Posts

Not Every Story Has a Villain : Sometimes we need to stop choosing sides and Start listening

Image
Written by Ms. Gurneet Kaur Jaitly, Counselling Psychologist “You know what hurt the most?” she asked me during a counselling session. “It wasn’t the argument. It was watching everyone choose a side without asking me what happened.” She paused. “My mother supported my brother. My relatives had their opinions. Everyone seemed to know my story—but no one had actually asked me to tell it.” Her words stayed with me. In many Indian and South Asian families, conflict rarely remains between two people. It travels: from room to room, phone call to phone call, until a private disagreement hardens into a collective narrative. One person shares their pain, an elder adds an interpretation, and suddenly, the person at the centre is no longer part of the conversation. They have become the subject of it. As a psychologist, I frequently see how damaging this is. When an entire unit agrees against us, we internalise the blame: “If everyone thinks I am wrong, maybe I am.” Self-reflection is healthy, but...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Power of Rest: Redefining Emotional Strength and Recovery

Image
Emotional strength is often misunderstood as unyielding resilience, the capacity to absorb endless stress and keep moving forward without breaking. From a psychological perspective, however, true emotional strength is built on recovery and balance, not constant endurance. In every family and workplace, there is often one person known as the “strong one.” This is the person who holds everything together and navigates challenges without complaint. Yet behind this exterior may lie an untold story of exhaustion, a quiet fatigue that comes from always being the pillar for others. What Is Emotional Burnout? Emotional burnout is a state of emotional and physical exhaustion that can develop after prolonged exposure to unmanaged stress. Unlike ordinary tiredness, burnout can leave a person feeling depleted, detached, and less effective. It can gradually reduce empathy, dull the ability to experience joy, and make everyday responsibilities feel overwhelming. It is not simply being tired; sometim...
Post a Comment
Read more

Social Comparison Fatigue: How we weigh our worth on the scales of other’s achievements!

Image
Imagine you are back in school and you got your marksheet which says that you have successfully passed and secured 85%. Then you try to peer over your classmate’s marksheet and to your surprise, your classmate has scored 90%. You start to think about all the times you studied together and have knowledge of the subjects at an equal level but still somehow your classmates scored more than you. Eventually, your brain starts tingling about how your abilities or caliber might be less than your classmates. After a while, this might start influencing your interests and choices, and you might even start studying under stressful conditions just to be better than your classmates.   Now, imagine a time lapse to your current self. You are scrolling through your Instagram stories on a sunny day in your leisure time. You stumble upon your friend’s story of how they got admitted to Oxford University. Your fun, leisure mood starts to spin around into feelings of incompetence, envy, self-doubt...
2 comments
Read more

Beyond the Emoji : Understanding Digital Emotions

Image
Written By : Ms. Mina Dilip,  Consultant Psychologist & Play Therapist I love emojis. In fact, if you've ever received a text from me, you've probably noticed that I use them rather generously. I'm always on the lookout for new ones, and my current favourite is the little bouncing ball. It has bounced its way into far too many of my WhatsApp messages, much to the amusement and occasional exasperation of my friends and family.  My teenage son recently decided it was time for an intervention. Apparently, there are unwritten rules about emoji usage, and I had unknowingly broken several of them. I thought emojis were fairly straightforward. A smile meant happiness, a thumbs-up meant "okay," and a heart meant affection. Then my son gently informed me that I had been living in a parallel emoji universe.  Apparently, a thumbs-up can sometimes come across as passive-aggressive, a slightly smiling face may not be smiling at all, and the rules of emoji etiquette have be...
Post a Comment
Read more

Toon Therapy : Lessons from the Animated World - The Boy and the Heron

Image
"The Boy and the Heron," an animated film, offers profound psychological lessons about mental health and the complex relationship between mothers and their children. The story explores the inner world of a young boy facing emotional turmoil, highlighting how grief, fear, and hope intertwine in shaping one’s mental well-being. The film emphasizes the importance of confronting inner struggles rather than suppressing them, reminding viewers that healing often begins with acknowledgment and acceptance of one’s feelings. This message is particularly relevant in today’s society, where mental health issues are often stigmatized, and seeking help can be seen as a sign of weakness. A central theme in the movie is the influence of a mother’s love and her impact on her child's psychological resilience. The boy’s relationship with his mother is depicted as a source of both comfort and challenge. While her love provides a safe haven, her absence or emotional distance can create feelin...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Power of Blessings: Honoring Elders and Building Meaningful Connections

