About
My name is Diba Alikhani. As a multilingual psychotherapist/psychologist, I have shaped my path toward this work through both struggle and hope. I began my career as a young psychologist in Iran, where speaking up for women’s and children’s rights carried real danger, and my activism eventually forced me into exile.
Rebuilding my life across cultures and roles, through humanitarian work, broadcasting, teaching, and supporting survivors, taught me that healing and justice are inseparable.
My seven years of working with children with special needs, alongside experience in IQ assessment and education, deepened my understanding of human complexity and the many ways people learn, grow, and express themselves.
Living in both the East and the West has given me an existential appreciation for cultural diversity and the different worlds we each inhabit.
For the past eight years, I have supported individuals and families across the UK through a wide range of challenges, including domestic abuse, FGM, honour-based abuse, trauma, bereavement, depression, addiction, family conflict, and other life difficulties. My experience spans charities, community organisations, and specialist support services, where I have provided compassionate, trauma-informed therapeutic support to people facing complex circumstances.
I also currently serve as clinical lead within IKWRO counselling service, alongside my roles as a Clinical Supervisor and EMDR Therapist. The privilege of accompanying people through some of the most challenging periods of their lives continues to shape my practice and my understanding of what it means to offer compassionate and meaningful support.
My approach is integrative, grounded in existential and person-centred traditions, and supported by ACT and psychodynamic thinking.
I bring my lived experience not to place myself at the centre, but to deepen my capacity to meet you with presence, dignity, and authenticity, guided by the belief that healing is an act of resistance, and that even in the darkest circumstances, a single life can move toward freedom and change.
Qualifications
- BSc in Child Psychology/ Children with special needs
- MSc in Clinical Psychology
- MA in Psychosocial Studies/ gender studies
- Advanced Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy
- Advanced Clinical Supervision Certificate
- Doctorate in Counselling Psychology and Psychotherapy (clinical modules completed, final stage in progress)
- EMDR Therapy Certificate
- BPS, MBACP Accred, MNCPS Accred
Additional Professional Training
- Advanced Leadership Certificate
- Advanced International Course in Women and Politics in Developed Countries for Women`s Rights Organisational Leaders (Certificate Awarded)
- Certified Training in Psychometric Testing (Iran), including Intellectual Functioning (IQ) Assessment and ADHD Screening and Assessment Tools (Certificate Awarded)