Ishana

Specialties: CBT, mindfulness-based CBT, art therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, transpersonal (holistic) counselling, family systems, racism, sexism, emotional-processing, anxiety and depression disorders, addiction, codependency, body-image, self-confidence.

Languages: English, Italian.

Pronouns: she/her.

Education:

  • M.Sc. in Clinical Psychology from Leiden University, Cum Laude

    (Master’s Thesis - Suicide Risk in Depression: Longitudinally Investigating the Role of Cognitive Reactivity [in peer-review for publishing in a scientific journal])

  • B.Sc. in International Psychology from Leiden University

    (Bachelor’s Thesis - How do Parental Personality Traits Relate to Family Functioning?)

  • A Levels from Dubai College

    (Extended Project - The Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Autoimmune Functioning in Adulthood).

Other activities:

  • Leader of Leiden’s Meditation Club - The Netherlands

  • Advocate for Women’s Rights at Amnesty International - Leiden, The Netherlands

  • Teaching Assistant at Dubai Centre for Special Needs - Dubai, U.A.E.

  • Digital Media Consultant at Wellness World - Dubai, U.A.E.

  • Waitress Shift Leader at Skanna Horeca - Leiden, The Netherlands

Affiliations: NIP (#236055).

Speaker/Facilitator:

  • July 2021 - Retreat Facilitator at ChiaroScuro: Connect & Create - Sciolze, Italy

    A 10-day holistic retreat for artists from around the world, who gathered in Sciolze to create a powerful piece of art together

  • August 2021/Current - Guest Lecturer at Ayya Nadar Janaki Ammal College - Tamilnadu, India

    Monthly lectures related to psychological wellbeing to around 150 students (setting boundaries, active listening, the function of emotions, and healthy coping mechanisms)

  • December 2017 - Guest Speaker at VSK Duraiswamy Nadar School - Tamilnadu, India

    The value of education and empowerment to around 300 girls in a rural area

Training Attended: 

  • February 2021 – Leiden University, Clinical Psychology Practise Internship

  • September 2020 – Cyntha Gonzales, Creative Response Therapy™

  • November 2020 - Kaya Yoga, Therapeutic Yoga Teacher

  • October 2018 - Leiden University, Student Coaching for Resident Assistance

How do I work? 

There is innate power and serenity in being connected with oneself. My integrative therapeutic approach is holistic — to me, this means whole person healing.

Life doesn’t always happen the way we want it to. We don’t choose the hardship or trauma that shadows us through the years, like emotional neglect, aggression, abuse or loss. By bringing light to these unprocessed hurts, we can break the cycles of trauma from being passed on from generation to generation.

As a client-centred therapist, my therapeutic objective is to create a space of acceptance, respect and nurturance, so that clients are inspired to hold that same space for themselves.

Here’s what I do: I encourage clients to access their own wisdom, I collaborate with them on how to sit with and process the hard stuff, and I empower them to recognise that they are the authors of their lives. Based on a client’s objectives, I formulate a thorough, tailor-made treatment plan that evolves according to them.

My request for clients is to be courageous. In therapy, we explore moments in which we feel less than whole. It’s sometimes uncomfortable, messy and daunting, but I’m here to accompany clients on their journey of feeling whole. 

Who am I? 

I’m English, Italian and Indian - but I grew up in Dubai and have been living in the Netherlands for the past 5 years. “Where are you from?” Is a seemingly innocent, yet dreaded question, many of us in today’s eclectic world face. I’ve made peace with my cultural confusion by allowing it to evolve into appreciation of cultural nuances. It’s in this world of nuance that I thrive. Nothing is black or white, because binary structures are restrictive. This is what draws me to therapy — it’s the honouring of human complexity.

One of my core values is open-mindedness. I come from a ‘modern’ family, with many step and half family members whom I adore. My father is a Hindu yogi, my mother is Roman Catholic, my step-mother is Jewish and I grew up in a Muslim country. My household is interracial, and was in a period in which it was frowned upon. I grew up questioning my sexuality in the Middle East, where being queer is still punishable by law. It’s not surprising that my upbringing and family have shaped the way I see the world, a place where we should entrust one another the freedom to live our personal truths.

Can you imagine a world where we judged, ostracised and hated less? Instead we listened, validated and cared for each other more? I realised early on that the change I wanted to see in the world begins one person at a time. That’s why I am a psychologist — individual healing for collective wellbeing.