Strength & Soul
About Us
Finding Inspiration in Every Turn
At Strength & Soul, we are dedicated to nurturing comprehensive mental wellness by empowering individuals through compassionate care rooted in neuroscience and innovative therapeutic frameworks. Our practice prioritizes self-care and personal growth, offering transformative wellness retreats and workshops that integrate Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RO DBT), yoga, and nervous system regulation. We strive to create a supportive community where healing unfolds naturally, fostering resilience, balance, and lasting empowerment on the journey to mental and emotional well-being.
Our Story
Strength & Soul was born from a shared recognition — that too many people, particularly women, were not getting the care they truly needed.
Dr. Manmeet Rattu (Mini) and Dr. Pembe Ethem-Talbert (Pem) met at JFK University while completing their doctorates, and quickly found in each other a kindred spirit. As women of color who had both navigated working in spaces dominated by privileged voices, they understood firsthand what it means to feel unseen, to learn how to quiet yourself in order to fit in, and to slowly, painstakingly learn to believe in your own worth. That shared experience didn't just bond them as friends — it became the foundation of a practice.
They saw a gap in women's health and community care. Research and lived experience both point to the same truth: people thrive when their health and mental health needs are genuinely believed and taken seriously, when they are nurtured within a community, and when they are given a safe space to show up as exactly who they are. Strength & Soul was built to be that space.
Dr. Manmeet Rattu, PsyD (Mini)
Dr. Mini's path has always been guided by a belief in the profound connection between mind, body, and culture. Drawing on her background in neuropsychology, she integrates the science of the brain with the healing power of yoga — a combination she deepened through Stanford University's Yoga X program. Her work centers on helping people from diverse backgrounds understand and harness the power within themselves. Through research, workshops, and retreats, Mini creates spaces where people can heal, reconnect, and step more fully into their own strength.
Dr. Pembe Ethem-Talbert, PsyD (Pem)
Dr. Pem's career has been shaped by a deep commitment to meeting people in their darkest moments and walking alongside them toward the light. Trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and grounded in neuropsychology, she spent years working with highly suicidal individuals — helping them move from barely surviving to building lives that felt worth living. She later trained in Radically Open DBT (RO-DBT), expanding her work to include people who struggle with emotional overcontrol: those who hold themselves to impossibly high standards, keep their guard up, and have spent years striving but quietly suffering. (add themes of RO DBT)
Who We Work With
Many of the people who find their way to Strength & Soul are high-achievers and perfectionists — people who appear to have it all together from the outside, but carry an enormous weight within. They have learned, often out of necessity, to keep their guard up. To perform. To conform.
We understand that pattern deeply — and we know what it takes to gently, safely begin to loosen it.
At Strength & Soul, we hold space for people to be authentically themselves, without losing sight of the cultural contexts and lived experiences that have shaped them. Because we believe that true healing doesn't ask you to leave any part of yourself at the door — it asks all of you to come in.
