TARIQ ELSAID, LMSW, TiiP
Tariq is a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) and a Traditional Islamically Integrated Psychotherapist (TiiP) who specializes in relationships and men’s health at his current practice, UnderCurrent (https://www.undercurrent-therapy.com/). At Khalil Center, he offers premarital coaching and speaking engagements on a wide range of topics, from masculinity and marriage to parenting and Chinese somatic approaches to addictions and mood swings, all framed within an Islamic worldview.
BIOGRAPHY
Tariq works with couples who feel emotionally and sexually disconnected despite loving each other deeply. Couples who want to feel close, understood, and safe again—but just can’t seem to be on the same page or express themselves and their needs authentically. He also works with men struggling with issues they often carry in silence—especially pornography, sexual health, emotional numbness, and the many facets of their masculine identity, aside from simply being providers. These challenges are often perceived as too embarrassing to talk about, but in fact are too important to be left unaddressed. Without confronting and embracing them, we can not be who we really and fully are.
APPROACH
When things “aren’t right” outwardly as it pertains to our lives, relationships, and behaviors, it is more often than not a sign that something “isn’t right” inwardly. Tariq's approach goes beyond conventional talk therapy to bring you to a place of harmony in the outer world (macrocosm) and the inner world (microcosm). He integrates Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Greek Logic and Ethics, and evidence-based clinical modalities into an Islamic worldview of the human soul to approach holistic healing through the exploration and application of emotional, behavioral, spiritual, and somatic ordering (Taswiyah al-Nafs).
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
After earning his Master’s in Social Work from the University of Michigan—the nation’s #1 ranked program—Tariq completed the full, three-level certification in Traditional Islamically Integrated Psychotherapy (TiiP) through Khalil Center. Simultaneously, Tariq began his formal Islamic education at DarulQasim, where he continues to have advanced clinical and spiritual supervision with the president and founder, Shaykh Amin Kholwadia, to further integrate Islamic civilization values into a therapeutic model that is spiritually grounded, clinically sound, and responsive to the ordering of the whole person.
Tariq then went on to complete the Traditional Studies Program at Dar al-Rayyan under the tutelage of Shaykh Walead Mosaad, Shaykh Fouad Elgohari, and Shaykh Zakariyya al-Hobba. At both institutions he was fortunate to study theology (kalam), Islamic law (fiqh), methodological Interpretations (usul al-fiqh), spirituality (tazkiyah), logic (matiq), and classical Arabic, and a range of other sciences to deepen the integrative understanding between religion and psychology in order to bring his clients to a place of holistic healing (shifa’), inwardly and outwardly. Additionally, Tariq is also expanding his approach through ongoing training in Traditional Chinese Medicine at the **American College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM).
CLINICAL FOCUS
- Relationships and couples counseling
- Masculinity and men's health
- Addiction, compulsion, and impulse
- Impulse Control Issues Related to Pornography
- Sexual behavior, health, and functioning challenges
MODALITIES
- (TiiP) Traditional Islamically Integrated Psychotherapy
- (TCM) Qi Gong and Traditional Chinese Medicine
- (IFS) Internal Family Systems
- (CBT) Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- (ACT) Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
LANGUAGES
- English
- Arabic (Classical)
- Arabic (Egyptian)
- Japanese
- Spanish