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“Wholeness is not achieved by cutting off a portion of one’s being, but by integration of the contraries.”― Carl Gustav Jung, Analytical Psychology

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I am a qualified psychotherapist based in India. I have worked with a range of psychological vulnerabilities, primarily with the Indian adult demographic.

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My therapeutic interest in the democratic therapeutic community methodology and Jungian psychoanalysis (analytical psychology) informs the ethos of my practice. An insight-oriented clinical work rooted in the core values of the DTC methodology emphasizes my process-oriented stance. I have a newfound interest in radical ecopsychology blended with eco-friendly living advocacy that trickles into how I re-imagine insight-oriented psychotherapy as a powerful healing experience, rather than technique-driven

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My clinical work dissects distress and personality difficulties from a psycho-social lens linked to one’s present context and environment. This is worked through using a psycho-somatic lens and psychoanalytic principles.

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Profile Picture of Durga Menon
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QUALIFICATIONS

  • MSc. Psychology, Montfort College, Bangalore North University, Bengaluru (2016 - 2018)

  • B.A Psychology (Honours), Christ University, Bengaluru (2012 - 2015) 
     

MY APPROACH and THERAPEUTIC STYLE

  • Psychodynamic Psychotherapy and Relational Practice: Reflective thinking and insights are born from the (therapeutic) relationship co-created between us over time. Therapeutic conversations allow me to understand how your childhood patterns have shaped and aided you in coping so far. I complement my work by using the body, gestalt principles, psychoanalytic, and attachment lenses. ​​

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  • Democratic Therapeutic Community Methodology: The therapeutic alliance is rooted in the framework of the democratic therapeutic community model. I view you, the client, as an equal contributor to the collaborative therapy process. The primary core values of the DTC approach that inform my therapeutic practice are containment, balance, process-oriented dialogue, respect, and communication.​

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  • Non-diagnostic and Context-oriented: I rely on the client's psychosocial context and lived experiences of mental health to facilitate the creation of vocabulary concerning a person's narrative and social location.  Looking at one's mental health beyond diagnosis develops an individualized, nuanced grasp of one's inner world and personal history.​

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  • Queer-affirmative Counselling Practice: I believe that queer-affirmative care can inform, dismantle, and challenge our view of gender and sexuality as binaries. This informs how one can re-imagine their identity, intimacy, connection, and belonging beyond stereotypical gender roles. In the indian context,  I rely on this form of care to frame one's position in societal institutions that are key to Indian culture, such as marriage and family.

WORK EXPERIENCE
PUBLICATIONS AND CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS 

  • Menon, Durga.“The Possible Development of the Ideal Self through social networking sites among adolescents”. In the Indian Journal of Health and Wellbeing Volume 4, April 2018, 691-693.

  • Menon, Durga, "The Dilemmas of Belonging: Beginning Individuation through Community by Embodying Fragmentation," on the theme "Cultivating Relational Practice and Therapeutic Communities through Online Connections," presented at The Consortium for Therapeutic Communities (TCTC), June 2025.

CONTINUED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

  • UNREAD Training Program(for mental health practitioners), Hank Nunn Institute, Bengaluru , September 2021 - February 2022 (Online) 

  • 'Working with Trauma ' series, Hank Nunn Institute, Bengaluru, April 2022 (Online)

  • Transactional Analysis (TA 101), International Transactional Analysis Association, Seed TLC, August 2022 (Online)

  • Risk Assessment and Management, Hank Nunn Institute, Bengaluru, September 2022 (Online)

  • Seminar on Trauma and Attachment, International Attachment Network, April 2023 (Online) 

  • Queer Affirmative Counselling Practice, Mariwala Health Initiative, Bengaluru, May 2023 (Online) 

  • Understanding Personality Disorders beyond Diagnosis, Hank Nunn Institute, Bengaluru, March - May 2024 (Online) 

  • Psychoanalytic Reading Group, Reading Between the Lines with Reva Puri, Rhea Gandhi Psychotherapy, July 2023 - June 2024 (Online)

  • Here and Now: Gestalt as a daily practice with Shalini Rao (Queer Affirmative and Gestalt Practitioner), Bengaluru, July - August 2024 (Online)

  • Foundations of Outdoor and Adventure Therapy (Practitioner Training Course - hybrid), Adventure Works Australia and Qualia Outdoor Therapy India, Himachal Pradesh, September - November 2024

  • Attachment Theory and its Clinical Applications, International Attachment Network UK, January - November 2024 (Online) 

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  THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITY METHODOLOGY

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ECOFRIENDLY LIVING (ADVOCACY)

MEMBERSHIPS and PROFESSIONAL LISTING

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ECOFRIENDLY LIVING (ADVOCACY)

  • Bare Necessities India Affiliate Membership, Brand Ambassador, Bengaluru, May 2024 - present

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