Dr. Noorfarah Merali is a Registered Counselling Psychologist with expertise in Cross-Cultural Counselling and Cross-Cultural Adaptation. She is a tenured professor in the Counselling Psychology Graduate Program at the University of Alberta, and is a Faculty Fellow of the Centre for Global Citizenship Education and Research. She is a scientist-practitioner, meaning she provides counselling, conducts scientific research on counselling at the university, and also trains other psychologists how to counsel.
Dr. Merali served as the Director of Clinical Training for the Doctoral Program in Counselling Psychology Accredited by the Canadian Psychological Association, as well as the Coordinator for all Counselling Psychology Graduate Programs at the University of Alberta for the 5 year period from September 2008 to April 2013, including the Master’s thesis-based, course-based, and School Counselling programs. She has resumed the role of Coordinator and Director for the School Counselling Master’s Program since September 2017.
Noorfarah has 20 years of combined experience in work and volunteer roles across the community, post-secondary education, health care, and government sectors in the areas of: (1) Mental Health Service Delivery and Program Leadership, (2) Teaching, Curriculum Design, and Diversity Training, (3) Program Design and Evaluation, (4) Cross-cultural, Community-based, and Immigration Policy Research, (5) Strategic Planning and Advisement, (6) Fundraising, and (7) Graduate Student Supervision. She has been approached by organizations such as the United Nations, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Health and Human Resources Development Canada, the Alberta Mental Health Board, and the YWCA for help with projects and programs related to cross-cultural counselling, immigration, refugees, and diversity, or for staff training. Programs she has designed have received recognition from the Canada Council for Refugees and the (national) Minister for the Status of Women as prototypes for excellence in service delivery to culturally diverse communities.
Dr. Merali utilizes an integrative approach to counselling practice, drawing on evidence-based strategies from cognitive-behavioural therapy, solution-focused therapy, the Gottman Method, the theory of multicultural counselling and therapy (MCT), family systems theory, acceptance and commitment therapy, positive psychology, and recent advances in the science of mind/body medicine.