Wahida Chishti Valiante is a social worker specializing in family therapy. She
holds a BSW (Hon) from York University and an MSW from the University of
Toronto, as well as a diploma in Family Mediation. She is trained in Brief
Solution Focused Therapy; Trauma, Loss, Grief and Post Traumatic Stress
Disorders; and Race Relations Leadership. She is the recipient of several
awards, including from the Rubina Willis Counseling Centre for her outstanding
work in the field of violence against women and children.
Wahida has presented major academic papers at several national and international
conferences, focusing on contemporary theories of family therapy and on the
development of alternative treatment models based on the Qur’anic concept of
human personality, relationships and emotions. She is a pioneer in the field of
further developing therapeutic interventions for treating family conflict,
domestic violence and intergenerational issues, particularly for integrating
Qur’anic teachings, Muslim traditions and contemporary practices in
psychotherapy. She has also made numerous presentations and given training
seminars to national and international academic institutions and professionals,
on the role of religion in therapy and in the development of human personality.
Wahida is a published author of South Asian Family, Domestic Violence and Social
Work Interventions; and Muslim Families and Brief Solution Focused Therapy from
an Islamic Perspective. She has also published several papers on the methodology
of providing culturally, racially and religiously appropriate social work
intervention to families who have experienced domestic violence, child abuse,
intergenerational conflict and sexual abuse.
Through out her career,Valiante has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to
many levels of health, social and community issues, and has initiated many
health-related counseling programs for women and children. She is a founding
member of the Social Club for Muslim Women and a longtime political and social
activist who sits on several organizational committees whose focus includes the
alleviation of child poverty and implementation of social reform.
She regularly writes articles and editorials for several international
publications -- including the World Media Monitor and the Canadian Islamic
Congress Friday Magazine -- on social and religious issues, including gender
equality, social justice, family and domestic violence, politics and issues of
national and global importance.
For several years she has been a regular television panelist helping to promote
interfaith dialogue on ethical, moral and social issues from an Islamic
perspective. She is regularly invited to speak at Mosques, Islamic centres and
Muslim conferences, as well as on television, radio, and for the print media.
She is past chairperson of the communications committee of Al-Shura, the
Consultative Committee of Greater Toronto, and a past member of the South Asian
Consultative Committee of Metro Police in Toronto. She is a past board member of
Griffin Centre and the Coalition of Agencies serving South Asians; a founding
member of the task force on Shirly Samaroo House for Battered Women; and past
member of the advisory committee of the Barbra Schlifer Clinic for the training
of Cultural Interpreters for victims of domestic violence.
Mrs. Valiante is a founding member and past president of the Ontario School of
Islamic Studies in North York, which was that region's first Islamic school. She
is a founding member and current national vice-president of Canadian Islamic
Congress, as well as a cyber-counselor with Islam on Line and member of the
Christian Muslim Liaison Committee.
