Individual therapy
Weekly one-to-one sessions, 50–60 minutes, in Cairo or online. We start where the pressure is and work back to what's holding it in place.
- Anxiety
- Depression
- PTSD & trauma
- Grief
- Psychogenic stuttering
Counseling psychologist · Coach · Facilitator
Most of it happens below the surface.
Therapy, coaching and training with Ahmed Lotfy — fifteen years and more than 5,000 hours spent going down there with people, carefully, and coming back up. In Arabic and English, in Cairo and online.
5,000+
hours of therapy & coaching
0Years practising
0Session hours
0People trained
0Countries reached
Mokattam, Cairo
Who you'll be talking to
I started out teaching. I stayed because of the conversations after class.
I'm Ahmed Lotfy, a counseling psychologist, ICF-trained coach and facilitator based in Mokattam, Cairo. I work with adults and older teenagers on anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, relationships and the quieter problems that don't have a name yet.
My first job was training teenagers in soft skills at Bedaya. Then four years leading the counseling department at Manarat El-Mostaqbal American School, teaching psychology to Grades 11 and 12. Then two years designing educator programmes with SeGa Group that reached consultants in eight countries. Private practice has run alongside all of it since 2009.
My master's research at Cairo University asked how resilience shapes the link between feeling alienated and adjusting to life. That question — what makes a person bend without breaking — is still the one underneath most of my work.
- MA in Counseling Psychology — Cairo University2020–2023
- Specialized Diploma in Counseling Psychology2013–2014
- General Diploma in Education2012–2013
- BSc in Commerce — Cairo University2003–2007
Ways to work together
Six ways in
Some people come for themselves. Some are sent by an HR team. Both are welcome, and the work looks different for each.
Relationship work
For couples and for individuals stuck in a pattern they can see but can't step out of. Grounded in emotionally focused therapy — the argument is rarely about the argument.
- Couples
- Attachment
- Family strain
Coaching
Not therapy. A forward-facing engagement for people who know roughly where they want to go and keep stalling on the way. 135 hours of ICF-approved coach training behind it.
- Career
- Leadership
- Follow-through
Workplace wellbeing
Confidential individual and group sessions for employees, delivered on site or remotely. Run for DMG, Seoudi Investment Group, Mashura, CloudChef and Royal.
- EAP-style sessions
- Burnout
- Team conflict
Workshops & training
Half-day to multi-day programmes, designed rather than delivered off a shelf. Communication, leadership, team building and emotional intelligence, in Arabic or English.
- Bilingual
- 600+ trained
Schools & educators
Building a counseling department, training teachers to spot what they're seeing, running parent sessions, or coaching facilitators. Four years inside a school and two designing programmes for eight countries.
- Prevention programmes
- Parent sessions
Approach
One toolbox, opened as needed
No single method fits every person. These are the four I'm formally trained in, and roughly how I decide which one to reach for.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
We look at the loop between what you think, what you feel and what you then do — and interrupt it somewhere you can actually reach. Practical, structured, with things to try between sessions. Often where we start.
Often helps with
- Anxiety
- Panic
- Low mood
- Overthinking
Training
24-hour accredited programme, Meqyaas Counseling Center, with Dr Amara Yahia (2014).
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
For when emotion arrives faster than thought. DBT is skills work: tolerating distress without making it worse, regulating what you feel, staying in a relationship while it's hard. It holds two truths at once — you're doing your best, and something has to change.
Often helps with
- Emotional intensity
- Impulsivity
- Unstable relationships
Training
100-hour intensive accredited by the Linehan Institute, with weekly consultation, led by Dr Andre Ivanoff (2020).
Schema Therapy
When the same painful story keeps reappearing with different people in it, the pattern is usually older than the people. Schema work traces it back to where it was learned and gives that younger part of you something it didn't get.
Often helps with
- Repeating patterns
- Childhood wounds
- Self-worth
Training
Diploma, Schema Therapy Institute Eastern Switzerland (ISTOS), with Christoph Fuhrhans, MD (2020).
Emotionally Focused Therapy
Built on attachment: underneath most conflict is a question about whether you matter to someone and whether they'll be there. EFT slows the fight down enough to hear the question being asked.
Often helps with
- Couples
- Disconnection
- Loneliness
Training
Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy, 16 hours with Dr Sue Johnson and Dr Leanne Campbell, accredited by ICEEFT (2020).
