Assalam'alyakum Sr. Haleh! I just wanted to send you my testimonial for doing counseling with you. My husband and I have been married for over a decade. Unfortunately, even 10 years together and having children together has not helped bring us together. Our marriage started on a very weak foundation - we had differing views on many things but married for the reason of thinking we could be compatible because of our shared love for the deen. Unfortunately, our personalities, upbringing and views on major issues always differed a lot and this caused many issues. The constant arguing created a distance between us in which he avoided spending time with me alone, and I had a hard time being able to give him respect or care in return. This took a toll on each of us, our personalities, our ability to find success in our worldly and spiritual endeavors and had a very negative impact on our young children. We spoke of divorce within the first year of marriage, and it continued coming up almost every year of our marriage since, each time the possibility became more serious. I had brought up the idea of counseling the last time we had seriously considered divorce but my husband was skeptical about the financial investment as well as feeling comfortable with the idea of counseling or being able to open up to a stranger about our personal issues. I had heard of and known of Sr. Haleh for a long while and had wished to seek out her help for our marriage issues, but didn't know how to get my husband to come on board. After much consideration, I decided to go for an individual session for my recurring depression, which had started after our first attempt at divorce. In this session, she mentioned the 5 Pillars of Marriage workshop. She had mentioned that many men do not feel comfortable with counseling, and find this a much more comfortable alternative. My husband was finally open to this idea, and we started the videos. They were helpful and easy to watch. Through these, my husband felt like Sr. Haleh was someone that could see both sides of the story and was able to see that counselors may not be what he thought of them initially. Our problems continued because we could not find time or find the ability to get along enough to continue the videos regularly, and in one year, we drifted farther apart than before. There were so many pressures on each of us, from family responsibility, to financial, to not seeing eye to eye with each other, lacking a sense of peace in the home, arguing about how to raise the children, etc. etc. We both felt like for years we had a constant stress on our minds, in our hearts and we could physically feel it in our bodies. The stress was so great, on a regular basis, we could feel the tension as soon as we were in the presence of each other and anyone around us could sense it right away as well. We decided to keep trying because I wasn't ready to give up without trying out every form of help, and we both wanted to keep trying in case there was a chance for the sake of the kids. We got both sets of parents/families involved to help counsel us, but unfortunately, it didn't help us get to where we needed. After much consideration from both of us, we decided to give our marriage a six month window to try to resolve our years of differences with the agreement that we would start counseling with Sr. Haleh. Alhamdulilah, my husband went first and had a very positive reaction to his individual session. At this point, we were living separately and not speaking with or seeing one another at all. We decided to see each other once a week for about half an hour or an hour to see if we could communicate with each other in a respectful way. I then had my first session, and then we had our first couples session. Sr. Haleh had a very sweet and understanding demeanor, which made us both feel like the sessions were light, and easy to continue. She made us both feel validated for our feelings, and helped the other understand where each of us were coming from without it being uncomfortable. Overall, alhamdulilah, for the first time, my husband and I are actually enjoying each other's company and our arguments have gone from multiple misunderstandings a day to once or twice every few weeks. The best thing about this, though, is that my husband and I have learned techniques to resolve our differences - whereas before, we would not speak for days, or not talk about what happened at all, we are now able to discuss our differences and misunderstandings without arguing in front of the children, without being disrespectful to each other, and by finding a time for both of us that works to talk about whatever just happened. Our alone time together has been pleasant and something we both actually look forward to because it's manageable and reasonable for us to commit to. Sr. Haleh was able to help us find common ground for each issue we were facing and help us come to a reasonable agreement for each. We both feel she was incredibly helpful in helping us get to where we are right now. I must say that we did need to come in to counseling with an open mind and open hearts about the advice given, because it required that we both make changes and reflect on our own selves and our behavior and how it was contributing to the marriage. We both feel like we have come such a long way in just a couple of months, and much of the damage that was accumulated over years of a toxic relationship has been undone, and worked on. We still are working through small issues, but I feel like we both feel there is hope to make this marriage work peacefully and for us to find friendship and understanding in one another. Many duas to Sr. Haleh for her work and efforts in helping couples, as this is the foundation for a good family unit. We both feel like this is something worth every effort, as we want to provide a healthy and loving environment for our children and that is the motivation that has kept us going. We also want to feel happy and at peace within, with each other, and mentally/physically/spiritually/emotionally and having a good relationship with one's spouse is also a key component in that. If you are ever on the fence about counseling, or working with Sr. Haleh, I would say try at least one session or invest in the 5 Pillars of Marriage Workshop and get a feel for her approach and style. I highly recommend her if you want to get an Islamic and worldly balanced approach as she helps you see the benefit in your actions Islamically as well as for the sake of your relationship/betterment. May Allah reward her and help everyone who is struggling in their lives to find peace, inshaallah!