Lana Toufaili, MA

Lana Toufaili is a licensed adolescent and adult clinical psychologist and psychotherapist. She graduated with high distinction from the American University of Beirut with a master’s degree in clinical psychology. She then trained for two years at the American University of Beirut’s Medical center, where she provided therapy for adolescents and adults, and was trained in in-patient psychological management, psychological testing and assessment, consultation liaisons, and group interventions.

Ms. Toufaili was trained and supervised in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment therapy, and Dialectic Behavioral Therapy. Among others, Lana has experience working mostly with Personality disorders, Trauma, and Mood and Anxiety disorders.

Her experience in trauma therapy was fortified during her job position as a clinical psychologist supervisor with Doctors without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontieres), where she was sent on missions to post-war countries to provide psychological interventions refugees and internally displaced individuals, and to train the national staff.

Ms. Toufaili is interested in pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology, with an emphasis on Trauma. She is an author in the “Beirut Ammonium Nitrate Blast: A Multi-center Study to Assess Injury Characteristics and Outcomes” study, which got published in the Journal of Trauma.

She has also contributed in a review on methodological practices of Psychological Tests in Arabic, published in the Springer Journal, in addition to other studies on areas such as the impact of Covid on Tele-Mental Health services and Cognition and Therapy in Autism Spectrum Disorder. During her master’s degree, she was a graduate assistant for 2 years, where she assisted professors in teaching undergraduate courses in Psychology such as Statistical Analyses and Research Designs courses.

In therapy sessions, Lana’s frame of mind with her patients is compassionate, genuine, and spirited with a little humor. She offers a non-judgmental, safe space for her patients to gently challenge and explore aspects of themself, allowing room for self-discovery, insight building, and self-growth.

One of her main purposes as a therapist is to facilitate her patients’ ability to sit with difficult and conflicting emotions, hold and embrace pain, and find ways to manage this pain through the journey of practicing acceptance in the presence of a strong restorative therapeutic alliance.
She also emphasizes a value-based approach that sheds light on gaining an orientation of qualities, beliefs, and standards that promotes leading a more fulfilling life.