Priyanka S Abul Khair Masters level Graduate Student supervised by Jane Kong LPC-S

Priyanka is a Clinical Mental Health Counseling graduate student at Northwestern University. After graduating with an undergraduate degree in Economics, she worked with underprivileged communities in Bangladesh from 2009 to 2019. During Priyanka’s ten years of community building, she noticed the stigma behind mental health and the lack of resources in the communities. As an immigrant and as a person of color she believes that mental well-being is of utmost importance for a person to live a fulfilling life. After working for a decade in training and educating communities in building a sustainable village, Priyanka decided to take the next step in helping others to work toward living a harmonious life.

Priyanka works with clients ages 18 and above with an approach that is a blend of psychodynamic, emotion focused and cognitive methods. This means that to help clients live a coherent life, it is important to understand and reflect on the past experiences that can impact their present and future. She helps clients in reframing and learning from their past so that they can live an authentic life. She is committed to working with clients collaboratively in understanding and acknowledging their past wounds by providing them a safe non-judgmental and empathetic space for them to gain awareness, increase self-worth, build skills and improve relationships. She values the need for cultural humility to build a positive working alliance with the client to live up to their full potential.