Some of the ways I would identify my cultural identity include: mother, wife, feminist, Indian-American, spiritual, progressive, BIPOC and LGBTQ-ally, immigrant, multi-lingual, and nature-loving. I may look like your aunty back home, but I have lived through a lot of the same acculturation struggles that my millennial and gen-x clients face, straddling two cultures and trying to make sense of my identity as a 1.5 gen American.
My therapy approach is client-centered, compassionate, honoring of your values and lived experiences, and focused on the changes you would like to make in your life. I also recognize that many of the hardships that my Desi and BIPOC clients face are the result of systemic racism, injustice and inequity. These can manifest in a host of mental health concerns including anxiety, depression and intimate partner violence, to name a few.
After immigrating with my family from Bangalore, India at age 3, I spent my formative adolescent and teen years living and studying in Maryland, California and the Dominican Republic. As a young adult, I also worked and studied in Japan. These experiences helped to stretch my understanding of the ways different cultures live. I am part of a multi-cultural (Indian, German) and multi-lingual family (Spanish, German, Tamil, Telegu, Japanese). I believe this gives me a unique perspective on how individuals, couples and families deal with the stressors associated with immigration and acculturation, multi-ethnic relationships, intergenerational conflicts, life transitions and other difficulties.
Prior to becoming a therapist in 2011 – I worked as an international marketing and public relations executive for almost 20 years in the high tech industry. This experience taught me a lot about working with clients from very diverse cultural backgrounds and professional identities. It also gave me an opportunity to witness firsthand the stress and other negative effects of ‘corporate America’ and in conforming to social norms and pressures that don’t fit our own ideas of self.
I am the founder, lead therapist and clinical supervisor of Avani Counseling, a telehealth marriage & family therapy corporation, providing individual, relational and group therapy to clients anywhere in California. Additionally, we hold workshops and other programs related to cultivating wellbeing. I also train and mentor new therapists at Avani Counseling and my non-profit counseling center, NISD Counseling, and teach in the Counseling & School Psychology department at San Diego State University.
Reach out if I can be of support at bit.ly/Avani-appt
