Najeeha Khan, LPC-Associate
Supervised by Jennifer Buffalo, LMFT, LPC-S
Areas of Focus:
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Trauma Survivors
-
Anxiety/Depression
-
Disordered Eating and Eating Disorders
-
Body Image
-
Fat-positive
-
Health at Every Size aligned
-
Intuitive Eating/Anti-Diet informed
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EMDR trained
Special Communities Served:
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Asian Community
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Muslim Community
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Communities of Color
Austin Eating Disorder Specialist
Najeeha is a Licensed Professional Counselor-Associate in the state of Texas. She graduated with her Masters in Counseling Psychology in 2020. Najeeha has been working with survivors of trauma since 2016 and has had training in providing services for diverse and minority populations.
She has experience with eating concerns, body image, self-esteem, identity development, spirituality, depression, anxiety, and more. Her orientation to counseling is relational, dynamic, and client-centered.
Najeeha is passionate about the intersection of cultural identity with one's relationship with food and body. She believes that healing is a multidimensional process that involves a holistic approach to the mind, the body, and the soul.
Najeeha aims to cultivate a safe space where these processes can be explored, with a focus on how societal messages, oppression, and privilege impact these components. Najeeha aspires to be a guide in the journey of self-discovery and to provide the tools that will help folks recharge the unique superpowers they possess.
Najeeha is EMDR trained, and specializes in eating disorder and trauma therapy in Austin, Texas. EMDR therapy can help people rapidly heal from unresolved wounds and negative core beliefs.
Najeeha currently provides counseling/therapy services through video and phone sessions.
Fees: $145 per session
Superbills provided to seek insurance reimbursement
Sliding scale slots may be available, based on need.
Education
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University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2017, Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Global Health
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University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2020, Masters of Science in Counseling Psychology
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Licensed Professional Counselor-Associate 84670, Supervised by Jennifer Buffalo, LMFT, LPC-S
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EMDR trained
Call or text Najeeha directly at: (512) 877-7797
Or use the Contact Page
50 minute session with Najeeha: $145
Eating disorder treatment for teens and young adults
Eating disorder therapy for adults
EMDR Therapy Austin
Written transcript of video on Ramadan and Eating Disorders
assalamualaikum everyone my name is
00:01
maliha and i'm a licensed therapist who
00:04
loves sharing information about mental
00:06
health
00:06
ramadan is around the corner and while
00:08
it comes with its own set of blessings
00:10
and challenges
00:11
this time can be especially difficult
00:13
for muslims who are struggling with
00:15
eating disorders
00:16
today i invited naji han who's a
00:18
therapist that specializes in working
00:20
with eating disorders so that she can
00:22
shed some light on this topic thank you
00:23
so much for joining us najiha
00:25
thank you for having me of course i'm so
00:27
excited to talk about this topic because
00:29
i feel like
00:30
it's going to be very beneficial for a
00:32
lot of people one of the first things i
00:34
kind of wanted to start off with was
00:35
talking a little bit
00:37
about the prevalence of eating disorders
00:40
in the muslim community
00:41
yeah you know it's unfortunate that
00:43
there's just not a lot of research
00:45
at all on muslims and i mean mental
00:48
health in general in muslim communities
00:50
but
00:51
um eating disorders especially there's
00:52
not a lot of numbers in the us
00:54
on what that looks like however there's
00:56
no reason to believe
00:58
that it isn't just as prevalent if not
01:00
more prevalent
01:01
as compared to the general population so
01:03
with the general population you know
01:05
the numbers vary depending on the type
01:07
of eating disorder it could be anywhere
01:09
from
01:10
one to ten percent of people that are
01:12
living with an eating disorder
01:14
there is research that suggests that
