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Durga Menon (she/her) is an Indian Psychodynamic Psychotherapist and Nature-based Practitioner 

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 psychoanalysis, democratic therapeutic community methodology and nature-based practices 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 and Jungian psychology 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 by linking one's lived experience of mental health to the present context, personal history and environment of the client. The mind-body-environment connection provides deeper inquiry into the unconscious and working through unresolved internal conflicts, resistances and working gently with the psyche. This allows the therapeutic relationship to be a frame within which distress can be work through with authenticity, insight and a deep relationship with the self.

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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: 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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  • Nature-based Practices:  I believe the human psyche is a part of nature. A psychodynamic practice rooted in nature-based interventions grounded in radical eco-psychology can facilitate  a deeper look into one's unconscious life as a natural process. Psychic life can be verbalised through language rooted in the natural world to work through grief, trauma, transitions and attachment history. 

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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.​ I believe the process of integrating a label into a client's work needs to be experienced gently and with intention.​

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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.​

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CONTINUED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

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        PSYCHODYNAMIC THERAPY  AND ATTACHMENT THEORY TRAINING 

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

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

  • Psychoanalytic Reading Group, Reading Between the Lines with Reva Puri, Rhea Gandhi Psychotherapy, July - December 2023, January - June 2024  and January-June 2027 (Online) 

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

  • Jungian Psychology (Diploma Course), C.G Jung Centre: The All-Ireland Centre for Jungian Studies, June - August 2026 (Online)

  • Contemporary Freudian Society (Fellowship program), Brooklyn, New York, USA, October 2026 - May 2027 (Online)

    QUEER AFFIRMATIVE CARE 

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

  • Queering Psychoanalysis (PG Certification Course), Rhea Gandhi Psychotherapy, May - July 2026 (Online)​
     

        SOMATIC AND NATURE-BASED TRAINING ​​

  • Somatic Soul-based Trauma Training, Somatic Nature Therapy Institute, Boulder, Colorado, (USA), October 2026- June 2027

  • Therapeutic nature-based Interventions Group Mentorship, Somatic Nature Therapy Institute, Boulder, Colorado (USA), July - December 2026 (Online) 

  • Introduction to Therapeutic Nature-based Interventions, Somatic Nature Therapy Institute, Boulder, Colorado (USA), April - June 2026 (Online) ​

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

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        THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITY METHODOLOGY TRAINING AND PRESENTATIONS

  • Living Learning Experience (LLE), 3-day Transient Therapeutic Community, Hank Nunn Institute, Bengaluru, March 2025

  • Living Learning Experience (LLE), 3-day Transient Therapeutic Community, Hank Nunn Institute, Bengaluru, January 2024

  • TCTC Core Values, The Consortium for Therapeutic Communities (TCTC) UK, March 2024 (Online)

  • TC Practitioner Competencies: The 'Why' and the 'How' Part 1 & Part 2, The Consortium for Therapeutic Communities (TCTC) UK, May 2024 (Online)

  • "Community in the Clinic" (Clinical Application of the DTC Methodology in Indian Mental Health) presented as external speaker at Mosaic India, Hank Nunn Institute, Bengalrur (An Online Therapeutic Community) - November 2026

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         CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS (2022 - 2026) 

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

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

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

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

  • Introduction to Narrative Practices, Narrative Practices India, March 2026 (Online)

  • Towards an Ethic of Care: Power, Privilege and the Practice of Facilitation ( a three day residential workshop), Qualia Outdoor Therapy (India) by Dennis Mitten and Tanya Ginwala, October 2026. 

  • Beyond the Individual: The Social Life of Distress in Group Therapy (lecture series), Centre for Group Analysis India (November - December 2026)

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ECOFRIENDLY LIVING (ADVOCACY)

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PUBLICATIONS AND CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS 
WORK EXPERIENCE
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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