What I offer

INDIVIDUAL THERAPY

I provide therapy for individuals above the age of 18. I mainly provide adult individual therapy but I welcome spouses/partners or other family members to attend the sessions if the person in concern is comfortable with that setting. It is usually beneficial to involve family members in your therapy process for support and resolve conflicts, as needed.

Multicultural Therapy

Multicultural therapy means that a therapist is mindful of the impact an individual’s culture may have on their day to day decision making, from educational and academic choices to even finding a significant other. As a therapist following the multicultural modality, I take into account the role of cultural factors [culture rooted in your family or religion or race or ethnicity or nationality] as we understand the mental health challenges that you are going through. And even mental health can be viewed as a taboo in different cultures, which is why I invest time in learning about you, your family, the culture you live in, values you have individually, and the preferred future you see for yourself and team up with you in finding a healthy balance.

Some of the populations that can benefit from the multicultural modality,

Immigrants [First Generation]: As a first generation immigrant [someone who was born and raised in India and moved here as a young adult], I know how lost one can feel when you step into a new country that is significantly different from your home. You feel excited yes, but also nervous as to what entails in the future. Immigration brings in it’s own challenges of having to acclimate to a new culture, language, people, technology, rules, unsaid societal norms, laws, and structure which can be overwhelming. There’s stress around wanting to establish yourself in the new country, finding employment and financial stability, building new social relationships, and simultaneously continuing to find ways to take care of your family back home, help them financially, balancing your long distance relationships. If this is not enough, the ever ending stress about being sent back to your home country because of the sudden changes in the legal system. I hear you. This all can be overwhelming, especially when you are trying to navigate it with little to no in-person natural supports [immediate family members].

Immigrants [Second Generation]: Yes, 2nd Gen immigrants [children of immigrant parents] are well versed in the country’s language, culture, people, laws etc but they experience their own set of challenges. If you’re a 2nd gen immigrant, you may be familiar with the expectations that comes from living in a family that is closer to their home-country [country the parents immigrated form] culture. The family’s expectation from you conflicts with your values that can be more aligned with the country that you’ve grown up in. This can create an internal conflict within a person who tries their best to meet expectations of the family but also wanting to stay true to their self about what they value in their life. One may even start feeling like an outsider in their own family due to the conflicting values. This conflict can further create feelings of guilt, feeling that you’re “not doing enough” or you’re “not good enough”, loss of identity, wanting to stand up for one self but also not wanting to disrespect the family. Let’s discuss this more and find a balance in you becoming your most authentic self.

LGBTQ

It is hard when you know that your true identity is different from the people around you. It becomes harder when the people around you may not be as supportive as you would hope. While working with clients who belong to the LGBTQ community, I’ve learned how excruciating of a process it could be from realizing that you don’t relate to other kids at school, realizing something is different but trying your best to continue wanting to fit into the society’s norms. Fitting into what gender you should like or what should you wear or who should you love and what sexuality you should adapt. And once you are gradually able to come to terms with what is your true self, you are confronted with the dreadful decision of coming out to your family, friends, and acquaintances and anyone and everyone. Furthermore, if you are a part of a conservative family or a minority population, this process of coming out becomes 10 times harder. I believe in letting people be what makes them comfortable the most. Coming from an Asian-Indian family I understand the struggles of not being accepted or being dismissed or forced to conform to the societal norms because log kya kahenge [What might people say]. I want to provide a safe space to anyone who would like to begin their journey of finding themselves and utilize the therapy as a means to empower an individual to be who they are and how can we unabashedly present themselves to the society as who they are without having to experience the emotions of shame, guilt, fear, or abandonment.

Diverse Race and/or ethnicity

Maybe you belong to a race that is different from the majority of the population around you. You are not a 1st or 2nd gen immigrant. You and your family and the past generations have lived in this country for number of years. You know how this country work. You know the language, the culture, and what not. And yet, you find yourself facing subliminal experiences that makes you wonder “Did that just happen to me?” You may question yourself but you continue to see the disparity in the way you are addressed by people or the system around you. The disparity or racism can be outward and blunt, and/or it can be subdued [also referred to as micro-aggression]. Such experiences makes us feel like a pariah [an outsider] in our own home country. Especially, right now considering the racial tension in our country, let’s talk about it and see how to care for our self, our mental health while we cope with the events happening around us.