Meet Our Staff
Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) at UC Santa Cruz is a part-centralized, part-decentralized service, with professionally trained master's- and doctoral-level clinicians located in our central counseling office within the Cowell Student Health Center complex, as well as in various locations across campus. Our staff members come from diverse backgrounds and have a special interest in and experience with helping students explore a wide range of issues. We offer a variety of mental health and wellness services to UCSC students and the broader UCSC community.
Please note that while some of us have particular areas of specialization, all of us at CAPS recognize the social pressures and cultural factors that affect different groups in unique ways. We have been trained in aspects of multicultural counseling, including working with LGBTQIA+ students, addressing rape and sexual abuse, and supporting students with disabilities. CAPS staff also engage in ongoing mandatory and voluntary continuing education to further enhance their skills as mental health professionals.
The following is a list of our staff members and their locations. Note that we do not provide drop-in counseling, so if you are interested in finding out about and/or starting services with CAPS, please stop by our central office or call us during business hours at (831) 459-2628. You can also find more information about our services on our Counseling Services, Psychiatry, and Groups & Workshops web pages.
- Pronouns She/Her/Hers
- Title
- Associate Director
- Psychologist
- Division Student Affairs and Success
- Department
- Counseling & Psychological Services
- Phone 831-459-2628
- Office Location
- Cowell Student Health Center, Office 2444
- Mail Stop CAPS
Summary of Expertise
Nadia is keenly aware of the struggles and barriers to accessing mental health services for college students, especially for the marginalized and underserved student population. She therefore pays special attention to decreasing stigma towards mental health services and ensuring ease of access for all. Nadia’s clinical approach is grounded in creating a strong therapeutic relationship, utilizing a multicultural and social justice approach. She gravitates towards an integrative style to support students based on their current therapy needs. That may include utilizing cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT), trauma-informed care (TIC), and family systems approaches, among others. Her clinical interests include working with concerns of anxiety, depression, acculturation, intergenerational trauma, grief/loss, and relationship struggles.
Biography, Education and Training
Nadia identifies as a South-Asian American Muslim female. She was born in Pakistan, grew up in TX, and has also lived and worked in the UAE and Canada. She earned her MBA in Management, MA in Marriage & Family Therapy, and PhD in Counseling Psychology. Nadia has over 20 years of experience in the mental health field working with diverse clients and presenting concerns. She has worked in many different systems, including university counseling centers, non-profit, VAMC, community health clinic, school district, and private practice. She completed her pre and post-doctoral training at UC Berkeley CAPS and worked as the Outreach, Education, and Prevention Coordinator and staff psychologist at MIT University Student Mental Health & Counseling Services. She currently is the Associate Director at CAPS with a special focus on equity in mental health. She also speaks Urdu, Hindi, and Gujarati languages. Her special interests include supervision, outreach, leadership development, and creating inclusive and equitable systems.
