Dr. Rifakat Saiyad is a Registered Social Worker with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers (OCSWSSW), holding a PhD, Master of Social Work (MSW), Bachelor of Social Work (BSW). He brings nearly 13 years of cross-sector experience working with individuals, families, and communities across government, healthcare, non-profit, and international development settings. He works with adults navigating career transition, anxiety, grief and loss, migration and settlement, and employment-related stress. Many of the people he supports are facing a threshold moment, a job loss, an unwelcome diagnosis, a move to a new country, the loss of someone they loved, when the ground they once stood on no longer feels steady. His approach is warm, relational, and grounded in genuine listening. He believes people already carry much of the wisdom they need to move forward, and that the work of therapy is to create enough safety and clarity for that wisdom to surface. He pays close attention to the cultural, spiritual, and relational context each person brings into the room, and he draws on this sensitivity often in his work with newcomers and immigrants working through the disorientation of starting over. He has authored books and articles on mental health, on the intersection of mental health and Islam, and on broader themes of self-help and personal growth. His priority is to support each client with patience, respect, and dignity, helping them find their way back to a peaceful life and the tools to sustain it. Having lived and worked across different countries and communities himself, Dr. Saiyad brings a cross-cultural fluency to his practice, he is multilingual in English, Gujarati, and Hindi, and a deep respect for the many ways people make sense of change, loss, and beginning again. Clients often describe him as easy to talk to, someone who listens without judgment, and who helps them feel less alone in whatever they are carrying.
