I have always been curious about everything that humans do, why we think or behave in a certain way, and where the difference in the behaviour comes from. Psychology answered all these questions for me as I stumbled upon the subject in college. Gradually, it helped me understand all the nuances of human functioning which further facilitated self-awareness. Becoming a counsellor meant helping other individuals in their journey to self-discovery by understanding more about their patterns, copings, emotions, and bodies.

What excites me the most about my work is being able to play a role as a catalyst in the client’s life and journey of working on themselves. Being able to witness and contribute in some ways gives me immense satisfaction.

In the first session, the focus is to build rapport with the client and to gauge whether we are the perfect fit for each other for this process. The aim is to make the clients feel safe, heard, and comfortable in that space, where we explore their expectations and needs from the process and discuss the nature of this process, followed by identifying the concerns and setting the goals and pace collaboratively.

I often tell my clients that therapy is not necessarily about fixing themselves or their problems; rather, it’s a space where they can feel their emotions, process their thoughts, and just be with themselves. They are an expert of their own selves. Therapy is a process of self-exploration and getting in touch with all their parts, where a lot of unlearning, and relearning of various aspects about themselves takes place.

I see therapy as a space where the client and I, we collaboratively build a toolbox full of resources and whenever the need arises, the client can use a particular tool to manage themselves in various adversities. We identify the challenges and concerns that they would like to address, prioritise them and set goals accordingly.

The most important learning for me is that therapy is not limited to just working on the concerns but also acknowledging the strengths and skills that one possesses. As humans, we are resilient in our own ways and it’s important to not lose sight of that. Each client helps me grow as a professional and a person in various different ways and hence, I consider this space of therapy as a constant exchange of giving and receiving.

I view therapy as a space of giving and receiving which allows the room for constant unlearning and learning for both me and the client.

I like reading, travelling, painting and cooking in my free time.

I take a psychosocial, systemic, and rights-based approach to address the concerns brought by the clients in the therapeutic space. My eclectic approach helps in catering to each client’s individual therapeutic needs through trauma and queer affirmative lens, where we identify the role of the systems that they are a part of and how that impacts their well-being, and what role do they play in their own journey. Collaboratively, we identify their internal strengths and resources to navigate their various life challenges psychological social, cultural context. Lastly, we focus on holistic well-being, which means that we engage with our emotions, thoughts and bodies throughout this process.

I have received a training in Queer Affirmative Counselling Practice. I have also had the opportunity of working with queer clients. I ensure that I use inclusive language, ask for pronouns and state mine, as well as educate myself on queer and trans* people’s experiences and concerns. I make sure that I am not only engaging in learning and educating myself with the required resources and and training materials but also unlearning various aspects that have been exposed to. The goal is to understand and create a safe space for the lived experiences that the clients come with.