Pronouns: they/ze/she
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Growing up in India, I developed a keen interest in mental health especially as it connects with gender and sexuality issues. After gaining educational and professional experience in working at the intersection of gender justice and mental health I took my passion international and came to New York City to earn a Master of Arts and Master of Education in Psychological Counseling from Teachers College at Columbia University.
As a licensed therapist in NYS, I believe therapy is a space of growth, empowerment, self-understanding, self-compassion, and catharsis in a world that makes it all too hard, especially for marginalized populations; sexual and gender minorities, folx of color, folx not based entirely in the US, etc; communities who often need and deserve such spaces because of the deep impact of systemic discrimination and marginalization but have had the least access to it. I believe that therapy needs to be a collaborative and co-created process, grounded in anti-racism (including anti-zionism) and trauma-informed approaches. Keeping that in the forefront, I utilize an integrative lens, tailoring what sessions look like to what suits individual clients best. Some of the foundations I draw from often include IFS, narrative, multicultural, feminist, and relational perspective, which considers people in relation to their individual, cultural, political, and societal contexts. I am also trained in Brainspotting, and integrate that into my practice where it fits, often for issues around trauma, or where clients are feeling stuck. I believe that power dynamics in any relationship are important to address, including the therapy relationship, and one way I do that is incorporating an open feedback channel from clients on what will make sessions more helpful.
I have extensive experience in working with QTPOC adults with experiences of trauma (childhood, gender & sexual based violence, family related, systemic traumas, intergenerational traumas), depression, anxiety, communication struggles and confusions, immigration experience (including asylum seeking), sex work experience, and neurodivergence. I also have experience working with folx who have had difficult or traumatic experiences with therapy and pathologisation in the past, and believe strongly in being non-carceral in my approach. Through lived as well as professional experience as a queer South Asian acearo person, I am especially interested in identity-exploration and working with folx of color identifying as asexual and/or aromantic.