Saliha Bava

Saliha Bava is an award-winning Professor and Interim Program Director of the Marriage and Family Therapy program at Mercy University’s School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, located in Dobbs Ferry, NY. Her work integrates relational intelligence, performative methodologies, and socially just dialogue to address trauma, cross-cultural dynamics, and inclusive leadership. She is the first Indian recipient of the AFTA Distinguished Contribution to Family Therapy Theory and Practice Award (2023) and the inaugural John Shotter Award for humanizing everyday life.

Dr. Bava’s research focuses on relational play, hyperlinked identities, and discursive practices in therapy, organizations, and education. She co-founded the International Journal of Collaborative-Dialogic Practices and runs the Relational Play Lab, exploring creative relational processes in leadership, teams, and education. Her consultancy practice in NYC focuses on organizational development, couples therapy, and inclusive pedagogies.

Her teaching spans systemic approaches to family counseling, ethics, disaster response, and clinical practicums. She advocates for anti-dominance supervision models and has authored influential books like *The Relational Workplace* and *The Relational Book for Parenting*. Her work bridges theory and practice, emphasizing relational creativity as a tool for equity and belonging.