LOCAL LIFE
ONE OF THE HILLS FINEST ...
Azita has worked hard to make therapy more accessible for busy people with her weekend therapy retreats . by Lorna Gordon
I first met Azita Abdollahian five years ago when I walked into her hair salon in Castle Hill and was greeted by a beautiful woman , who treated me like a guest who has just entered her home .
Azita ’ s story is remarkable , she fled from Iran with her husband and two daughters when political problems put all of their lives at risk . They made their way to the United Nations in Turkey , and from there to Australia in 2000 as political refugees .
The family made the best of their situation , but it was far from easy . She arrived here with no knowledge of English , only the few possessions they could carry with them and went from their life of affluence in Iran to one of poverty here . “ Life was so hard ; we were taking things people had thrown on the street to make a home and everything looked awful . The best things we had were two white chairs and a table which looked the same and that ’ s where we took all our photos so it looked decent .”
Her life wasn ’ t just hard financially , her relationship with her husband was difficult and she decided she would not always be reliant on him . She taught herself English and found a job in a hair salon where she picked up hairdressing skills . Even though she was dramatically under paid for her work , she liked being out of the house and gaining some independence .
Her husband invested in a salon for Azita to work in , but this was part of him controlling her movements and their marriage deteriorated further when Azita caught him with another woman . This difficult situation ended up being a turning point for her and she decided to get a divorce .
“ My husband called the police when I found him with this other woman and the police woman who responded to the call asked if I would like to go to the station for a coffee to help me calm down ,” Azita said .
“ She told me I didn ’ t have to explain my behaviour and that I deserve to be happy , respected and loved . These words had never been said to me before and the idea that I could have this was a revelation .”
Having reached rock bottom for the second time Azita gathered her formidable strength and turned her life around again . She found her own hair salon and learned how to do the day to day things we take for granted , like paying bills and looking after herself which she had never had the chance to do before .
The next thing she did was study , at first she studied criminology but then changed her course to counselling so she could help other women who had been in a similar situation .
When she gained her qualification Azita had the idea of setting up a therapy room in her salon so that her clients had a warm and inviting place to work
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6 ISSUE 111 // SEPTEMBER 2024 theindependentmagazine . com . au THE HILLS INDEPENDENT