Wellness, Not illness

Dr Harish Shetty is a practising Psychiatrist with a postgraduate degree in Psychological Medicine and a postgraduate diploma in Comparative mythology from Bombay University. He completed his MBBS, DPM and MD from T. N. Medical College and Seth G. S. Medical College respectively.

Dr Harish Shetty has immense experience in School Mental Health and has conducted workshops for students, teachers, School Heads & the Non-teaching staff for more than two decades. Dr Harish Shetty is working in the area of ‘suicide prevention and is actively working in schools and colleges. Dr Shetty has several National and International Publications to his credit.

He is an Associate Professor of Global Mental Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. His research interests encompass global mental health, and particularly development and testing of contextually appropriate complex interventions for a range of mental health. He is also actively involved in the capacity building of mental health researchers and lay health workers across the world.

An Author & Motivational Speaker, Dr Vaishnav is a visionary in the field of psychiatry since 40 years & among the pioneers to propagate healthy mental health. He has travelled the journey from being MBBS Student at B J Medical college in 1973 to MD in psychiatry in 1981.

Being inspired by ever energetic and youthful father late Dharnidhar Prasad & Enthusiastic and golden hearted mother Pramodaben, Dr. Vaishnav was achieving one after other milestones in his life. He is known for his contribution and services to remote places & Rural India for Mental Health & Sexual health awareness.

A Registered Nurse, CBT Therapist ,Certified Substance Abuse Therapist, Specialist Alcohol and Addictions Counsellor and Advanced Certified Relapse Prevention Specialist working in the mental health field since 1991; Martin has had a wide range of experience in management and supervisory roles within established healthcare systems, and has provided consultancy services to a number of private and public sector organizations in the UK and Asia in terms of management, policy writing, accreditation and recruitment.

Martin’s addictions experience has been in developing inpatient services in Asia since 2009, both clinical and operational, and has been instrumental in expanding and developing a non 12 step inpatient treatment centre and opening a further inpatient centre with a 12 step approach, implementing KIPU Electronic Records, strengthening hospital partnerships, introducing a Scholarship for students under the Masters in Addiction Studies Program at The ASEAN Institute for Health

Development and working with an international accreditation body. As well as being an experienced administrator of inpatient settings, Martin is an experienced clinician who is skilled in delivering group and individual therapy with a variety of modalities, such as CBT, DBT, RPT and MET.

He has opened or restructured six different residential programs, and ran the largest private rehab operator in SE Asia up until 2020.

Martin has also been a speaker at multiple international conferences on addiction in UK, USA , Thailand, India, and also at ASEAN conferences. He has also guest lectured at Mahidol University (Thailand), University of Sargodha (Pakistan) Institute of Medical Sciences (Pakistan) and has been a representative on the CARF Standards Advisory Committee for 2016. He is a regular speaker on Relapse Prevention and presented in 2023 and 2024 at GORSKI-CENAPS preventing Relapse Symposium in The USA.

Martin has worked closely with The Thai MoPH and Thanyarak institute during his time in Thailand, and was a regular attendee at training and symposiums.

Martin worked has Director of Residential Services for Samarpan, from July 2021 and was involved in the opening of a new in-patient facility in Pune, developing the inpatient clinical model, and overseeing the day to day operations of the center and in June 2024 took on the role of COO for Samarpan.

Dr. Azhar Hakim is a physician, psychotherapist and a transformational coach who integrates knowledge technologies from medicine, neuroscience, psychology, philosophy and spirituality to enable individuals and families to create transformative change. He holds an MBBS degree from Nair Hospital, Mumbai, a Master’s degree from Washington University in St Louis, USA and Diplomate in Co-Occurring Disorders treatment also from the USA.

Dr. Hakim brings to Samarpan his rich and diverse experience spanning leadership positions in the US and India. He has served as Director of Operations and Programming at the Catholic Charities CSTAR program in the USA. He also served as an Adjunct Professor on the faculty at Washington University in St Louis, USA where he taught Master’s level courses on Mental Health Disorders.

Dr. Hakim uses principles of the 12 Step Program, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Motivational Enhancement Therapy to help individuals resolve the underlying issues that manifest in psychological distress. He does the same kind of therapeutic work with family members to give the family system the greatest chance of success and move family members toward healthy and vibrant relationships. His 18+ years of professional expertise and his own personal experiences have equipped him to deeply empathize and connect with individuals and then motivate them to engage with and commit to the work that is necessary for meaningful change.

Miranda Deonarain is a qualified Clinical Psychologist with extensive experience in working with trauma recovery, eating disorders and other metal health issues. She has worked with individuals, couples, families and groups. She works in within the paradigms of CBT and DBT.

She has 31 years of experience working in provincial hospitals in South Africa such as King Edward V111 and King George V.

She has worked for 10 years as the Head of Psychology at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, Johannesburg and had both qualified and intern psychologists working under her. She then relocated to Durban to run a private practice doing medico legal work and individual psychotherapy with clients.

She has lectured at the University of UKZN in Abnormal psychology and Psychotherapeutic models and assessments. She has trained Clinical Psychologists at UKZN and focused on both the selection process as well as report writing skills and Psychopathology.

