Is your mental health in safe hands

sometimes i wonder

what would happen if my 20 year old self

stressed lonely and homesick

would not have found a good counsellor

would i be giving this tedx talk today

would i be addressing this wonderful

audience in front of me

perhaps not actually definitely not

let me take you back to my story i was

this 20 year old

on a journey to discover myself for the

first time

i had shifted from my home city to a

completely new city to do my masters

now this was a very difficult phase of

my life

for the first time i was moving away

from the comfort of my home

trying to make new friends in college at

the age of 20

attending college every day because

attendance was compulsory with a pile

of heavy counselling books life was

difficult

and it was happening to me for the first

time i was scared

i was lonely and i was crying

but at the same time along with the

storm of my emotions

my university kept me busy by giving its

fair share of surprises

unrealistic deadlines at least in my

head

college had just started and we started

receiving tons of submissions

surprise tests were weekly business

and news flash we had to take 10

sessions

of mandatory therapy for ourselves yes

you heard that right

it was a compulsory condition for us if

it was not

i don’t think so i would have ever taken

uh therapy for myself

like 80 of our population i was

practically unaware of what happens in

the four or

four wall of therapy room how will it

really help me

and the most pressing question do i

really need it what’s wrong with me

but today when i look back i knew what

were the exact dangers

i was in because at that time

the most pressing decision for me was

whether to buy an hp laptop

or a lenovo laptop but now that i’m in

this field more than three years

having seen hundreds of clients

when they come to me feeling completely

lost and resistant towards therapy it’s

very difficult for me to watch

some of their narratives were very

shocking i want you to pay careful

attention

to these stories that clients have

shared with me

i felt she was advising me like i’m her

child

when i told him my views i could

literally see judgment on his face

i felt like she was giving me

generalized solutions

she ended up sharing my secrets with

father

i felt betrayed each of these stories

scream breach of ethical mental health

practices

if you have heard them very carefully

you could be one of these people if you

are not putting a lot of thought and

effort

of how to choose a right mental health

professional

to give your own mental health in their

responsible hands

then it will be very difficult for you

when i heard these stories i was very

intrigued to know what’s really

happening in this profession

so i tried to do a qualitative research

on 14 mental health professionals from

mumbai

and from bangalore what i found from

this study was very interesting and even

alarming

right from having very little

understanding of ethics

and law in the mental health field to

doing short-term courses

and then falling into the psychology

field calling themselves therapist

i thought what a waste of seven years of

my studies

i also found that 65 percent of

professionals do not seek therapy

themselves

imagine me fighting with my parents at

home and coming and taking your session

how would that session go it will be

very miserable for your mental health

and for mine as well

it is also very disturbing

that for counselling psychologists

there is no license exam there is no

government

and there is no ruling authority that

will govern the

practices run by mental health

professionals

this is a most pressing need that was

back then

and still remains so if you are in the

same place

that i was in back that time to choose a

right therapist

i hope this following checklist will

help you in making that correct

responsible and impactful decision for

yourself

minimum master’s degree in counseling

psychology

does not indulge in advice giving or

giving personal opinions

uses scientific evidence-based practices

charges fees for services and meets only

in professional setting

having open and flexible mind about

differences in opinions

and lastly seeks personal therapy and

supervision for themselves

okay now that we have talked a lot about

how to choose a mental health

professional

i’m sure that you all are equipped here

to choose a correct

good and ethical mental health

professional for yourself

now i want you i want you to just focus

back at me again

and have your complete attention

especially all the millennials out there

so currently what what situation are we

facing what are we going through

the pandemic right so since the pandemic

has happened

our world is completely shifted online

right from attending birthday parties

attending weddings

joining virtual workouts to even working

from home

sorry a small correction walking from

your beds

and this is working out very well for

you millennials because it’s comfortable

it’s very convenient it is virtual

and also involves a gadget in your hand

if your mother tells you to buy

vegetables what you do

you order them online if your ac is not

working

you order a technician online yes

nowadays even

people can be ordered online

if you’re not feeling well if your days

are

not so great if you’re going through

lower phase of your life

what do you do you download a mental

health app

yes an app for mental health

now what worries me in this is that

these kind of apps

they give you generalized solutions they

give you quick fixes

they give you ready-made solutions

but what worries me is that this is not

therapy guys

therapy requires dedication it requires

long term

efforts here they are giving you very

pocket

friendly therapy which is almost for 299

rupees

my nephew’s toys are more expensive than

that

if our problems are not developed

overnight

then how can you expect that you will

get the solutions

in just one moment like that

it requires for you to get in touch with

the root of your emotional problems

and then trying to deal with them

therapy process requires great amount of

time

effort and long-term dedication

now i also wanted to make this shift

online

trying to connect with my clients trying

to give my services

on an accessible medium for them

but when i actually fall into that field

i saw

various online platforms and what i was

taught back then

and what was really happening in the

field was very contradictory and there

was no match at all

i couldn’t stand it so i thought let me

start by my own

i wanted to start my own mental health

organization

and i started it i named it as my voyage

a journey with him and i decided that i

will work on

three aims and will stick very firmly to

that

the first one was making therapy very

normal

normalizing the entire process

destigmatizing therapy

second was

to make my service very accessible

through online mediums

and third very important keeping ethical

practices

and legal laws in place and by adhering

them trying to give out

the traditional therapy but when i move

forward this journey was not so easy

i was competing with very large

platforms big big websites with lot of

fundings

tech savvy apps and here i was having

zero presence online

nowhere my name was there on google i

had no social media whatsoever

but i wanted to start with baby steps

so i started my instagram page and that

was because

i like writing posts i like

creating creative

mediums i like writing so i started with

that i also made my own website and

tried to hire a professional from

a technology background to do that for

me

today there are about 1500 people who

are

using mind voyage for their mental

health services

and this was only possible because i

took that external help which was

required

over the time if i have realized

anything

if you are not aware as a consumer of

what you want

then people will fool you if you don’t

know what is it that you’re looking for

then it’s very easy to take your

advantage

this decision of going to therapy and

choosing your counselor

is very important and crucial decision

in your life

it can either make or break your mental

health

as i have seen bad therapy outcomes i

also have seen good therapy outcomes

and this is literally the point that i

tried to make today through my talk

just consider this example when you are

if at all you had to go through a

surgery

what do you do what kind of background

check do you do on that doctor

you will read their google reviews you

will go to the hospital that they are

working for

you will try to gain feedback from all

possible sources that you can

also you will go and talk to that doctor

right so

why not do the same when it comes to

your mental health

at the end a peaceful mind will only

lead to a happy life

so after hearing today’s talk i hope

that you all are very well equipped

to choose your right therapist and have

open frame of mind towards seeking

a professional help when it comes to

your mental health

and this one question will drive you

is your mental health in safe hands

thank you