Nikita Ramachandran (She/Her)
Co-founder & Clinical Psychologist (RCI)
Qualifications
M.A. Clinical Psychology, M.Phil. Clinical Psychology, Certificate of Advanced Practice in Clinical and Community Psychology (ISO certified)
Practicing since
2014
Areas & themes of work
trauma-informed, grief, identity, life transitions, adult ADHD, neurodivergence, substance use, boundaries, emotional regulation, self-exploration, relationship dynamics, couples, families, caregivers, Gottman, DBT, CBT, psychodynamic, affirmative, queer-affirmative
Languages spoken
English, Hindi
Contact
Nikita’s Story & Therapeutic Philosophy
When You Can’t
Quite Name It
About Me
Philosophy of Practice
My Approach to Therapy
Themes I Often
Work With
Therapeutic
Orientation
You might have been wanting to start therapy for a while now or you felt a pull to look for someone just yesterday. You may have started going through your saved online list of potential future-therapists-to-explore, or perhaps you asked a friend who they are seeing (and more importantly, how their experience has been). Whether this is your first time, or you’ve had previous experience, starting therapy involves both a niggle of ‘something in/about/around me doesn’t feel okay’- even if you can’t quite name it yet - and a simultaneous, effortful inching towards doing something about it.
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You may be going about your day without obvious disruptions, doing what’s expected of you, or gradually finding it harder to get out of bed, think clearly, return a phone call or stay on top of whatever goals/intentions list you set for the year. It may be the smaller ways of giving up or the big ways that exhaustion, both mental and physical, set in.
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Disconnection, fogginess, nameless but persistent restlessness, loneliness, pressure, dread, frustration or overwhelm. You may be experiencing any of these states, or something else entirely. Most, if not all, people I encounter both in my professional and personal life, seem to be carrying some kind of visible or invisible weight. Of expectations, fitting in or standing out. They learned different ways of adjusting early on, to keep things going, often at the cost of their own feelings, which they may not have learned to become aware of at the time, or since.
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​In our work together, we won’t rush to label, or even fix what’s happening. We will take time to notice the parts of you that have learned to hold things together a certain way, to understand your context and story as it connects to your early relationships, as well as the themes that are bringing you to therapy at present.
I have traced questions of belonging and differences since childhood, thanks to my rich cultural heritage. My last name may suggest southern Indian roots, but my identity has always been more fluid—shaped by the rhythms, languages, and customs of North India, where I was raised. Within the four walls of home, these contrasts—of rituals, food, and expressions of affection—were simply part of life, and I, an amalgamation of these contrasts. It was in the going and growing outside of that bubble that I began to experience the ways that similarity or sameness came to become equated with acceptance, and how standing out left me feeling uneasy.
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Over time, and through yet another cultural shift in adulthood when I moved away from home and all that was familiar to me, that I’ve come to value being different as deeply human, and extremely okay. Each of us are shaped by multiple contexts and systems—familial, cultural, racial, religious, political, and social—that shape the way we relate to ourselves and the world. Creating a space for these contexts and systems to be named and held with care is at the heart of my work.
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I work closely with people who live at the intersection of many of these identities. We will explore how these meeting points have shaped you, and the many ways in which you have adapted in order to belong.
We are relational beings, impacted by and impacting the world around us. Our sense of self grows through being seen, known, and witnessed by another. I believe that beneath our differences, there is an underlying oneness to human experience — our desires, pain, and longings are all expressions of that shared reality.
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In our work, we may look back at early experiences — not to stay there, but to understand what they set in motion. I will remain curious about your roots, at your pace, working with, not against, the parts that feel unready, overwhelmed, or unsure. We will also explore what makes those parts cautious about going back at all, what you’ve outgrown, and whether you are still in spaces that are demanding survival over living.
A lot of our work will also involve learning to name and tolerate emotions, thoughts or fantasies that feel entirely too scary.
Thoughts are only one way of communicating experience. Our inner worlds are rich and textured, extending beyond words. The body holds and expresses what we cannot yet name; it is always speaking, even if we have not yet learned its language.
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A large part of my work involves giving form and expression to what is already being felt and held. This can mean widening the language of experience, whether through words, sensations, imagery, or abstraction. Therapy becomes a space where all parts of you are welcome, even those that judge, resist, or don’t feel comfortable being seen.
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I believe that when something is identified and expressed, it gains shape — and in that shape, we begin to reclaim agency. Through therapy, we will gather pieces of your story to see how they fit, where they belong, and which ones may no longer be serving the narrative you want to create for yourself. The work is not about creating an ideal story, but about inhabiting the messy, incomplete one that can withstand contradictions and remain curious about all the layers of the ever-evolving story.
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I approach therapy as a collaborative, relational process that unfolds in the here-and-now. My style is warm, curious, and exploratory, with moments of humour that soften the edges of difficult work.
I am an integrative therapist. I weave together person-centered, psychodynamic, somatic, and parts work (Internal Family Systems) approaches. My work draws from an affirmative, trauma-informed, culturally sensitive, and systemic lens. These ways of working help bring awareness to the interplay between mind, body, and the external world.
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Loneliness and belonging
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Becoming a parent while still carrying the weight of how you were parented, and trying to do things differently without quite knowing how
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Old emotional hurts that still show up in how you trust, argue, attach, or pull away
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Caregiver fatigue and compassion burnout - feeling worn down from always being the one who holds things together or looks after everyone else
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Transitions and adjustment — immigration, graduate school, new workspaces - the disorientation that comes with moving cities/countries, starting new roles, or entering unfamiliar phases of life
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Grief and loss — through death, or the loss of a life that never was or no longer can be
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Identity — cultural, racial, sexual, and relational
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Shame and the relationship with anger
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Feelings that were never allowed space
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Interpersonal patterns — conflict, codependency, intimacy
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Procrastination and stuckness - knowing what you want to do but feeling blocked or frozen inside
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Neurodivergence
Person-Centered • Psychodynamic-oriented • Attachment-Focused • Somatic • Parts Work (IFS)
Guided by trauma-informed, culturally sensitive, and systemic perspectives.