The route here
Fifteen years, four rooms
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2009 — present
Private practice
Counselor · Coach · FacilitatorIndividual therapy across Hayah and Eyadty counseling centres and online, alongside coaching, corporate sessions and workshop design. Over 5,000 hours to date.
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2017 — 2019
Coaching Expert & LXF Master Facilitator
SeGa GroupLed ROOTS — Road-Map of Outstanding Educators — coaching educational consultants across eight countries from a base in Malaysia, and designed training camps in facilitation and psychological support for educators.
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2013 — 2017
Head of Counseling & Psychology Teacher
Manarat El-Mostaqbal American SchoolCounseling for high-school students, psychology curricula for Grades 11 and 12, prevention programmes on stress and mental health, and training for parents and teachers.
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2008 — 2011
Trainer & Kids/Teens Team Leader
Bedaya Organization for Human DevelopmentDelivered soft-skills training to more than 600 young trainees and managed the Human Development Syllabus for preparatory schools.
Qualifications
Where the training came from
Twelve programmes, roughly 400 accredited hours, listed with who ran them so you can check.
MA in Counseling Psychology
Cairo University, Faculty of Graduate Studies for EducationThesis: resilience as a mediator between psychological alienation and psychosocial adjustment among university students.
DBT Intensive Training
Linehan Institute100 hours with weekly mentoring and consultation, led by Dr Andre Ivanoff and Ahmed Abd Elkerim, MA.
Schema Therapy Diploma
Schema Therapy Institute Eastern Switzerland (ISTOS)18 hours led by Christoph Fuhrhans, MD.
Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy
ICEEFT16 hours with Dr Sue Johnson and Dr Leanne Campbell, accredited by the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Meqyaas Counseling Center24-hour accredited programme in cognitive and behavioral techniques, led by Dr Amara Yahia.
Certified Professional Coach Program
Intellect71 ICF-approved coach-specific training hours (ACSTH).
Life 101 Coaching Training
Life 101 Coaching64 ICF-approved coach-specific training hours (ACSTH).
Learner Experience Facilitation (LXF)
SeGa Group50-hour programme in active, deep-learning facilitation.
Fundamentals of Scientific Writing
Cairo University, Faculty of Graduate Studies for EducationStructuring, formatting and presenting research.
Specialized Diploma in Counseling Psychology
Cairo UniversityFaculty of Graduate Studies for Education.
General Diploma in Education
Cairo UniversityFaculty of Graduate Studies for Education.
BSc in Commerce
Cairo University, Faculty of CommerceWhere it started, before the turn into psychology.
Before you write
The questions people ask first
What happens in a first session?
Mostly listening. You tell me what brought you, I ask about history and what you've already tried, and by the end we agree on what we're actually working on and roughly how long that tends to take. Nothing is decided for you, and you're free not to come back.
Which language do sessions run in?
Arabic or English, whichever you think in. Most people switch between the two mid-sentence and that's completely fine — some feelings only have a word in one of them.
Do you work online?
Yes. Sessions run in person in Mokattam, Cairo, or by video for clients elsewhere in Egypt and abroad. Online works well for most of what I do; I'll say so if I think in-person would serve you better.
Is what I say confidential?
Yes, with the standard limits: if there's a serious risk of harm to you or to someone else, or a legal obligation, I may have to act on it. I'll tell you what those limits are in the first session rather than leaving you to find out later.
Can you prescribe medication?
No — that's a psychiatrist's role, and I'm a counseling psychologist. If medication looks worth considering I'll refer you to a psychiatrist I trust and, with your consent, we can work alongside each other.
How do companies book training?
Send the brief through the form below — team size, what's going on, and the dates you have in mind. I'll come back with a scoped outline and a quote. Employee sessions stay confidential between me and the employee; the company receives themes, never names.
Get in touch
Starting is the hard part
Write a line or two about what's going on. I read every message myself and usually reply within two working days.
- Phone / WhatsApp +20 106 661 7450
- Email ahmed442@gmail.com
- Practice Mokattam, Cairo — and online
- LinkedIn Ahmed Lotfy's profile
If this is an emergency
This form isn't monitored around the clock. If you or someone near you is in immediate danger, call 123 for an ambulance in Egypt or go to the nearest emergency department.