HI, I’M LEILA.

(they/she)

I'm Leila (they/she), and I grew up in Astana, Kazakhstan. I am Kazakh and Tatar. I've lived in the US for most of my adult life, while my family continues to live back home, which gives me a lived understanding of distance, diaspora, and navigating several worlds at once. My upbringing is something I hold with pride, and it shapes how I support clients in exploring your own complex identities, cultural inheritances, and relationships. I know what it means to carry multiple cultures at once and feel like you belong fully to neither, to navigate the grief of distance and the guilt of ambition, to translate yourself constantly across contexts and wonder which version of you is the real one.

Who I work with

I work with adults who have mastered the art of managing, often because managing alone was the safest option available to them. Many of my clients are immigrants, adult children of immigrants, and Central Asian and Asian diaspora members who carry the particular weight of building a life in a country and a culture that wasn't built with them in mind. Others are queer and trans adults, high-achieving professionals, therapists and healthcare workers, and people who have been the "strong one" for so long they've forgotten what it feels like to be held. What most of my clients share is that they've spent a long time being very good at surviving, and they're starting to wonder what it would mean to go beyond that.

Outside of the therapy room

In my free time, I enjoy hand quilting, reading, and playing video games. I’m also a big fan of supernatural tv shows, run-on sentences, and I love a good metaphor.

What therapy with me is like: warm, direct, and creative

My approach integrates EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), Internal Family Systems (IFS/parts work), narrative therapy, and creative arts therapy. In session, I am active and engaged. I think out loud with you, help you notice what's happening in your body and in the stories you've been telling yourself, and offer a perspective that is both warm and direct.

In our sessions, we might slow down and notice what is happening in your body as you talk about family, work, or the world around you, or use imagery and creative processes when words aren’t quite enough. Sometimes we’ll trace connections between what you’re experiencing now and the histories, lineages, and systems you’re living within. Other times we’ll focus on concrete skills like boundary setting, emotion regulation, or making choices that feel more aligned with your values and communities. The direction and the pace is always yours to choose: my job is to help you go toward the places you haven't been able to go alone, and to point out what you might not be able to see from where you're standing.

Clients often tell me that therapy with me feels warm and, sometimes to their surprise, humorous. Over time, many notice that the shutdowns come less often and are less intense, that their boundaries feel more grounded and less fragile, that the inner critic has gotten a little quieter, and that they feel more connected to themselves and their bodies, and more present in their lives and their communities.

If you want support that welcomes all parts of you

I offer therapy in English and Russian via telehealth to adults residing in New York State. I am a licensed and board-certified creative arts therapist (LCAT, ATR-BC) with 9 years of post-graduate clinical experience. I hold a Master of Professional Studies in Art Therapy and Creativity Development from Pratt Institute. I am EMDR-trained and IFS-informed, and I regularly pursue continuing education to ensure our work together reflects the most current, evidence-based approaches.

If you're an immigrant, a child of immigrants, a Central Asian or Asian American adult, a queer or trans person, a therapist, or simply someone who is very tired of doing it alone, I would love to hear from you. You don't need to have the right words or a fully formed story to begin. We can sort through the confusion together, one step at a time.

Areas of expertise: anxiety and burnout, queer and trans-affirming therapy for LGBTQIA+ adults, complex trauma and C‑PTSD, therapy for Asian, Central Asian, and Asian American clients (including diaspora and third culture experiences) in NYC, immigration and navigating multiple cultures, expats, people pleasing and perfectionism, EMDR therapy for trauma and negative self-beliefs, IFS (parts work), and therapy for therapists, healers, and healthcare workers