About

Nafsiyat was established in 1983 by psychotherapist Jafar Kareem to ensure that London's diverse religious, cultural and ethnic communities could access appropriate psychotherapy and counselling services. Nafsiyat was the first therapy centre in the UK to consider the cultural background of the patient and therapist and recognise its importance in psychological treatment. Our role is to reach those who have been systematically failed elsewhere in society, isolated by skewed power dynamics which underly and/or intensify mental ill health.

Today, we offer free, short-term intercultural therapy to people from diverse backgrounds who live in Islington, Enfield, Camden and Haringey. We passionately believe in the power of psychotherapy and understand that for therapy to work for our clients, it needs to be delivered by a person who understands and empathises with diverse experiences and backgrounds.

We provide therapy in 20+ languages and have a culturally diverse staff team, of whom 35% are refugees. Those we work with often experience complex mental illnesses, which can be intersected and exacerbated by experiences of marginalisation and prejudice. English is a second language for all our clients, and many of them have experienced acute trauma due to experiences including war, persecution, sexual violence, and being forced to flee their home country. In addition to individual psychotherapy, we support couples and families.