About Samarpan

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.

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.

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.

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.

Bhakti is a Counselling Psychologist with eight years of experience. Her academic training has been focused on the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of various mental health disorders. Bhakti employs various modalities like Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), Rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). She has been trained in various psychometric tools like Projective tests. Her training has been focused with various demographics ranging from children, adolescents, adults & couples.

She has worked with an integrative and holistic approach for challenges in Mood disorders, Personality disorders, Substance use disorders, Schizophrenia Spectrum, OCD related disorders other Anxiety disorders and Trauma, Childhood Trauma.

With extensive experience in the field of trauma, specializing in the complexities of abandonment, neglect, sexual abuse, and physical abuse. She has developed a profound understanding of the psychological and emotional impacts these experiences have on individuals.

She uses Integrative approach while working with mental health conditions. Bhakti is a firm believer in the humanistic approach and Trauma-focused therapy approach and believes that each individual has the inherent capacity and resilience of individuals to navigate and overcome significant emotional hardships and create supportive environment.

At Samarpan, she offers one-to-one therapy sessions, psycho-educational groups and process groups as well as couples’ sessions for clients dealing with addiction, trauma, personality disorders, anxiety and depression.