Srishti Banerjee

About Srishti Banerjee

I am the founder of Identity Therapy and currently practice as a queer-affirmative counselling psychologist in Bangalore. I also facilitate queer support spaces, give talks at universities across India, and conduct corporate soft-skills training workshops.To give you more context about myself, everything I do in life has always been fueled by my passion to help others. I have always been interested in working with minority communities and is something that I have been doing from a young age. I first started working with NGOs when I was 13 years old and since then I have worked with underprivileged children, women from slums, orphaned children of parents with HIV, sex workers, children of sex workers. I have always wanted to work towards a cause and during my undergrad (Honours in Psychology) I was simultaneously doing a PG Diploma in sexuality and reproductive health where I got a chance to interact with members of the trans community. During my time in college I realised that all these other groups I had worked with had representation, had help, had a voice! But the LGBT community remained really marginalised and oppressed. From there my interest grew in terms of what can I do for the community? How can I help? And so I started educating myself and eventually I went on to do my Masters at King’s College London where I specialized in LGBT mental health research and wrote a dissertation on self harm and suicidality within the trans community. In 20••••20 I worked as school counsellor in Bangalore at an institution where most parents are from a low SES background and the school itself is quite conservative. My office became a safe haven for all students who identify as LGBT. I was the first adult they were able to completely be themselves around and many of them came out for the first time to me.

Experience

1. Counselling Psychologist

   Identity Beyond The Binary

   May 2020 — Present · Bengaluru, IN

   Queer-affirmative counselling psychologistCOUNSELLING AND SUPPORT GROUPS• Counselling services provided for issues ranging from stress and anxiety to gender and identity• Facilitate regular queer support spaces as part of Identity TherapyGUEST LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS• Conducted workshops on, ‘Coping with Stress during the Pandemic’ for students of Symbiosis University • Conducted LGBT awareness workshops for students of IIT-Kharagpur, NIT-Rourkela, National Law University• Speaker at a panel discussion on, ‘Toxic Relationships and Emotional Abuse’ hosted by Symbiosis School of Liberal Arts• Designed and conducted a Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) for managers at ITC Ltd.• guest lectured a class on ‘Pandemic and Mental Health’ for students of NMIMS• facilitated a support group for queer individuals called ‘Queer Sharing Circle’ as a part of One Future Collective’s COVID Mental Health project• delivered a talk on the importance of queer collectives in academic spaces at Gargi College, DU• conducted a talk at the NHRC (National Human Rights Commission India) to build awareness on trans stigma and mental health in India• facilitated workshops on ‘Queer Identity and Self-Acceptance’ and ‘Family and Mental Health’ for Humsafar Trust

Education

• King's College London

  Master’s Degree, Mental Health Studies

• Christ University, Bangalore

  Post-graduate Diploma, Life Skills, Sexuality, Reproductive Health

  2015 — 2016

• Christ University, Bangalore

  Bachelor’s Degree, Psychology (Honours)

  2013 — 2016

Skills

• Data Analysis
• Mentoring
• Non-Profit Volunteering
• Presentation Skills
• Microsoft Excel
• Organizational Psychology
• Student Leadership
• Social Media
• Psychology
• Psychological Testing
• Writing
• Clinical Psychology
• Public Speaking
• Research
• Teaching
• Counseling Psychology
• Communication
• Microsoft Word
• Team Leadership
• Psychological Assessment