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Evolving As A Therapist

Self-Paced Course

Evolving as a Therapist

Evolving as a therapist is thoughtfully designed as a blend of self-paced learning and live engagements, aimed at bridging the gap between academic theory and real-world clinical practice. It is led by some of the most experienced professionals in the field.

The course has been curated with care, drawing on survey insights and the personal journeys of seasoned psychotherapists who openly shared their struggles while transitioning from training to private practice. We know that this transition can feel overwhelming—many young professionals report feeling unprepared to step into the therapy room during their initial years of practice.

In the early stages of a career, therapists often grapple not only with translating theory into practice, but also with the practical aspects of the profession—documentation, finances, and building visibility. This program has been designed to help you navigate these challenges and to build confidence in shaping a well-rounded, sustainable practice.
Each module takes into account your lived experience in the therapy room.

The course is divided into:

  • A Foundational Module – covering essential skills and knowledge to support your practice.
  • An Advanced ‘Build-Your-Own’ Module – tailored to your personal requirements and areas of interest.

We encourage you to take your time with the foundational module and join us for the live Q&A session in July 2026

View course details

Know your faculty

Ms. Poornima Mahindru

Clinical psychologist

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Dr Rathna Isaac

Clinical psychologist

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Dr Ashlesha Bagadia

Psychiatrist and psychotherapist

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Dr K Dharani Devi

Clinical psychologist

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Ms Pavitra Jayaraman

Communication Strategist

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Mr Krishnan

Chartered Accountant

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The evolving as a therapist foundation course includes

Ethics

Documentation

Therapeutic Alliance

Writing your profile

Business of Therapy

Managing your finances

Self-care

Supervision

Testimonials

Sreyoshi Ghosh
Sreyoshi GhoshPsychiatrist
Overall, a good course and I would recommend it to therapists. The facilitators were knowledgeable and interactive and addressed all questions.My biggest take away was being reminded not to localise the problem solely in one person, even if they seemed to be struggling the most. The family sessions in the video were well linked to the theory sessions. I would have liked it if there were videos with grandparents too in the room and more coverage of transgenerational family dynamics.
Padma Srinivasa
Padma Srinivasa Counselling psychotherapist
I would recommend every therapist to at least do the foundation course, since even in individual therapy, we not only deal with the individual but also the influence of family in establishing the way with which the individual reacts to the situation and the ongoing patterns. Learning this and much more understanding of approaches to tackle these issues makes this course worth the money and time spent.
Apoorva Shetty
Apoorva ShettyClinical psychologist
I would highly recommend this course for those entering the arena of family work. My biggest takeaway was how important systemic work is in our Indian context because most roles/rules get mixed up here. The facilitators were brilliant, observing them asking the right questions and managing their clients systematically but gently was a significant learning, besides understanding that one can only facilitate and nothing more. The quizzes were application based and helped me remember better and I plan to use these topics in my sessions too. I really liked the flow of the sessions and the discussions on cases which enabled me to understand the nuances better. Some concepts such as challenging families and situations including violence, infidelity etc. and the therapeutic system could have been more detailed.
Safwa Abdul Lateef
Safwa Abdul Lateef Group psychologist
I have enjoyed the brief introductory program very much. The opportunity to engage actively with systemic concepts in light of my current practice with groups and families has been helpful. Facilitators made enough room to link the learning experience to the Indian context. We were surprised how much of the material brought to us from another continent is similar to the experiences of understanding systems in India. What stood out is the directive and active stance of the therapist when compared to the analytic frame I am familiar with. It was especially helpful in working with difficult boundary issues families bring to our work, setting up the contract up front and opening up blocks to communication in couple and family work. I look forward to future endeavours with family work with The PARC.

Sreyoshi Ghosh

Psychiatrist

Overall, a good course and I would recommend it to therapists. The facilitators were knowledgeable and interactive and addressed all questions.My biggest take away was being reminded not to localise the problem solely in one person, even if they seemed to be struggling the most. The family sessions in the video were well linked to the theory sessions. I would have liked it if there were videos with grandparents too in the room and more coverage of transgenerational family dynamics.

Padma Srinivasa

Counselling psychotherapist

I would recommend every therapist to at least do the foundation course, since even in individual therapy, we not only deal with the individual but also the influence of family in establishing the way with which the individual reacts to the situation and the ongoing patterns. Learning this and much more understanding of approaches to tackle these issues makes this course worth the money and time spent.

Apoorva Shetty

Clinical psychologist

I would highly recommend this course for those entering the arena of family work. My biggest takeaway was how important systemic work is in our Indian context because most roles/rules get mixed up here. The facilitators were brilliant, observing them asking the right questions and managing their clients systematically but gently was a significant learning, besides understanding that one can only facilitate and nothing more. The quizzes were application based and helped me remember better and I plan to use these topics in my sessions too. I really liked the flow of the sessions and the discussions on cases which enabled me to understand the nuances better. Some concepts such as challenging families and situations including violence, infidelity etc. and the therapeutic system could have been more detailed.

Safwa Abdul Lateef

Group psychologist

I have enjoyed the brief introductory program very much. The opportunity to engage actively with systemic concepts in light of my current practice with groups and families has been helpful. Facilitators made enough room to link the learning experience to the Indian context. We were surprised how much of the material brought to us from another continent is similar to the experiences of understanding systems in India. What stood out is the directive and active stance of the therapist when compared to the analytic frame I am familiar with. It was especially helpful in working with difficult boundary issues families bring to our work, setting up the contract up front and opening up blocks to communication in couple and family work. I look forward to future endeavours with family work with The PARC.

