I spent 6 months as a mental health volunteer in an Indian prison. — In 2017, I was given the opportunity to go to an Indian prison and work as a mental health volunteer for female inmates. The main aim of the weekly visits was to provide the women with an emphatic, listening ear while taking their complaints to the legal consultant of the…

The 3 step process that would help you polish your writing piece — I have been a proponent of the Socratic questioning since I discovered the concept while studying CBT or Cognitive Behavior Therapy in my psychology classes. The Socratic questions are considered to be the pillars of the CBT technique. As the name suggests, it involves creating a dialogue with the client…

You are not as powerless as you might think. — I am a part of a Facebook group for writers for the past month or two. While I really love interacting with fellow writers and learning a few tips and tricks, some days I just feel frustrated. I am failing because the internet does not support my niche, because I…

3 effective strategies to expand your nervous system. — As a psychotherapist, I have worked with multiple people who claim that they are terrible people because they react harshly even when they do not want to. Anna* told me that she screamed at her colleague when he pointed out a mistake she had made in her PPT slide. That…

Lately, I have been trying to build a friendship with you. You are something that has been there with me for a long time. You got really strong and got stuck to my skin when I was living away from my family for the first time. Then COVID happened and…

Stop telling me that procrastination is a bad thing. — Since I started writing on Medium in 2020, I have consumed a large quantity of self-help material. I was barely aware of this area of the topic until I began my writing journey on this website. Since self-help is one of the top-selling genres on the internet, there are tons…

Personal therapy has made me a better person and professional. — I tried individual therapy for the first time during my post-grad degree. The experience turned out to be terrible. The therapist invalidated my emotions, picked up her phone while I was crying, and developed the goals for therapy without consulting me. It could not have been worse. It took me…

5 tips to form your own quality social support group when you are an introvert. — I am guilty of waiting for someone to come and rescue me from my loneliness. When I was living away from my home for finishing my post-grad degree, it was also my first experience staying away from my major support group. I was very passive for the initial few months. …

Apparently poor are the happiest?! — A month ago, I attended a 7 days long religious festival that was attended by hundreds of ultra-rich people in India. Since my family was with me, I was forced to socialize with middle-aged men and women who drive SUVs and luxury cars while living in tall buildings. Their designer…