About Aara Abu Laban

Licensed Professional Counselor · AASECT Certified Sex Therapist

Serving Virginia & Maryland

My Philosophy

I do not believe people are “the problem.”

Many of the struggles people experience around intimacy, sexuality, relationships, and emotional connection are deeply connected to stress, trauma, attachment experiences, cultural messaging, shame, and nervous system responses.

Often, the behaviors or patterns clients criticize themselves for began as ways to survive emotionally difficult experiences.

Therapy is not about forcing you to become someone else.
It is about helping you understand yourself more fully, feel safer in your relationships, and reconnect with the parts of yourself that have been carrying pain, fear, pressure, or disconnection.

Healing happens through safety, curiosity, self-compassion, and connection; not shame.

Hi, I'm Aara.

I help people navigate the complex, beautiful, and often painful intersections of trauma, sexuality, and identity, and I've built my entire practice around making sure you don't have to compartmentalize your healing to do it.

Too often, people come to therapy having been told, explicitly or implicitly, that certain topics are off the table. That their sexuality is separate from their mental health. That their trauma doesn't have anything to do with how they experience intimacy. I don't believe that. Your whole story belongs in the room.

I'm a Licensed Professional Counselor and AASECT Certified Sex Therapist, which means I've met the highest professional standards for sex therapy training and ethics in the country. I integrate sex therapy, somatic work, and trauma informed care so that your healing is whole. Not fragmented into neat little categories that don't reflect how you actually live.

My approach:

My approach is trauma informed, relational, culturally aware, and rooted in authenticity.

I understand that discussing intimacy and sexuality can feel vulnerable, especially if you grew up in environments where these conversations felt taboo, unsafe, or shame filled.

You will never be judged for your experiences, identity, desires, fears, relationship structure, or questions.

I work with people throughout Virginia and Maryland via secure online therapy. Whether you're coming in as an individual or with a partner, my goal is the same: to help you feel safe enough to be fully, messily, authentically yourself, and to find out what healing actually looks like for you.

You may have been to therapy before. But you haven't been to therapy like this.

A woman with long dark hair sitting at a wooden table, smiling and resting her chin on her hand, in front of a colorful mural of a lotus flower on a pink wall, with a small Groot figurine on the table.

Major Qualification and Training’s

  • Applied Psychology - New York University

    Applied Behavioral Sciences- Capella University

  • Sex Therapy - Modern Sex Therapy Institute

    Trauma Counseling - University of Wisconsin

    Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Counseling (OCDCC)

  • U.S.A

    Lebanon

    Jordan

    United Arab Emirates

    Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    Romania

    Greece

    Belgium

    On a boat in the Mediterranean Sea for several months; countries waters may vary

Therapy with me is…..

  • Collaborative

  • Authentic to your goals

  • Highly specialized

  • Designed specifically for you to have activities in your natural, everyday, life

  • Encouraged to build insights to better connect in meaningful ways to those most important to you

Therapy with me is not…..

  • Cookie Cutter

  • Feeling like every session is a repeat

  • Instructional

  • All gloom with some doom

  • A quick fix patch job to get you through

  • Rushed or disorganized

You Don’t Have To Navigate This Alone

Many people wait years before reaching out for support around intimacy, trauma, or relationship concerns. Shame and fear often convince people they should “just figure it out on their own.”

But healing is not meant to happen in isolation.

Therapy offers a space where you can slow down, feel understood, and begin making sense of experiences that may have felt confusing, painful, or overwhelming for a long time.

At Healing Intimacies, I’m honored to support clients throughout Maryland and Virginia in moving toward greater connection, healing, self trust, and emotional safety; both within themselves and in their relationships.

Why Online Therapy?

I provide virtual therapy throughout Maryland and Virginia so clients can access specialized support from the comfort and privacy of home.

Online therapy can make discussing intimacy, trauma, and vulnerability feel more approachable while also offering flexibility for busy schedules and greater accessibility across both states.

I serve clients throughout:

  • Baltimore

  • Bethesda

  • Rockville

  • Silver Spring

  • Annapolis

  • Arlington

  • Alexandria

  • Fairfax

  • Richmond

  • Loudoun

  • Northern Virginia

  • And all surrounding communities