Fee: $170 per 50-minute session, $300 per 100-minute session
Virtual and phone sessions available
Languages: English, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu
As humans, we experience feelings. Feelings are the building blocks of our existence. We laugh, cry or feel happy which is what imparts colour, texture and flavour to our lives. When managed effectively, even unpleasant feelings can be very useful. Feelings are quick ways of knowing that something within us or within our environment is not fundamentally good for us and needs to change. Feelings organize our bodies and minds to act in a certain way to meet our unmet needs. Our relationships, personal or professional, are likely to be also strengthened by sharing emotions, if we do so in a healthy way. However, too easily and too often, and seemingly out of nowhere, unpleasant and difficult feelings can sweep over our hearts and minds, and prevent our personal growth, keep us from accomplishing our goals, or damage our relationships. They may feel like a complete waste of your time and you may feel completely consumed, drained, overwhelmed or burnt out. Our difficult feelings may be heavily influenced by the trauma we have had in our lives, be it a single incident or multiple and complex, childhood or interpersonal. We see the subtle impact of trauma, not necessarily in the form of nightmares or flashbacks, but as habitual patterns of responses to various situations we find ourselves in everyday life. These patterns of responses to certain situations can become problematic when our brains automatically react to the present, biased by what we experienced in the past, without even realizing how our past is defining our present and taking us farther away from our happiness and fulfillment. We outgrow our clothes, our toys, our hobbies and interests, and our jobs. Sometimes, we may not realize that we can also outgrow our own feelings and actions that once helped us cope with our situations.
If you are feeling stuck in unpleasant feelings and are done with being your own guide, I am here to help. You don’t have to do this alone. I welcome you in your healing journey as your compassionate companion. I am here, ready to help you greet yourself with self-awareness and self-compassion. During therapy sessions, I will help you explore, notice and embrace your internal experience - your core feelings, thoughts and behaviours, as well as interrupt the repetitive patterns of unhelpful responses to amplify new feelings, thoughts and behaviours. I am a skill-based therapist with a focus on using an eclectic approach to psychotherapy that utilizes multiple modalities and approaches. Each time you have a negative thought, each time you go on an unhelpful behaviour track, I will proactively introduce a skill you can choose to use to disrupt the unwanted pathways in your brain. I move beyond the limits of skill-based therapies by integrating into my practice Inner Child work that taps into your resources as an adult to reparent the traumatized child self. With a rich tool box underneath your belt, you will be able to rewire your brain, and unstick and empower yourself. I draw from the knowledge base offered by multiple trainings and years of experience providing a variety of therapeutic approaches for adults – Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, Emotion Focused Therapy, Mindfulness-based Therapies, Prolonged Exposure Therapy, as well as various body-based trauma-informed interventions. I am continuously striving to upgrade my knowledge and bring latest tools in psychotherapy to my sessions.
A little about me! I migrated from India to Canada as an international student to further my graduate studies at the University of Toronto. A decade of experience in the newcomer settlement sector, coupled with my own experiences as a woman of colour, afforded me the opportunity to reflect on how common mental health disorders are shaped by the intersectionality of various determinants, including race, culture, immigration, socio-economic status and trauma-based personal experiences. I have dedicated my professional career to being an effective psychotherapist, and love to cook and hang out with my friends and family outside of my therapy sessions. I am social at heart, and love to be around and with people!
