Working at the intersection of neuroscience, peacebuilding, and lived experience.
My work sits at a particular crossroads: the biology of how humans respond to conflict, the practical demands of peacebuilding in real-world settings, and the questions we all carry about how to live with greater clarity and moral purpose. That intersection is where I operate as a speaker, a consultant, and a coach.
I hold certification in trauma-informed coaching, and my academic training and ongoing mentorship in social cognition and traumatic stress studies shapes how I think about stress, decision-making, and conflict. But the work itself is not therapy, and it is not clinical treatment. It is structured conversation, strategic partnership, and informed guidance grounded in science, delivered with care.
How You Can Work With Me
Individual Consultations
One-on-one sessions for people navigating transitions, difficult decisions, or periods of heightened pressure. These conversations draw on my understanding of how stress affects cognition and behavior, and on years of working with individuals in high-stakes, high-conflict environments, particularly across the Levant. The goal is clarity — about your situation, your options, and the processes (inner and outer) that may be shaping your choices.
Ongoing Coaching Partnerships
For those who want sustained engagement over time. Rather than single sessions, this is a deliberate, forward-looking relationship. We meet regularly to identify goals, examine obstacles, and develop practical strategies, informed by neuroscience but not consumed by it. This is for people who want a thinking partner.
Lectures & Learning Journeys
For conferences, organizations, and convenings of any scale, I offer a range of educational engagements — from single lectures to custom multi-day learning journeys designed around your group’s questions and context. I love deep dives into specific territories where neuroscience and peacebuilding collide. Topics include:
- The Neurobiology of Stress and Trauma — How the brain and body respond to threat, and what those responses mean for behavior, relationships, and decision-making under pressure.
- Global Mental Health: Development and Trends — How the field is evolving, where it is succeeding, and where the gaps remain — especially in conflict-affected and low-resource settings.
- Trauma, Stress, and Violent Extremism — The biological and social pathways through which unaddressed trauma and chronic stress can contribute to radicalization and cycles of violence.
- Intergroup Social Cognition — How the brain perceives in-group and out-group identity, how those perceptions shape conflict dynamics, and how they can be intentionally reshaped.
Each engagement is tailored. Whether you need a keynote that reframes a conversation or an immersive multi-day program that gives your team a shared vocabulary and a new set of questions, we will build something that fits.
What This Is — and What It Isn’t
This is coaching, consultation, and education. It is informed by neuroscience and shaped by decades of work in conflict-affected contexts. It is curious, rigorous, and honest.
It is not psychotherapy, medical treatment, or a substitute for licensed mental health care. If you are experiencing acute psychological distress, I encourage you to connect with a qualified clinician or licensed therapist in your area. For those already in therapy, these conversations can complement that work — but they stand on their own as a distinct engagement.
Who Tends to Find This Useful
People who work at the edges of things, folks like mediators, advocates, organizers, educators, researchers, clergy, and anyone whose life or work places them close to conflict and its consequences. Also people in transition who want a substantive conversation rather than a motivational one.
Getting Started
Set up a time. We’ll have an initial conversation — no commitment, no script — to see whether what I offer aligns with what you’re looking for. If it does, we’ll shape an engagement that fits. If it doesn’t, I’ll do my best to point you somewhere that does.
