A conversation between 2 brown women, Shwetha Ravishankar & Rema Chari based out of New York City - sharing our cross-cultural experiences growing up in India and moving abroad in our 20’s and how that has shaped the women we have become today.
Meet, Mrinal Gokhale, an Indian-American writer who began her career as a freelance journalist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the most segregated city in the United States. She reported on Mental Health Awareness Month events for Hispanic and African-American publications as part of her work. She realized that these conversations were lacking in Asian and South Asian representation. To increase education and acceptance of mental health among South Asian generations, while also showing non-South Asians how intersectionality looks in the diaspora, she went on to author 2 books, both anthologies, the first one in 2021, called “Saaya Unveiled” and “Taboo: South Asian Mental Health Stories” published in 2023. Chaiversations.org You can purchase her books on Amazon
So far in this season, we have been talking about normalizing conversations around mental health and we’ve also talked about the fact that seeking professional help isn’t always tied to big life events. In this episode, we talk to Shruthi Bharath about one of the biggest life-changing times in a woman’s life - motherhood. We delve into those vulnerable, often loney moments of early motherhood and the challenges it presents. Here are some of the topics we discuss Early motherhood challenges and how it impacts mental health and well-being We’re 3 women on this episode, all of us mothers, each of whom have had their unique, yet common struggles being new mothers - we discuss identity crisis, feeling lonely in those early months of motherhood and so much more As a platform, what are the various elements of early motherhood that you envision on the platform, and where does maternal mental health fit in? Chaiversations.org
Dr. Monica Shah is a licensed psychologist and certified school psychologist based in Manhattan. She specializes in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT).
Chapter 1: What is Good Girl Syndrome? How the phrase "good girl" is ingrained in the vocabulary of our Indian culture and where it stems from? Shwetha & Rema share anecdotes from their personal experiences. Chapter 2: The personality and mental health implications of "good girl syndrome" Chapter 3: Shwetha & Rema answer a series of questions to find out if they have Good Girl Syndrome and you can play along too. chaiversations.org
Our guest today is Kareena Mehta, a mental health professional with a B.A. in Psychology from Bryn Mawr College and further education from Teachers College, Columbia University, where she earned an Ed.M. in Mental Health Counseling and an M.A. in Psychological Counseling. Kareena brings with her a plethora of cross-cultural experiences, both from her own personal life growing up in Belgium, moving to India and then the USA; as well as professionally, wherein her clients are spread throughout the globe from Africa to India, USA, Cannada and beyond. We talk to her about: Her forray into the mental health space The basic differences between a psychologist, psychotherapist and psychiatrist The differences she experiences being a mental health professional in India vs here in the USA The most common mental health challenges in India and the USA The gaps in the mental health space 5 things everyone can do to work on their mental well-being on a daily basis Check out the full episode and Subscribe to our monthly Substack newsletter at chaiversations.org