About

Sunflower Wellness Initiative

This platform focuses on the intersections between spirituality and mental health practice. The professional development webinars, courses, and clinical resources are developed for mental health practitioners, clergy, chaplains, pastoral counselors, spiritual directors, and professionals in similar disciplines.

Students in the fields of study mentioned above, and community members who are curious are welcome to explore with us.

Just as a sunflower is composed of thousands of florets, each presenter featured brings their own lens to this exploration. Yet all the presenters share a connection of striving to orient ourselves towards Universal Light (however we define it).

Diversity of opinion is expected, and valued. The more that we can facilitate healthy conversations and protect the safety of the space for each of us to be vulnerable, the more we will benefit from each other.

About

Fatima Mirza, PhD, LCSW

When people ask me if I’m an introvert or an extrovert, I never really know how to answer. I get most energized when exploring information and ideas, whether with others or on my own. I love understanding how others see the world, how they feel about things – stories of pain and of triumph. So maybe I’m an idea-vert?

I also gravitate to the part of a system that gets overlooked, and finding myself serving those who serve the community. This is probably why I was drawn to a career in Social Work.

Over the years, I found myself resonating most deeply with people who told me their stories of oppression, exclusion, and the resulting fragmentation they experience. I have worked to become more conscious of my role in creating inclusive spaces, and I plan to be a lifelong learner in this area.

The first-person narratives of the American Muslim adolescents whom I surveyed for my dissertation pointed to both the impact of exclusion and experiences of individual, family, or community fragmentation. When the research identified that experiences of trauma were the number one cause of risky behavior, I challenged myself to be authentic to my ideals of “following where the research takes me.” So, instead of pursuing a career in academia, I returned to clinical practice to complete my clinical license and to continue grounding myself in the lived experiences of the people I intended to benefit.

Being a therapist is one way to hold space for healing fragmentation stemming from painful life experiences, and I have found meaning and fulfillment in doing this work. At the same time, my social justice lens has been tugging at me to figure out how I might also serve the goal of healing community, regional, national, and even global fragmentation.

The Sunflower Wellness Initiative is my answer.

The Resume

I completed a Bachelor’s in Family Studies at George Mason University (2000). I then completed my Master’s in Social Work at Virginia Commonwealth University (2004) while also studying at the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences, completing a Master’s in Shari'ah Sciences (2004). I then completed a Ph.D. in Social Work at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (2014). I have been in clinical practice since 2015, and received my License (LCSW) in Virginia in 2021. I was first at the Center for Pastoral Counseling of Virginia (2015-2023), and am now at Wellness Through Counseling (2023 - current).

I grew up in Northern Virginia and the Muslim community here. Shaykh Taha Jabir Alwani and Imam Mohamed Magid were some of my earliest teachers and allowed me to develop tools to study Islam more deeply. I have resonated with a large range of teachers (I am an idea-vert, remember?) and have found that the right teachings have shown up for me when I needed them most. I see all my teachers for their strengths and their areas for continued growth.

Clinical Bio Selected Publications

Recent Speaking Engagements

Family Relationships

Speakers: Imam Mohamed Magid, Dr. Fatima Mirza Reflections on the stories of Luqman (as) and Yusuf (as) to guide relationship building. (Qurtuba Institute, ADAMS Center; April 1, 2023).

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