About SoundHeart
A relationship institute built on belonging.
SoundHeart exists to help people repair and strengthen the relationships that matter most, using a clear framework, honest communication, and steady practice.
Mission
Relationships can heal. We help people practice the way there.
SoundHeart brings together licensed counseling, intensive experiences, coaching, and professional education under one framework, NeuroRelational Belonging Theory™. The idea at the center is simple. People carry learned expectations about whether they belong, and those expectations shape every close relationship. Change comes from understanding those expectations and then practicing new experiences until they take hold.
We are based in Alaska's Mat-Su Valley, licensed for clinical services in Alaska and Ohio, and work in English and Arabic. Coaching, training, and retreats are offered in person and remotely to clients in every state and abroad.
“They said they were tired of proving it. Proving what, I would ask. The answer was always the same. That they were allowed to be there.”
Founder
Nawal Ibrahim, MS, MA, LPC, LMFT
Founder of SoundHeart and creator of NeuroRelational Belonging Theory™.
Nawal developed the framework across more than twenty years of practice in child protective services, corrections, state psychiatric care, court-mandated residential rehabilitation, veteran and first-responder care, community mental health, and private practice. Different ages, languages, and histories kept showing the same thing underneath. People felt they had to keep proving they were allowed to be there.
- Credentials
- MS, MA, LPC, LMFT
- Licensure
- Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in Alaska and Ohio. Licensure details
- Experience
- More than 20 years of clinical practice
- Publications
- The NeuroRelational Library, 4 books
- Languages
- English and Arabic
Values
What guides the work.
Practice over performance
Change is measured in what people can do differently, not in how well they can describe the problem.
Honesty about evidence
We distinguish established research from our own framework, and we say what is not yet known.
Safety before speed
We screen for fit and safety, and we will tell you when another kind of help would serve you better.
Clear lines
Counseling, coaching, and education are labeled plainly so you always know what you are choosing.
Dignity
No one is shamed for how they learned to survive. Patterns made sense once. They can be relearned.
Culture and faith
We work with people's cultures, languages, and beliefs, not around them.
Publications
The NeuroRelational Library.
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The Relationship Brain
Get the book -
The Rehabilitated Self
Get the book -
NeuroRelational Belonging
A Unified Theory of Human Connection
Get the book -
The Marriage Rehab
Get the book
Research
Building the evidence carefully.
NeuroRelational Belonging Theory™ draws on established research on belonging, attachment, prediction, and habit. Its own propositions have not yet been independently tested, and we say so wherever the framework appears. As formal research on the framework is published, it will be listed here.