Impact: 

“So many of my younger parts felt seen for the first time. And not just seen…. but seen by Muslims & not just seen by Muslims but seen by practicing Muslims. That mattered in a way I can’t fully put into words. & even as a therapist, it was beyond anything I imagined trauma repair could look like. Meeting practicing Muslims who thought like me, who believed like me &… included me, became such a corrective emotional experience. It challenged this deep belief I had internalized; that Muslim spaces were not safe, that faith and freedom could not coexist, & that I was alone. And during all of this, something slowly & incredible happened. I felt my way back to Islam. In a way where I felt like I could be my authentic self and belong to a collective. I didn’t feel isolated & I didn’t feel like my only choice to practice faith would be on the margins. I felt like I was part of an ummah….Healing happens in culturally rooted, community-centered environments. Organizations like HEART help to restore belonging, repair historical and intergenerational trauma, and offer models of care that move beyond individual pathology toward collective liberation.”