01:16
minorities tend to have higher rates
01:18
of eating disorders and especially
01:21
racial and ethnic minorities and so
01:23
you know we can safely assume that a lot
01:25
of muslims might be experiencing eating
01:27
disorders at higher rates the numbers do
01:29
show that minorities tend to be under
01:31
diagnosed
01:32
with eating disorders so clinicians
01:35
therapists
01:36
people just aren't as likely to notice
01:38
these behaviors in people who are
01:39
minorities and so
01:40
the numbers again might be high in
01:42
muslim communities but
01:43
it might just be getting missed there
01:45
was actually a study done in the uae
01:47
that showed that
01:49
teen girls had higher levels actually
01:51
twice
01:52
twice the number of cases of anorexia
01:56
than teen girls in britain what are some
01:58
of the common misconceptions that
02:01
muslims have about eating disorders the
02:03
biggest misconception might be that it
02:05
doesn't even exist
02:06
in our communities people tend to think
02:08
that you know if you have a good
02:10
relationship with god then you're going
02:12
to be able to feed yourself and to
02:14
to just not have these struggles and
02:18
obviously that's not true right those
02:20
things are not correlated
02:22
and another big misconception is that
02:23
eating disorders
02:25
only happen to women or that they only
02:28
happen to teenagers and that's also not
02:30
true we have people who have a lifetime
02:32
of eating disorders that they're dealing
02:34
with we have men who have eating
02:35
disorders and that's
02:36
that's way more common than we might
02:39
think another one is that
02:41
i think because a lot of muslims come
02:43
from more collectivistic cultures here
02:45
in the us
02:46
they might think that we wouldn't have
02:48
eating disorders because we live in
02:50
these
02:50
family groups that would protect us from
02:53
that and that
02:54
people would be able to pick up on it if
02:55
you have an eating disorder and that's
02:57
also not true because
02:58
eating disorders can very easily be
03:01
hidden they can very easily fly under
03:03
the radar
03:04
a lot of people they don't lose an
03:06
immense amount of weight as you might
03:08
think they might just be around their
03:09
regular weight so
03:10
you wouldn't be able to see that on
03:12
somebody and also just diet culture
03:14
that somebody who is restricting their
03:16
food intake who is over exercising
03:19
that those things are celebrated so you
03:21
know and
03:22
that's really unfortunate they associate
03:24
eating disorders with
03:26
being very thin or looking a certain way
03:28
and so
03:29
it can go under the radar when we don't
03:32
know what to kind of
03:32
look out for right right and that's yes
03:35
and there's
03:36
several different ways to have an eating
03:38
disorder you know there's
03:40
people who might be experiencing
03:41
anorexia there's people who might be
03:43
experiencing bulimia and folks with
03:45
bulimia
03:46
again their weight may not fluctuate
03:49
that much
03:50
if they may not be any drastic changes
03:52
they might look the same as you've
03:54
always seen them
03:55
even though there's a lot of changes
03:57
going on internally in their body
03:59
um due to the purging binging cycles
04:02
that they're in
04:03
and then there's folks with binge eating
04:05
disorder who might be experiencing
04:07
weight gain
04:08
or no weight gain um you know everyone's
04:10
bodies are so different
04:12
and then there's also our fed which is
04:15
avoidant restricted
04:16
food intake disorder yep and with that
04:19
you know it's not even about body image
04:22
folks with arfid are not
04:24
refraining from eating because they want
04:26
to lose weight but it's something
04:28
out of their control and so sometimes
04:29
those two things might get conflated
04:31
that oh if you're not eating then you
04:32
must not be happy with your body which
04:34
is not always true either
04:35
also i think helpful to look at what um
04:38
influences your loved one is a part of
04:41
so like athlete culture sport culture
04:43
eating disorders are highly prevalent
04:46
there um
04:47
just because it's the environment that
04:49
they're in right already over exercising
04:52
being told what they should or shouldn't
04:54
eat how much they should weigh
04:56
and so i think that's also a
04:57
misconception that if someone is
04:59
over exercising and they're an athlete
05:00
then it's okay but that's not
05:02
necessarily true
05:03
i've noticed this happening in the uh
