Azleena Azhar

Azleena Azhar works with clients from all cultural, ethnic, and religious backgrounds at Lifeologie Counseling Durham. She has extensive experience supporting survivors of trauma, abuse, and intimate partner violence, helping them develop their inner strength
and resilience. She incorporates present moment mindfulness, boundary setting, and transcendence to help clients navigate toxic relationships and narcissistic family systems.

She also enjoys working with young adults and adolescents (including 3rd culture kids, immigrants, refugees) struggling with acculturative stress, family conflict, school, and social stressors or identity formation, and caring for aging parents. She has a deep empathy in supporting adults facing the challenges of caring for their aging parents. 

Azleena 's approach to therapy is strengths-based. She incorporates elements of attachment
theory, CBT, DBT, IFS, Motivational Interviewing, Trauma Focused CBT, & mindful self-compassion. She is also trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), which is known for its effectiveness in treating trauma.

Azleena grew up in Malaysia (and is proficient in Malay language) and came to the US to study IT at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh. Her path toward community mental health started when she did a Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) internship at Duke Hospital, then continued as a member of the Pastoral Advisory Committee. She earned a Graduate Certificate in Islamic Chaplaincy from Hartford International University for Religion and Peace, and received her Master of Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Azleena has lived in Southeast Asia, Europe, and on both coasts of the US. In addition to being bilingual in English and Malay, she speaks conversational French and Hindi/Urdu, and brings a global and interfaith worldview to her work. If requested, she may explore topics of spirituality and cultural identity during therapy.

Azleena comes from a place of non-judgment, and she believes that everyone has been
created in their own unique mold and holds a special place in this world. She believes that given the right tools to deal with our external circumstances, we can thrive. 

If you think Azleena would be a good fit for your therapeutic journey, she would be honored to help you find the strength and resilience within you to become the best version of yourself.

Azleena loves traveling around the world but is proud to call the Triangle her home. In her spare time, she loves exploring the remarkable local boba and tea culture, playing the hand drums, and taking her cats for walks in the neighborhood. Her diva ragdoll cat is a social media star (@Therapycat.Cinnamon), an account focused around the themes of
mental health and self-care.