About Us
Nafsiyat is an intercultural therapy centre committed to providing effective and accessible psychotherapy and counselling services to London's diverse religious, cultural, and ethnic communities. Our team is comprised of experienced, fully qualified psychotherapists and counsellors from diverse backgrounds who are sensitive to the particular therapeutic needs of cultural minority groups.
We provide short-term intercultural therapy in over 20 different languages, via referral, to individuals, groups, and couples. In addition to individual psychotherapy, we support couples and families.
Alongside our clinical work, we consider applications for placements from trainee counsellors and therapists who are interested in gaining experience in intercultural therapy. We offer in-house training for individuals and agencies, including psychotherapists, counsellors, GPs, social workers, other mental health workers, and other health professionals.
We have delivered workshops to universities all over the UK (we are currently delivering all our trainings and workshops remotely). We also provide Community Link Support alongside our therapy provision to provide general advice, information, advocacy, and practical support to Nafsiyat’s clients.
Nafsiyat is accredited as a member of the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) and the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).
To support our work, we seek to secure grants from trusts and mainstream healthcare sources and, critically, we also rely on the generosity of our supporters.
How Can You Help Us?
Our History
Founded in 1983 by psychotherapist Jafar Kareem, Nafsiyat emerged in response to the evident challenges that diverse religious, cultural, ethnic, and racial communities in London faced in accessing psychotherapy and counselling services. Kareem recognised that conventional psychotherapy did not sufficiently cater to the varied needs of different social identities.
This realisation inspired the establishment of Nafsiyat, marking it as the UK's pioneering organisation to incorporate the cultural backgrounds of both the patient and therapist into the therapeutic process, acknowledging its significance in fostering effective therapeutic relationships.
Over the years, Nafsiyat has expanded its team to include a broad spectrum of paid and volunteer therapists from diverse backgrounds, fluent in numerous languages.
In the early 1990s, Nafsiyat introduced an intercultural therapy diploma, followed by a partnership with University College London to launch a Master of Science Degree, predominantly taught by Nafsiyat's therapists. These academic programmes have been instrumental in training many of the therapists who now serve at our centre.
Today, we are proud to offer our clients the services of a unique team of highly qualified and respected specialists.