness.
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In a world where disconnection can feel safer than being seen, healing begins when we focus on the relationship. Working relationally means offering deep attunement, trust, and compassionate presence, creating a space where your experiences can be fully felt, understood, and held. Through this connection, healing, growth, and your capacity to be open naturally emerge, supporting you in reclaiming your wholeness and sense of vitality.
Values that I bring to this work
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Curiosity
I work from the stance that there is always more to learn + understand. There are a multitude of different perspectives and ways of knowing. I leave assumption and judgment at the door, and invite curiosity in at every step of the process.
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Collaboration
I will work collaboratively with you to help develop and deepen an awareness of your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours that keep you feeling stuck. This means I work with you, blending the wisdom of your Self knowledge and my clinical understanding, in order to co-create a path forward that works for you.
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Evidence-Based Practice
Using evidence-based practices, I will support and guide you through a process of change. We will bring awareness to the narratives and patterns that prevent you from making a change and, in turn, begin the process of moving in a healthier direction.
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Harmony
Harmony is at the heart of my approach to therapy. I believe in creating a balance between doing and being, thinking and feeling, working and resting. In our work together, I’ll ensure that you feel a sense of safety and ease—a foundation for meaningful growth. My aim is to build a trusting and supportive relationship where we can explore your experiences with care and curiosity, creating a space that feels grounded and in tune with your needs.
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Embodiment
Grounding ourselves in our bodily experiences allows us to nurture a deeper connection between mind, body, and spirit. Our bodies are always communicating—expressing our needs, emotions, and desires through sensations. By learning to tune in and listen to this language, we can cultivate greater self-awareness and foster a more meaningful relationship with ourselves.
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Magic & Play
In West African Mythology, Aziza is a supernatural being that lives in the forest. They provide good magic for hunters and act as catalysts for a hunter’s journey from mediocrity to mastery. They are also known to have given practical and spiritual knowledge to people. I believe that there is a shared magic in how we heal together, and find it important to sprinkle a little magic and play into this work and my life.
My Values
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I aim to be anti-oppressive and anti-racist in my approach. I recognize the importance of our context in shaping who we become, and therefore practice approaching my work with you from a decolonized perspective. I will walk alongside you in allyship and with humility and openness.
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I understand all-too-well the pervasive, devastating nature of trauma. I work to promote an environment of healing that is mindful of not creating spaces for retraumatization to occur.
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Healing is a personal journey that embraces the whole self—mind, body, and spirit. Your emotional and physical experiences are deeply connected to your relationships, culture, and sense of meaning.
With a compassionate, holistic approach, I’ll support you in exploring these connections, navigating challenges, and reconnecting with what feels authentic. Together, we’ll create space for healing that honors all of who you are, empowering you to live in alignment with your truest self.
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Life can often feel isolating and overwhelming, but I believe we aren’t meant to face it alone. Healing happens through awareness and meaningful connection—with ourselves, others, and the world around us. Together, we’ll create a space where you feel seen, supported, and empowered to reconnect with what matters most.
I am a cis-gendered, heterosexual settler woman raised in a South Asian immigrant family.
I believe that "the personal is political"—our personal experiences are deeply intertwined with the larger systems and structures in society. My own place within these systems has given me a unique perspective, one that shapes my sensitivity to how our individual identities and beliefs are influenced by the world around us. I approach my work with the understanding that the personal stories we carry are not separate from the societal contexts we navigate. By recognizing and honoring these intersections, I can offer a space that validates both the personal and the broader forces at play in shaping who we are.
Beyond my work as a therapist,
I’m deeply nourished by the natural world. I love wandering through the forests of the west coast of British Columbia, where I feel most like myself—whether among the trees, by the ocean, or in the mountains. Nature has been, and continues to be, one of my greatest teachers, gently reminding me to honour the seasons and cycles within myself and in life. I’m deeply grateful to live, play, and practice on the ancestral and unceded lands of the Hul’qumi’num peoples and the SENĆOŦEN-speaking peoples.
I share many of my adventures with my two loyal buddies, Dexter and Oki, who keep me grounded, playful, and present.
I nurture a deep connection to the rhythms of life that sustain and inspire me. I find peace in the presence of plants, which I experience as quiet teachers that invite me to slow down, listen, and reconnect. Rest, for me, is a form of resistance—a way of honouring my body and spirit in a world that so often asks us to keep pushing.
I’m drawn to the beauty of new places, the joy of meeting new people, and the warmth of animals and other living beings. I also love learning through hands-on practices like basket weaving and traditional broom making, where the gentle repetition of creating invites me into presence. Skiing and camping remind me of nature’s expansiveness, aliveness, and quiet steadiness, and I feel deeply grateful to live in a place where I can experience this so often.
These practices and passions shape how I show up as a therapist—rooted, present, and attuned—committed to offering a space where you can slow down, reconnect, and be supported on your own journey.
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Master of Social Work, Clinical Specialization, University of Calgary
Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Graduate Certificate, Vancouver Island University
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Registered Social Worker, BC College of Social Workers
Registered Social Worker,Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers
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Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy Certification (2 Years - In Process)
Nuero Affective Relational Model (In Process)
Somatic Relational Therapy (Lab 101)
Internal Family Systems (Level 1, IFS Institute)
Comprehensive Internal Family Systems Course (IFSCA)
Advanced IFS-informed EMDR , Syzygy Institute
Treating Dissociative Disorders with EMDR: The Progressive Approach
EMDR Therapy with Complex Trauma and Dissociative Personality Structure
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Basic Training
12-week Ketamine Assisted Therapy Preceptor Training (Roots To Thrive)
Psilocybin Assisted Therapy Foundations (Therapsil)
Introduction to Psychedelic Assisted Therapy & Integration (ATMA)
Systemic Family Therapy (8-month Internship)
Advance Training in Narrative Therapy
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Trauma-Focused & Anxiety Disorders
Emotion-Focused Family Therapy (EFFT)
Family-Based Treatment (FBT), Eating Disorders
San’yas Indigenous Cultural Safety Training
