When Huda first reached out to us at Arab Woman Today (AWT), she was drowning in grief. Three years had passed since her mother died, but the pain had only grown heavier. The loss was sudden and life-altering, and with it came an avalanche of responsibilities. As the only one among her siblings willing to step up, Huda found herself managing the household and finances alone, while quietly suffocating under the weight of emotional exhaustion.

Scrolling through social media one day, she came across a post about depression and anxiety. Something about it struck a nerve. That was the moment she decided to ask for help.

 

“I didn’t think anyone could really help me, but you did,” she would later tell her counselor. “You made a difference... You changed the way I see things.”

Through AWT’s Christian Counseling Program, Huda was met with empathy and a safe space to be herself, something she hadn’t felt in years. The sessions weren’t just about talking. They were about healing, reclaiming identity, and learning to breathe again.

One of the most powerful tools used in her journey was art therapy. As she began drawing, Huda discovered that her hands could speak what her mouth could not. Her grief started to take shape on paper: a dark room filled with sorrow, slowly lit by stars of hope. Each star represented something, faith in God, love, peace, and the resilience she was only beginning to recognize in herself.

“I saw myself as one of those stars,” she said, “a small light shining in the middle of the dark. I never knew I had that inside me.”

The loss of her mother had left Huda emotionally paralyzed, especially in her family relationships. Everyone grieves differently, but Huda is expected to keep going. In counseling, she was finally able to grieve fully, to acknowledge her sadness without guilt or fear of judgment.

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She began to realize how often she had silenced herself for the sake of “keeping peace” in the family. But that peace came at the cost of her well-being. With the help of her counselor, Huda started learning how to set healthy boundaries, say “no” without shame, and speak up for her needs.

“I used to think love meant sacrificing myself,” she admitted. “Now I’m learning that love can also mean protecting myself and asking for help.”

One session took a deeper turn. When asked what she needed most, Huda whispered through tears, “I just need someone to comfort me.”

That moment opened the door to healing her inner child, the little girl within her who had never been consoled, who had longed for safety and tenderness. Huda began to imagine her childhood room, which she named “the room of peace.” In her mind, she would visit it, sit with her younger self, and offer the love and security she never received.

This practice brought visible change. She described feeling warmth, calm, and even joy. It was as if part of her was “reborn.”

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“It felt like I was breathing again, for the first time in years.”

In her final session, Huda reflected on how far she had come. She no longer viewed her sadness as a weakness. She had discovered strength in vulnerability and courage in simply asking for help.

“It’s like a window has opened between the walls,” she said. “I hadn’t noticed it before. Now I see things differently.” “Allowing myself to feel… that alone was an act of courage, a step toward healing.”

 

Through AWT’s counseling journey, Huda found herself again, not the woman crushed under pressure, but the woman of faith, light, and resilience who had been there all along.

Huda’s story is one of many. Through our counseling and emotional support programs, we help women in the Arab world face trauma, loss, anxiety, and emotional pain in a faith-filled, safe environment. At AWT, we believe that healing is possible when truth meets love, and when wounds are met with grace. Huda found her light. And so can many others.