About
Clinical work, teaching, writing, and consulting grounded in how people live, work, and make meaning.
25-minute exploratory conversation. No obligation. We'll discuss your needs and whether there's a fit.
Why The Politicized Practitioner?
Stories about why people emigrate, spend years contemplating coming out, embrace or reject religion, pursue or resist pressures for weight loss, and seek safer spaces, are just as much about power and political context, as they are individual experience. Clinical and consulting work does not occur in isolation. People live within families, communities, cultures, and systems. My identification as The Politicized Practitioner reflects a commitment to understanding and intervening across multiple levels.
Who I Am
I'm Rahim Thawer, a registered social worker, psychotherapist, educator, and writer.
I'm from Toronto and currently based in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where I am a doctoral student in social work and a full-time instructor.
My work sits at the intersection of clinical practice, public scholarship, and organizational consulting. Across these areas, I'm interested in how people understand distress, how care is delivered, and how both are shaped by context, identity, and power.
What I Do
My work spans several areas:
- Speaking and training for clinical, academic, and community settings
- Organizational consulting with teams and institutions
- Clinical consultation and supervision
- Teaching and curriculum development in social work education
- Writing and publishing for clinicians, communities, and classrooms
- Developing tools and structured resources for practice
These are not separate streams. They inform each other.
Background
I have over a decade of clinical experience working in mental health, trauma, and complex care across LGBTQ+, newcomer, racialized, and HIV-affected communities.
My work has included psychotherapy, program development, clinical supervision, and leadership within community health and nonprofit settings.
I am currently completing a Doctor of Social Work (DSW) at the University of Alabama, with a focus on organizational leadership, group dynamics, and psychoanalytic approaches to systems change.
Alongside this, I teach in the School of Social Work at the University of Alabama and contribute to professional education programs across institutions.
Approach
I draw from psychoanalytic, cognitive-behavioral, and Gestalt traditions.
In practice, that means:
- Close attention to clinical assessment, formulation, and intervention
- Using the DSM as a guide while holding a critical and contextual lens
- Working with the therapeutic frame, transference, and countertransference
- Understanding identity, culture, and systems as part of every clinical encounter
I'm interested in work that is both clinically rigorous and grounded in the realities people are navigating.
Selected Work
My work includes:
- Books and guides for clinicians, communities, and educators
- Public talks, lectures, and workshops delivered across North America and internationally
- The CBT Dive video podcast
- Development of clinical tools and structured frameworks for practice
- Ongoing work on continuing education programs and Rekindle
How to Use This Site
This site is organized around a few main pathways.
You don't need to go through everything. Start with what you need.