05:05
they see brown community that
05:07
conversations surrounding weight
05:09
especially for women is something that's
05:11
discussed quite a lot
05:12
right and conversations those can be
05:15
very detrimental
05:17
for someone who is recovering from an
05:19
eating disorder or experiencing that
05:22
but it's really unfortunate that
05:24
although those conversations are so
05:25
prevalent
05:26
the conversations surrounding recovery
05:28
and
05:29
healthy eating habits and all of that
05:31
that's something that's
05:32
that's not talked about at all you
05:35
really hit the nail on the head
05:36
i think that in our cultures like people
05:38
almost feel like they have a right to
05:40
your body and
05:41
they can just make these comments about
05:43
you and how you're looking these days
05:45
and oh you look like you haven't been
05:46
eating much
05:47
like that's such a common thing for us
05:49
without realizing that that's not
05:51
helping that individual it might
05:52
actually be really harming them
05:54
what are some of the challenges that
05:56
muslims face in ramadan
05:58
when they're struggling with eating
05:59
disorders a lot of cultural practices
06:02
during ramadan
06:03
can really trigger the same eating
06:05
disorder behaviors that people are
06:07
trying to heal from so
06:08
a good example of that is when you know
06:10
like you're expected to not eat anything
06:12
all day and then come sunset
06:15
you most of us have a whole feast in
06:16
front of us that we're expected to eat
06:18
and for folks who are trying to heal
06:21
from binging behaviors
06:23
or from restricting purging cycles
06:26
that can really you know light up that
06:29
part of themselves that they're trying
06:30
to heal from
06:32
because it just puts their brain back in
06:33
that spot that they're trying to grow
06:35
from
06:36
part of healing from disordered eating
06:38
is to get back in touch
06:40
with the natural cues your body gives
06:42
you for hunger and fullness
06:43
and in ramadan you're you know you're
06:45
expected to kind of ignore those cues
06:47
and just not
06:48
eat and not listen to your body not
06:49
listen to your stomach when it grumbles
06:51
and so that can also kind of set
06:52
somebody back
06:53
and throw their healing off course that
06:56
offset and somebody's schedule can
06:58
throw off their healing as well and i
07:01
think you know one big one
07:02
that we don't talk about enough is just
07:04
the guilt that people feel for not
07:05
engaging in this religious obligation
07:07
that's just a very unique thing that
07:09
people with eating disorders deal with
07:11
in ramadan that everyone around them is
07:13
fasting and
07:14
they can't participate in it not because
07:15
they don't necessarily want to
07:17
but because of an illness that they
07:19
can't even always verbalize to the
07:21
people around them
07:22
when we're trying to help people to eat
07:24
again after
07:25
a period of restricting themselves we
07:27
want them to get back on
07:28
a schedule that they can regularly eat
07:30
and monitor their eating
07:32
and it's again really hard to do that in
07:35
ramadan when
07:36
you don't really have an eating schedule
07:38
most people will just
07:39
not eat when the sun's out and then eat
07:41
when the sun's down and there's no real
07:43
schedule to that
07:44
and that can make it really tricky so
07:46
how does someone decide if fasting in
07:48
ramadan
07:49
is the right thing for them when they're
07:50
in recovery talk to
07:52
your recovery team so if you know people
07:55
with eating disorders
07:56
will probably have a therapist a
07:58
dietitian a doctor they'll have all
08:00
kinds of people on their team
08:02
so you know pick one of them whoever you
08:04
you feel like you can have this
08:05
conversation with
08:06
and talk to them about this when you're
08:09
in the midst of your own
08:10
eating disorder you might miss certain
08:13
things you might not
08:14
know the full context of what's going on
08:16
around you so it can just be helpful to
08:18
get a second opinion
08:20
a professional opinion on what can be
08:21
healthy for you
08:23
some questions that they might ask you
08:24
to help you figure it out is
08:26
um are you at your goal weight yet
08:29
if you're not yet at your goal weight
08:31
then they may not want you to fast yet
08:33
they may want to get a feel for what
08:34
your coping skills are like so if you're
08:36
planning on fasting during ramadan you
08:38
might get triggered by the people around
08:40