Oral presentations, Panels and academic contributions:

• South African Renal Society (1998)
• Won David Hepburn Award (1998) for most innovative work in the field of nephrology and psychology
• Suicidology conference -2000 10-year study of Black patients’ suicide patterns at Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital

Associations and Affiliations

• Health Professional Council of South Africa (HPCSA)
• Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF)

A well-known and highly respected Consultant Psychiatrist practicing in Mumbai for almost two decades, Dr. Deshpande undertook his Post Graduation in Psychological Medicine from King Edward Memorial Hospital and Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College, Mumbai.

Omar is a Clinical Psychologist and addiction counsellor who after acquiring his master’s degree from

the University of London, earned his certification as a behaviour modification specialist and

addiction therapist. Eager to learn and better himself, Omar completed his Doctoral Studies with a

PhD in Integrative care for dual diagnosis patients (patients with a diagnosis of substance abuse

disorder and an accompanying mental illness/ disorder).

The focus of his thesis was developing a culturally sensitive approach for integrative therapy for dual

diagnosis patients that considers the cultural and social peculiarities of the Middle East and Gulf

region.

Omar is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA) and a member of the British

Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and adheres to its code of ethics in his clinical

work.

Omar has previous experience working in several outpatient and inpatient settings in Egypt and with

clients from different nationalities and cultural backgrounds. He has previously worked as a primary

case manager in several inpatient addiction rehabilitation hospitals in Egypt.

In addition to his private outpatient work as a clinical psychologist, he was previously the

therapeutic director and lead clinical psychologist at a psychiatric and addiction rehabilitation

hospital in Cairo, Egypt, where he applied the conclusions and recommendations of his doctoral

thesis in designing and implementing a rehabilitation program for addicts and dual diagnosis

patients. Before moving to Mumbai, Omar worked as an emergency psychologist with the United

Nations in Doha, Qatar.

Omar is adept at applying the MATRIX outpatient addiction rehabilitation program. He Utilizes a

wholistic approach in working with clients with various addictions (substance abuse and other

behavioral addictions) and dual diagnosis patients. This approach also brings in family members and

care givers and has significantly improved the clinical outcomes for such cases.

Omar received his training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) from the Beck Institute in the

United States. In addition to CBT, he also utilizes motivational interviewing and psycho-education in

working with his clients and their families.

In Addition to addiction (substance abuse and Behavioral addictions), Omar works with clients with a

range of mental health conditions, including various Mood Disorders (depression, anxiety, Bi-Polar

disorder), and also Psychosis Spectrum disorders (Schizophrenia and drug induced Psychosis).

As a therapist Omar cares deeply about the wellbeing of his clients, and he is very involved in the

therapeutic process due to a deeply held belief that people who suffer from addiction and chronic

psychiatric conditions can turn their lives around and become productive members of society and

can learn to live with their condition.

Ms. Tanushri Talekar is certified in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Hypnotherapy (2 levels) and Transactional Analysis (T.A.). She is currently pursuing Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR).

She holds a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology from SNDT Women’s University in the city of Mumbai.

Ms. Tanushri has over 13 years of experience in dealing with psychological and psychiatric issues and was associated with Masina Hospital, Byculla, Mumbai as a Consultant Psychologist and Psychotherapist for 10 of these years.

Over these years, Tanushri has been involved in various aspects of Mental Healthcare and uses an eclectic approach depending on the presenting issues of concerns.

Some of her areas of expertise include:

• Clinical Assessments and diagnosis
• Individual Counseling & Psychotherapy - adults
• Individual Counseling & Psychotherapy - children and adolescents
• Couple & Marital counseling
• Corporate Mental Health Awareness Programs.
• Medico legal counselling
• Educational workshops in schools on topics like anger management, time management etc.
• Parenting education and counseling
• Pre-natal and postpartum counseling

She is passionate about spreading awareness about Mental health through her articles for various online media platforms like The Indian express, The free press journal, First post, Tweak India, Times now, Marathi, PopXo marathi.

Nivedita Pal holds a Master’s degree in Counselling for Mental Health and Wellness from New York University. She has experience of working with clients from various socio-cultural backgrounds and diverse mental health issues such as anxiety, dissociation, trauma, abuse, grief and identity issues. Her clientele has ranged between 21 – 55 years of age.

Nivedita primarily utilises a relational lens which focuses on meeting individual goals and needs in a collaborative manner. She believes that the therapeutic alliance fostered in an authentic, safe and non-judgmental environment facilitates better understanding of people’s role in their significant relationships, creating space for change. She integrates evidence-based models of therapy such as CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy), EFT (Emotion Focused Therapy) and IFS (Internal Family Systems) in her work with clients. She focuses on the here and now and brings awareness to client’s emotional, cognitive and somatic experiences.

Nivedita strongly believes that vulnerability leads to empowerment and acceptance of self that promotes happier and healthier living. She looks forward to embarking on this journey of self-exploration and connection with you in the therapeutic room.

With a dynamic background in Addictions Counselling and a deep passion for transformative care, Vidhi serves as the Business Development Executive at Samarpan. In this role, she spearheads strategic partnerships and growth initiatives to expand our reach and impacts in the addiction and mental health field.

Vidhi brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in the field of mental health as having previously worked in the field as Addictions counsellor in Canada. She also holds post graduate diploma in Clinical and Applied Hypnosis and a Bachelors degree in Psychology. Vidhi’s career is marked by a rich blend of experience in working at Rehabs and clinics and a heartfelt commitment to the field of addiction recovery.

Her approach combines a deep understanding of market needs with a genuine dedication to helping individuals and families navigate the path to recovery. She believes in the power of collaborative efforts to foster a supportive environment that promotes long-term success and well-being for our clients.