A Safe Space for Growth: Welcome to My Mental Wellness Blog

Hi, there!

I am Neha and I am a Certified Mental Health Professional - more specifically a Clinical Psychologist, based out of India. I am also a Psychotherapist and provide therapy to those facing mental health issues. 

Now you may be wondering, what is a psychologist doing on blogger? 😲 Is she going to give us advice on prioritizing our mental health? or is she here to somehow "read our minds" and judge us through the very tangible wall of blogger where we pour out our deepest desires, fears, experiences? 🤔

The former? A little. The latter? NOT AT ALL.

My sacrosanct duty here, as part of the mental health community, is to aid in de-stigmatization of the very omnipresent aspect of our lives, which we more often than not, completely ignore:

Our Mental Health.

So yes, in a way I WILL be advocating for it, but not just because I'm a professional, and I should, but also because I personally believe in it. However, I am not here to judge anyone, because as a psychologist and human being I believe we are all just getting to know ourselves 😉

You might know that an individual is likely to push a concept, idea or even something intangible, when their values, beliefs as well as experiences align with it. Just like you would in a company or organization. Suppose, you have a job in a your favorite company, with good people, good work environment (I did say "suppose") and where you honest to God had faith in their belief system on which company motto is built. You would do anything and everything possible to stay in that place, and maybe in fact refer some people, so that they would experience what you do as well. You might also go to their work hangs (apparently that's a thing now), team building workshops, big guns presentations and maybe even voluntary business trips. You would do all of that for the environment they provide you, their work ethic, their reasonable benefits; but most importantly - because what they do is in sync with what you believe to be right. You might not realize it at the time, as we all are most focused on money and a chill lifestyle, and the underlying reason for it doesn't really register in our mind, but deep down it is a major part of what influences us.

Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash

Now imagine, if there were in front of you, more charismatic choices, with attractive benefits, even more than what you're getting at present, and would be far more advantageous to you. You might consider those choices because they give you a feeling of "abundance" or maybe just because you think that they are more satisfying, because they are higher in capacity, reputation etcetera. You'll try to be a part of those "fancy" organizations. When you finally do and spend time knowing that organization and people in it, you might realize that the work environment doesn't suit you; it's loud, toxic, brash (there are some exceptions), there is no quality of life, and you have to participate in things that you previously liked in the old job, but not in this. This is when you actually, truly realize that in our life, we want to be associated with people/things/organizations, that not only bring out the best in us, but that more closely associated or aligned with what we believe in. In psychology, this phenomena is called congruence. When we are not wholly congruent, we end up being in a place of conflict where our mind believes in one thing, but we do the other (cognitive dissonance).

By now you must have understood the point I'm trying to make.

Do what you believe in, and if not, at the very least, believe in what you do.

That's what I am doing and that's what you should do too. 

Which brings me back to what I'm going to do in the blog. 

With this blog, I want to, like I said previously, de-stigmatize mental health. Don't get me wrong, I am really glad to see people openly talking about mental health and taking therapy to take care of their mental health in the present era, but as a community we still have a long way to go. Moreover, I will also be sharing insights into mental health, mental wellness & ways to achieve mental wholeness. I will talk about how our brain's complexity affects us psychologically and vice versa,  how are body and mind are connected, how psychology applies to our lives in different ways, and lastly how is it that we are able to build resilience in the face of adversity.🌱

Last but not the least, I will also be sharing tips to relieve stress and anxiety, tips to maximize mental wellness and resources that one might need in light of psychological illness. 

I will NOT be sharing diagnoses, their criteria, case vignettes or confidential information pertaining to my practice, as I believe those belong behind the closed doors, in a therapist's office. :)

Since I'm new and working, I will be posting once a week on Saturdays or Sundays. I may extend it to twice a week based on the time I am left with. 

If you want to reach me, or want to take therapy, I will be adding a link to my Instagram page in this blogpost and on my blog page. Kindly visit that, and we can have an in-depth conversation. You can also follow it as I share information about a lot of mental health related issues. 😀

This is me signing off. See you in the next post. 💓

(Click here to visit my mental health page: TaralMannh: Bringing Therapy To You)