Dr. Sami serves and advocates for neurodivergent children, teens, and adults who might feel misunderstood by the world around them. She meets her clients exactly where they're at and holds the therapeutic relationship to an exceptionally high standard. Dr. Sami works with individuals to help them feel their feelings, self-advocate, process emotions, manage distress, unmask, discover their true identities, embrace their interests, and improve their overall self-esteem. Her goal is to meet each client where they're at in a way that is unique to them, and offer supportive, affirmative care while incorporating individual interests and needs into therapy.

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Personally, Dr. Sami values non-judgment and authenticity in therapy. It is of utmost importance to be able to be your true, authentic self as you navigate through life, and it can be exhausting not being able to show others who you truly are. Hiding one's true self from the world (also known as masking) can cause neurodivergent individuals to feel overwhelmed, anxious, depressed, and misunderstood. It is important to feel "seen" in the therapeutic relationship so that healthy relationships can be cultivated outside of therapy.

 

Dr. Sami is not only a therapist, but she is a diagnostician, clinician, advocate, and educator for neurodivergent populations and other clinicians. She wears many metaphorical "hats" in this field to try to make the community a more accepting and safer place for neurodivergent individuals who might differ from the majority culture.

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​Dr. Sami has over 15 years of experience working with neurodivergent individuals across the lifespan and in a variety of settings including inpatient residential, home-based therapies, community mental health, schools, non-profits, and in private practice.  She has extensive training in psychotherapy and psychological assessment, including neuropsychological assessment. Regarding education and training, Dr. Sami earned her baccalaureate at Arizona State University (ASU) in Psychology and Family and Human Development in 2011. She completed both her master's (MA) and doctoral (Psy.D.) degrees at the Arizona School of Professional Psychology (ASPP) in Clinical Psychology and graduated in 2016.

 

She incorporates an eclectic approach to therapy and works from a neurodivergent affirming lens.  Modalities incorporated in therapy depend on the individual client and may include Play-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Motivational Interviewing, person-centered therapy, narrative therapy, social-construction models, polyvagal theory, narrative therapy, and relational therapy.

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In addition to offering clinical services, Dr. Sami co-leads trainings & webinars focused on affirming practices and educating other professionals about neurodiversity and is adjunct faculty at Northern Arizona University's (NAU) clinical psychology program. 

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