Therapist

Have a question or topic you would like to address?

    Completed the Foundation Topics ?

    Pick from our advanced training courses one at a time. Write to us on info@theparc.in if you have any questions. 

    Advanced training courses

    ₹2000

    De-escalation in Therapy

    Develop skills to safely manage conflict and emotional intensity in sessions.
    View Course
    ₹500

    Sustaining the Therapeutic Relationship

    Strengthen and maintain effective therapeutic alliances over time.
    View Course
    ₹1000

    Reflective Practice for Mental Health Professionals

    A journey of self-reflection that helps mental health practitioners deepen awareness, refine their practice, and grow with intention.
    View Course
    ₹2500

    Understanding Psychotropic Medication

    Build practical knowledge of psychiatric medications for informed therapeutic work.
    View Course

    Got Questions ?

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Clear answers to common questions about our courses, workshops, certification, and support.

    This course is intended for early-career therapists, counselling and clinical psychology trainees, and practitioners in the initial years of independent practice. It may also benefit professionals seeking to strengthen applied clinical skills and practice management.”

    Yes. While particularly relevant for early-career professionals, therapists in practice may benefit from refining their clinical approach, strengthening foundational skills, or expanding into new areas.

    A basic foundation in psychology or counselling is recommended. The course is designed to support the transition from academic learning to applied clinical work.

    The course combines self-paced modules with live, interactive sessions. This blended format allows for flexible learning while also providing opportunities for real-time discussion, case-based learning, and guided reflection.

    The Advanced Module allows participants to customise their learning by selecting areas aligned with their clinical interests and developmental needs.

    Unlike purely academic courses, this course emphasises applied learning, therapist experiences, and real-world challenges, integrating both clinical and practice-oriented competencies.

    Poornima Mahindru
    Community building and Course Director,
    IVF and Mental Health

    Poornima Mahindru is a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist in the field of mental health for over a decade. In the course of her professional journey she has experienced a dearth of opportunities to upskill herself. She strongly believes that mental health professionals need constant training and learning to provide quality care to their clients.

     

    At The PARC, she brings together collaborations with national and international experts  to expand the Indian mental health community’s access to high quality training. Poornima is also a core faculty member for one of our popular courses Evolving as a Therapist. 

     

    She carries vast experience of working in premier organisations like Manipal University and NIMHANS and has been in the leadership roles in private neuropsychiatric hospitals. She currently practices  with The Green Oak Initiative where she specialises in perinatal mental health and personality disorders and provides clinical and professional supervision for mental health professionals.

    Dr Rathna Isaac

    Dr Rathna Isaac is a psychotherapist, supervisor and trainer with more than 20 years of experience. She works with individual adults and couples as a private practitioner using an integrated framework. She is an external consultant for the Couple and Family Therapy Programme at Parivarthan Counselling and Training Center and on the Board of Studies for the Development of Psychology, St. Joseph’s College. She is co-author of Reflective Practice and Professional Development in Psychotherapy (Sage Publications, 2022).

    Dr. Ashlesha Bagadia
    Founder and Director

    Dr Ashlesha Bagadia is a perinatal psychiatrist and family psychotherapist at The Green Oak Initiative Community Mental Health Centre with over two decades of experience in mental health.

    She is faculty on several courses including  Systemic Practice in Family Therapy, Perinatal Mental Health for Obstetricians and Psychotropics Medications for Therapists.  She has completed higher training in Perinatal and Women’s Mental Health, Family Systems Psychotherapy and Mentalisation Based Treatment. She has a keen interest in bringing advanced psychotherapy skills to India and making it accessible to areas with limited resources. She hopes to make clinical skills that may originate from western theories, more culturally relevant and adaptable to local settings. She has been conducting workshops and courses with a view to help clinicians make meaningful connections, grow through stronger peer interactions and provide better collaborative care.  

    Dr K Dharani Devi
    Course Director, Foundation Course in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

    Dharani is course director of the Foundation Course in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy and is a core faculty member for one of our popular courses Evolving as a Therapist.

    She is an RCI registered clinical psychologist and psychotherapist with a decade of clinical experience. She has completed her Ph.D in Clinical Psychology at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), and also worked as clinical psychologist there.

    She has extensive experience working with adults with emotional and attachment difficulties. Her area of research during Ph.D, was on Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). She has been trained in Mentalization Based Treatment by Prof. Anthony Bateman (UK), a specific form of therapy for people with BPD.

    Pavitra Jayaraman
    Founder and Director

    Pavitra Jayaraman believes that mental health belongs in all conversations and even more so in clinical settings. She is building The PARC to ensure that mental health is an important aspect in all health experiences through training, communication and community engagement. At The PARC she manages growth, collaborations, marketing and operations. She is faculty on the Evolving as a Therapist course. 

    In her previous role she built the content operations for White Swan Foundation for Mental Health – a knowledge centred non-profit – that curated complex information on mental health for workplaces, adolescents, parents, teachers and the elderly in six Indian languages through several offline and digital platforms. Pavitra is also an independent journalist and communications consultant. She has worked with NDTV where she reported on politics and health and with Mint as a long form features writer. 

    Krishnan Hariharan

    Krishnan, a Chartered Accountant since 2008 and IIM Ahmedabad alumnus, realized his childhood dream of becoming a CA joining a century-old family tradition in the profession. He specializes in new company set-up, GST and income tax for clientele in India, the UK, US, and Japan. In addition to his core competence in representation before tax tribunals, Krishnan is a writer and a trainer believing in making taxes less taxing. Outside work, he enjoys travel, OTT, cricket and reading on global business trends.