Dharmistha (Dharmi) Lad is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist based on the Leeward side of O‘ahu. Born in Manchester, England and raised in California, she proudly integrates her South Asian heritage with modern American values—honoring both tradition and personal growth. In her free time, Dharmi enjoys traveling, reading, and spending meaningful time with loved ones.

With nine years of clinical experience, Dharmi specializes in treating anxiety, life transitions, disruptive child behaviors, and relational challenges across family systems. She has extensive experience supporting individuals and families through major life changes—including relocation, grief, career shifts, and evolving family dynamics. Dharmi provides therapy to children, adolescents, adults, and couples using a strengths-based, person-centered approach that emphasizes emotional safety, cultural sensitivity, and collaborative healing. Her work draws from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help clients identify and reframe unhelpful thought patterns, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) to support emotional regulation and distress tolerance, and person-centered therapy to foster self-awareness, empowerment, and unconditional positive regard. For couples, Dharmi integrates principles from the Gottman Method to enhance communication, rebuild trust, and strengthen emotional connection.

Dharmi earned her master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Chaminade University. She incorporates mindfulness and grounding techniques into her practice, helping clients navigate life’s challenges with clarity and resilience. Her therapeutic goal is to support individuals and couples in accessing their inner strengths and moving toward meaningful change through a compassionate, collaboratively shaped process.

She also has extensive experience addressing addiction, behavioral concerns, codependency, and relationship issues, and provides support to veterans. Committed to accessibility and inclusivity, Dharmi offers telehealth services to ensure clients can receive care in a way that fits their lives.

She accepts a variety of insurance plans, including Aloha Care, BlueCross BlueShield, Hawaii Medical Assurance Association, Hawaii Medical Services Association, Medicaid, Medicare, Ohana Health Plan, Optum, PSWA/AFL, TRICARE, TriWest, UnitedHealthcare UHC | UBH, and University Health Alliance.