Boca Raton, Florida · Telehealth statewide
Najla Sallum, LCSW
Licensed Clinical Social Worker providing psychotherapy for adults, couples, and families, and preparing psychological evaluations for immigration proceedings. Services are delivered in English, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Florida License SW19846 · Chapter 491, Florida Statutes
Inquiries are handled directly by Najla, typically within one business day.
Professional overview
Najla Sallum is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the State of Florida (license SW19846) with more than fourteen years of clinical experience. Her practice concentrates on two related areas: outpatient psychotherapy with adults, couples, and families, and psychological evaluations prepared for immigration attorneys and their clients.
Clinical work is conducted in English, Portuguese, or Spanish. Language is not treated as a translation service. The interview, the formulation, and the written report are conducted in the language the client speaks most comfortably, which materially affects both the accuracy of the assessment and the credibility of the resulting documentation.
As an LCSW, Najla practices under Chapter 491 of the Florida Statutes. This scope includes psychotherapy, clinical assessment, and clinical evaluation for legal and administrative proceedings. It does not include psychological testing, ADHD testing, or autism diagnostic testing, which fall within the scope of licensed psychologists under Chapter 490. When testing is clinically indicated, referral to an appropriate specialist is offered.
Clinical philosophy
Symptoms rarely exist in isolation. They emerge within a person's developmental history, family system, cultural context, medical background, and current environment. A useful assessment accounts for these layers rather than collapsing them into a single label. A useful course of treatment follows a coherent formulation of the problem, not a rotation of unrelated techniques.
Two commitments guide the work. The first is disciplined evaluation: taking the client's reported experience seriously while examining alternative explanations, distinguishing overlapping presentations, and remaining transparent about what a given assessment can and cannot conclude. The second is professional restraint in writing. A clinical report is stronger when it is accurate and specific than when it is dramatic.
Compassion and accuracy are not competing values. Clients are met without judgment, and clinical judgment is not softened to accommodate a preferred conclusion. That combination is what makes therapy useful and what makes an evaluation defensible.
Areas of service
Immigration Psychological Evaluations
Clinical evaluations prepared for filing with USCIS petitions, immigration court, and consular processes. Covers Asylum, Extreme Hardship (I-601 / I-601A), VAWA, U-Visa, T-Visa, and Cancellation of Removal.
Read moreIndividual Therapy
Weekly or biweekly psychotherapy for adults presenting with anxiety, depression, adjustment difficulties, trauma-related symptoms, and stress associated with major life transitions.
Read moreCouples & Family Therapy
Structured work with couples and families addressing communication patterns, conflict cycles, parenting disagreement, and repair after ruptures.
Read moreTrauma-Informed Therapy
Therapy that recognizes how trauma shapes symptoms, relationships, and daily functioning, with pacing and structure appropriate to each person's history.
Read moreEvaluation and therapy are different services
Clients and attorneys sometimes use these terms interchangeably. In practice they answer different questions.
- Psychotherapy
- An ongoing clinical relationship whose purpose is treatment. Sessions build over time and are held in confidence, with narrowly defined exceptions required by law.
- Clinical assessment
- The structured intake and history-taking that inform a treatment plan. Distinct from formal psychological testing.
- Immigration psychological evaluation
- A defined clinical evaluation conducted to answer a specific legal question. It produces a written report shared with the referring attorney and, through them, with the reviewing agency. It does not establish a treatment relationship.
- Psychological testing
- The administration and interpretation of standardized instruments (cognitive, personality, or diagnostic). In Florida this is the scope of licensed psychologists and is not offered here. Referrals are available where appropriate.
What clients can expect
The exact process depends on the service selected, but the general sequence is consistent. An initial inquiry establishes what you are trying to accomplish and whether the service is a good fit. Intake collects the relevant history. For evaluations, records provided by counsel are reviewed and interviews are conducted, sometimes with collateral input where appropriate. Findings are integrated into a written report. For therapy, sessions build toward defined goals with periodic review.
Timing, records requested, and deliverables vary by service and are described more specifically on each service page.
Frequently asked questions
Contact the practice
Reach out to confirm whether a service is appropriate for your situation and to obtain current scheduling information. Please do not include confidential clinical, medical, immigration, or legal details in the contact form; it is intended for general scheduling inquiries.