you you might get activated and so it's
08:42
going to be
08:43
really important to be able to cope with
08:45
those negative
08:46
emotions that will come up and so um
08:49
just making sure that your coping skills
08:51
are set before ramadan starts will be
08:53
important
08:54
if you've been through an eating
08:55
disorder it will be difficult to
08:57
separate that part of yourself that
08:58
that used to fast for other reasons from
09:01
fasting for god
09:02
and so if there's a part of you that's
09:04
feeling like you're not going to be able
09:05
to separate those things
09:07
then it might be a good idea to take a
09:09
step back how can
09:10
friends and family help their loved ones
09:12
when they're going through
09:13
so i think malia you mentioned it really
09:15
well earlier when you said like just how
09:17
we comment on other people's weight
09:20
and bodies so really to refrain from
09:23
doing that it could really trigger
09:24
someone even if you think you're helping
09:26
um but you know even a comment that you
09:28
think is harmless like oh it looks like
09:30
it looks like you've
09:31
put on a little bit of weight or you
09:33
know you look good you lost weight
09:36
all those things can be really harmful
09:37
for people and one thing people
09:40
also don't think about a much more
09:42
insidious way that this happens
09:43
is commenting on your own weight and
09:46
your own body
09:47
so saying things like i i need to get
09:49
back in shape
09:50
i don't want to eat eat this cookie or
09:52
something because it's
09:54
unhealthy so refraining from commenting
09:57
on yourself is also really important you
09:59
know you may think that it's just
10:01
if i'm just talking about myself like
10:02
how can that person be impacted by it
10:04
but it is getting internalized for them
10:06
so so not asking invasive questions so
10:09
like i noticed i noticed you were not
10:10
fasting today or
10:12
um you know how come you're eating that
10:13
much or asking these questions can be
10:16
really hurtful and just puts that person
10:19
in a painful place that they're trying
10:21
to heal from
10:22
so don't force conversations onto people
10:25
but
10:25
be there for them when they are ready to
10:28
talk about it my final question for you
10:30
was what are some resources that people
10:32
can utilize
10:33
and i'll go ahead and i'll link that
10:35
information in the description box for
10:36
the video so that
10:38
people can keep coming back to it if
10:39
they need to the national
10:41
eating disorder association crisis text
10:43
line is is
10:45
really a great resource to use um i
10:47
think you can just text
10:48
neda 2741741
10:51
so the alliance for eating disorders um
10:54
there's eating recovery center erc
10:57
that does great work and they have
10:58
locations in texas
11:00
um and then for people who want to
11:02
educate themselves there's also
11:03
something called
11:04
edie catalog you can find a lot of
11:06
different books online
11:07
that are really great for just body
11:09
image disordered eating
11:11
the social justice impacts of eating
11:13
disorder
11:14
and yeah there's a lot of great
11:16
resources on there as well
11:17
that's awesome i think that could be so
11:19
helpful for a lot of family members too
11:21
because
11:21
i feel like in our community especially
11:24
information about mental illness or
11:25
eating disorders
11:26
it's just not talked about so people
11:28
don't even know where to start
11:29
and if they can have somewhere to go to
11:31
where they can learn about hey how do i
11:33
help my loved one
11:34
you know cope with what they're going
11:36
through it could be something that's
11:37
very helpful
11:38
i wanted to say thank you so much for
11:40
for doing this video with me i think
11:42
it's going to be so helpful for a lot of
11:43
people who are who are
11:45
struggling with an eating disorder or
11:46
loved ones who don't even know kind of
11:48
where to start
11:49
with this whole process so i'm really
11:51
happy that you were able to make time
11:53
and enjoy today yes thank you this is
11:56
really lovely thanks for having me
11:57
if you found this information to be
11:59
helpful make sure to share this video
12:01
like it and subscribe to my channel so
12:04
that you can learn more information
12:05
about mental health
12:06
don't forget to share this video on your
12:08
social media platforms so that more
12:10
people can learn and benefit ramadan
12:12
mubarak and i'll see you in the next one
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