Meet Counsellor of Colour:
Fathimath Amira, PhD
Dr Amira is a mental health counsellor, a provisional member registered with New Zealand Association of Counsellors.
I am a counsellor registered with New Zealand Association of Counsellors as a provisional member. I mainly work with young adults in private practice and as a contract counsellor for non-profit mental health provider, Youthline.
My approach to treatment is relational. I believe that deep meaningful connections, unconditional acceptance and secure, loving relationships are the greatest catalysts to positive therapeutic outcomes. I apply a strength-based, client-centred approach, from a trauma informed perspective to help develop and foster clients’ inherent strengths to overcome challenges.
I am passionate about recognising and respecting clients’ backgrounds, beliefs, ethnicities and perspectives, and embrace diversity regardless of religious, cultural, sexual and political orientations.
Counsellor of Colour symbolises the intersectionality of my identity. I am a person of colour, an immigrant, a solo mom to two daughters and a son (all successful young adults now). I understand and relate with the struggles and ‘get’ the fears and worries that youth and young adults navigate in their lives.
A decade of working as a lecturer and tutor at tertiary level further exposed and deepened my understanding of the range of challenges faced by young people from diverse backgrounds. I was inspired to volunteer as a mentor to young vulnerable people from disadvantaged backgrounds and become a crisis helpline counsellor. Currently I volunteer for local and international helplines.