Image
Written By :  Lakshmi C  Counselling Social Worker and Trainer  Blessings are one of the most beautiful examples of equality. At first, it may seem that when an elder blesses a younger person, one person is giving while the other is receiving. But in reality, both are receiving something meaningful. The younger person receives goodwill, encouragement, love and a sense of being protected, while the elder receives respect, affection, attention and the joy of knowing that their presence and experience are valued.  There is something powerful about physically bowing before someone we respect. For a brief moment, we put aside our pride, worries, achievements and ego. We acknowledge that we have something to learn from those who came before us.Besides, the physical act of bending forward can also influence our physiological state. Changes in posture and breathing can affect circulation, muscle tension, and the way we experience stress. When combined with a calm environment...
Post a Comment
Read more

THE NIOS NAVIGATOR - Navigation Journey Phase 4 : Why is NIOS the Last option but an Inclusive system for diverse Academic Learners?

Image
Written By : Ms. A. Gayathri Special Educator and Academic Consultant A. Gayathri is a seasoned education professional and special educator with more than two decades of experience in inclusive education, learning disabilities, counselling, and psychotherapy. She has served as a special educator, NIOS consultant, lecturer, vocational trainer, and educational consultant across reputed schools, universities, and trusts in Tamil Nadu. Her work reflects strong expertise in special education and teacher training. She has been honoured with multiple state and national awards for her outstanding contributions to the field of education. NIOS is often labeled as the last option, but in truth, it is an inclusive educational system that provides flexible and meaningful learning opportunities for diverse academic learners. NIOS is often misunderstood as a “last option” in education; however, in reality, it is one of the most inclusive systems designed to support diverse academic learners. This per...
Post a Comment
Read more

The 'Mad Genius' Paradox and Beyond: What fuels artistic creativity?

Image
Whether it's Van Gogh, Edward Munch, Sylvia Plath or Virginia Woolf, none could escape the turmoil their minds put them into. What bred their creative output? Could they still have produced their works if they weren't in a poor mental state? Is artistic creativity only tied to poor mental health outcomes or is there more to it. Let's dive into it and know from one of the well-known psychological perspectives: The Jungian Psychology.   Our mind only creates something new from what already exists inside them. It works from what enters it through experience, memory, and instinct. Every brain is different, shaped by genetics and by what it goes on to experience uniquely, and so each one chooses on its own what and how much data it allows to enter. This entering of data into our brains is largely determined by our 'sensitivity' (your capacity to notice, process and react deeply to your environment) and a personality trait called 'openness to experience ' (your c...
Post a Comment
Read more

From Fighting Over the Remote to Fighting for Each Other

Image
On childhood battlegrounds, silent solidarity, and the enduring language of sibling love. Written by Ms. Gurneet Kaur Jaitly, Counselling Psychologist “Give it to me!” “Mum, they started it!” “I’m never talking to you again!” If you grew up with a sibling, these childhood battle cries are etched into your memory. Siblinghood in the early years is loud, messy, and fiercely territorial. It is built on epic showdowns over the television remote, tactical negotiations for the last piece of chocolate, and dramatic threats of lifelong silence, only to be found whispering conspiracies together five minutes later under a makeshift blanket fort. That is the paradoxical magic of growing up side by side: it effortlessly holds burning irritation and fierce, unshakeable loyalty in the very same breath. The Keepers of Our Origins Long before resumes, carefully curated social feeds, and the heavy armor of adulthood defined who we are, a sibling knew the unvarnished version of us. They were our first c...
3 comments
Read more

The Past Wasn’t Always Better: The Psychology of Nostalgia

Image
There may be moments from the past that when you recall today, may seem magical. An old photograph that appears in your gallery. A familiar song starts playing. You catch the smell of something that you haven’t experienced in years and suddenly, you’re back in the memories; at school, on a college trip, maybe sitting with old friends or even living through a chapter of your life that you haven’t thought about in years. For a moment, it feels like everything was simpler back then, maybe, even better. And then we often find ourselves saying, “Those were the best days,” or “Things were so much better back then.”  But were they really? Maybe not. Maybe our minds have been simply good at remembering the past in a certain way. We don’t remember the past exactly as it happened At times, we tend to think of memory as a recording: something happens, our brain stores it and we retrieve it later. But cognitive psychology tells us that autobiographical memory is more reconstructive than that. ...
Post a Comment
Read more