The person behind the C.A.R.E. Method.
Clinical Psychologist CBT & NLP Practitioner Hypnotherapist
I am Ahtasham Liaqat, a clinical psychologist, certified CBT and NLP practitioner, hypnotherapist practitioner and academic supervisor. My work spans clinical psychology, education, research, human resources and organizations supporting children and adults.
My approach is structured, practical and focused on the patterns behind the problems people experience.
Not just the latest argument, but the loop that keeps bringing a relationship back to the same place.
My story
It started with something I kept seeing.
In every setting I have worked in, the same thing kept showing up. So much of the pain people carry does not come from big events. It comes from not feeling understood by the people they live with. Two people who love each other, sharing one home, and still feeling alone in it.
Early on, I was trained to find the problem and fix it. Then I learned to meet people with complete acceptance first, before trying to change anything. That shift changed how I work, and it is still the heart of everything I do with couples today.
Couples don't need to be fixed. They need to be understood first.
Ahtasham Liaqat
Most couples still cared deeply about each other. What they had lost was the feeling of being heard, and a way to talk without it turning into the same argument.
I stopped starting with rules and advice. I started with the person, even when they couldn't find the words for what was wrong. That is when real change began to happen.
I wanted to be that safe space for couples in Pakistan. Not a generic coach, but someone who works inside our families, our pressures and our values, not around them.
What I'm working towards
"We're going to our therapist to learn skills." Not, "We're in trouble."
I want getting support for a relationship in Pakistan to feel as normal as seeing a doctor. Something couples reach for early, before things break, not only after. And I want every couple to know it exists, and that it works.
My point of view
About love, and about what actually keeps two people close.
The common belief
This one expectation sits underneath most of the conflict I see. One partner waits to be read without saying anything. The other is left trying to meet a need they were never actually told about. Both end up hurt, and both feel unheard.
What's actually true
Feeling close isn't a sign of how much someone loves you. It comes from two skills that can be practised, and it puts the responsibility on both partners, not just on the one who "doesn't care enough."
Most couples are missing both, not just one.
Not the complaint on the surface, but the feeling and the need underneath it, said in a way your partner can actually hear.
Hearing your partner out fully before explaining, correcting or protecting yourself, so they feel understood, not argued with.
The good news? Both can be learned. That is exactly what our work together is built around.
My approach
A guide, not a director.
I won't tell you whether to stay or leave, and I won't hand you a list of rules. My job is to help you see what is really driving the pattern, and then build a better way through it, together.
Every repeated argument is protecting something. Instead of policing the behaviour, we find the need it is trying to meet, and meet it in a better way.
It's your relationship and your life. I help you see clearly and choose well, but the choices about your future always stay with you.
Not endless talking. Each week has a clear focus, simple tools and real practice at home, so progress is something you can feel.
Inside a session
A couple comes in arguing about phone use during their time together. The easy answer would be a rule. But a rule rarely fixes why the behaviour started.
"When you pick up your phone in that moment, what are you trying to escape from?"
We look at what happens just before the phone comes out: the tension, the tiredness, the conversation being avoided.
Often it is rest, safety from criticism, or a break from a feeling that is hard to name. Once it is said out loud, it stops being a fight.
Together, the couple builds a simple new habit that meets that need, so the old behaviour is no longer needed.
The lines I never cross, whatever the situation.
What you share stays between us. Always.
My loyalty is to the relationship and to the truth.
Real healing takes effort, and I respect yours.
Warm and personal, always professional.
In their own words.
Real couples and individuals who decided their relationship was worth working on.
We had the same argument every week for two years. After a few sessions we finally understood what we were actually fighting about. Home feels calm again.
My husband wasn't ready to come, so I started alone. I learned to change my part, and slowly he started changing his. I didn't think that was possible.
The in-law pressure was pulling us apart. We now handle family decisions together, as a team, without either of us feeling we chose sides.
Working abroad made us feel like strangers. The sessions gave us small daily habits that kept us close across the distance.
He never took sides, not once. For the first time we both felt heard in the same room. That alone changed how we talk at home.
I was nervous about anyone finding out. Everything was private and respectful. I left every session feeling lighter and understood.
Let's talk
Book a short, private call. We'll talk about what's happening in your relationship and whether working together is the right fit, with no pressure either way.
