My name is Shikha and I’m a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a trauma focused therapist. My expertise is in understanding trauma’s impact on the mind, body and spirit with holistic based healing models. My passion exists in providing therapy with a Humanistic Approach: I aim to build safety in the therapeutic relationship to allow expression of shame, pain, and grief. It is important that we collaborate in the work you are setting out to do!
Part of my mission as a South Asian therapist is to reclaim spiritual and cultural practices that have been Westernized and colonized. Although I offer the scientific explanation of neuropsychology and physiological responses to trauma, I also provide the remedy of movement, breathing, and inner connectedness. The individuals I work with typically identify with the BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and Asian communities.
My experience varies from adolescents to adults, specifically in roles where I am addressing trauma at the root of depression, anxiety, anger, relationship issues, self-harm, suicide and addiction. I offer a nonjudgmental space in which individuals feel safe to express and explore areas of the mind that they have not been in touch with. The therapeutic models that I pull from include Dialectical Behavior Therapy, mindfulness, somatic based therapies. I am eclectic in my style, there is no right or wrong way to conduct therapy – I find a connection with you and we start from there.
Catch me in a conversation with a peer and I’m most likely talking about restrictive cultural trauma, social justice and advocacy, or appreciation for nature and human connection. I enjoy connecting with like-minded professionals in the field of mental health and healing. When I’m not in my therapist role, I teach at Rutgers University Graduate School of Social Work. I am a passionate hiker with a love for animals and travel!
