Get to Know Aayesha Alvi, LPC

Profiling Central Therapy's Longest-Term Employee

Aayesha Alvi started at Central Therapy in October 2022 as an LAC and she has stayed at the practice through her licensing as an LPC. Undergraduate intern Kyle Swords interviewed her for our next employee profile for our blog. Read on to learn more about Aayesha!

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Aayesha Alvi is Central Therapy’s longest-term employee, but she hasn’t always been a therapist. Aayesha’s undergraduate degree was in Business and IT, and from there  she pursued  dual masters in business and informational systems and healthcare management systems. Armed with these impressive degrees, Aayesha started working an office job. 

As she worked, Aayesha began to notice something important. While being in this office space, she was so interested in getting to know her co-workers and what was going on in their lives, perhaps  even more than her actual work. At the same time, Aayesha started attending therapy herself. Her experience with therapy reminded her of her own interests, and after some reflection she decided that a more person-focused career in therapy would align better with her interests. So Aayesha went back to school and got her third masters degree, this time in professional counseling, with a focus in school counseling. Aayesha now specializes in both Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Emotionally-Focused Therapy.

What makes therapy with Aayesha special? Aayesha brings her personality and a softer, warmer style to therapy. Aayesha told me something she really values is seeing the best in people and giving the benefit of the doubt. There are a few people who have given her that in the past, so she tries to do the same for others.

In her approach to therapy, Aayesha focuses on meeting the person where they are. She wants to understand the clients and their story, and likes to give the clients a chance to teach her about themselves before diving into the therapy work. Aayesha also finds it important to let the client lead the session..

To that end, Aayesha’s goal in a first session with a client is  giving the client the experience of being listened to. People don’t often get the chance to be listened to unconditionally, so this can be a very powerful experience. She will also ask some questions about the client’s background, life, what brings them in, and start to establish how to move forward.

To Aayesha, the most rewarding part of her work is being able to witness her clients progress. She also really enjoys seeing clients progress in couple’s work. Sharing the feelings in one’s relationship can be very intimate. Aayesha really appreciates the chance to be allowed into a couple’s private life to help them. Relationship stress can penetrate all areas of life and being able to minimize that is very meaningful.

One of Aayesha’s favorite compliments from her clients came from one of her younger clients, a girl who was about 10 or 11 at the time of this interaction. It wasn’t something that was said directly to Aayesha, but something this young client said to someone in their life when talking about therapists. The girl said, “Of course you listen to a therapist! They’re so wise!!” It’s clear Aayesha had a big impact on this young girl’s life.

Now some fun facts about Aayesha! One of her favorite memories from grad school was her abnormal psychology class. Her professor had worked at Rikers and had a story for every disorder in the class, which made each class that much more interesting. She is very into health and wellness and preventative health. As part of that, she enjoys yoga and dancing. She also loves cooking and finding and making new healthy recipes that still taste great! She makes a lot of alternative American dishes and her best dish is her high protein nachos. A few of her favorite books are Attached (by Ameer Lavine), The Gift of Imperfections (by Brené Brown), and The Happiness Project (by Gretchen Rubin). She also owns three Siberian cats. Something she really wants anyone reading this to know is that she loves being a therapist. After getting three different graduate degrees, Aayesha has finally found her dream job. 

If you’re interested in learning more about Aayesha’s professional experience and focus, you can see her bio here. If you’re working with Aayesha for individual, couples, or family therapy, contact us to schedule an intake today!