Dr. Shirin Zarqa-Lederman is an international counseling psychologist that specializes in trauma services and community psychology (PhD). She consults with clients worldwide and is a licensed professional counselor in the state of New Jersey (LPC) and a licensed clinical drug and alcohol counselor (LCADC).

Prior to her private practice, Dr. Shirin worked as a program coordinator for an NJ adolescent substance abuse program, creating treatment curriculum for group and family therapy. She left to become the community liaison for that program as well as three others in the NY, coordinating psychiatric and substance abuse care for adolescents and their families. After receiving her Masters in Child and Adolescent Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, she began developing her private practice working primarily with children and families on their own turf. As an in-home therapist, Dr. Shirin was able to work with children and their families in their home to reduce the frequency and intensity of challenging behaviors in home and at school using a holistic family approach. In working so closely with clients and their families, Shirin began to understand the impact of generational and racial trauma.

Dr. Shirin then returned to The Chicago School of Professional Psychology to their international psychology doctoral program and focused on trauma services. There, Dr. Shirin worked with the Refugee Working Group to develop a children’s story designed to address the anxieties of refugee children, entitled “The Story of Amal.” During her time at The Chicago School, Dr. Shirin completed two field experiences including one to Ghana and the other to Rwanda. There, she and her cohort, explored, developed, and demonstrated culturally responsive counseling methods for children and adolescents experiencing trauma reactions.

As a research student, she explored identity, generational trauma, and the multicultural experience. Upon receiving her PhD, she published her dissertation entitled, “Descendants of Palestine: Exploring the Right of Return in Diaspora.” Dr. Shirin’s work provides insight into multicultural identity development and the presence of generational trauma in Palestinian Americans. Today, Dr. Shirin is working on a follow-up independent study using a community psychology framework to provide culturally responsive counseling solutions to descendants of Palestine living in the diaspora.

Dr. Shirin is a member of the American Middle East and North Africa Association (AMENA-PSY) and the American Counseling Association (ACA). Using a telehealth model of counseling, Dr. Shirin uses her expertise in multicultural identity development and generational trauma framework to foster positive identity development with her clients. Primarily through culturally responsive psychotherapy, Dr. Shirin facilitates her client’s understanding of their own generational trauma and how it manifests in their daily lives, biologically, psychologically and socially over the lifespan. Using a client-centered approach, Dr. Shirin provides counseling techniques that stem from various therapeutic approaches including narrative, experiential, and indigenous approaches.

Throughout her counseling career, Dr. Shirin has maintained her love of writing and storytelling, published a set of children’s books that promote positive social skills entitled, “The Trotters of Tweeville.” She has publicly written about her experiences as a “third culture kid,” in several online platforms including MissMuslim NYC, Story Monster Magazine, and the Meteor. She has also been a psychology contributor to Care.com and Jezebel.