Bavani (she/her) is a mental health advocate who roots her practice in the concept of mental justice, where mental health is a matter of social justice.

She is committed to building safe, grounded, and non-judgmental spaces to explore how the personal, relational, and structural are interconnected.

She holds an intersectional, rights-based, and anti-oppressive stance, strongly believing that therapeutic spaces are actively political, as hope and healing cannot be found in isolation from the systems we navigate and the communities we form.

Challenging the idea that ignorance is bliss, she turns to kind and critical reflection as foundational for a holistic sense of well-being.

Her approach is person-centered and shaped by narrative practices. She values centering and holding space for lived experiences, believing there is power in witnessing.

She has completed her Master’s in Applied Psychology from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Through work experience and research, she has engaged with individuals and communities marginalized along caste and religion, as well as with children, youth, and women. Her training in couple and family therapy, along with school counselling, informs her overall systems approach, seeing individuals as being in constant interaction with the institutions and structures they are a part of.

Her background in sociology also continues to shape her journey of learning and unlearning.

Outside of work, she enjoys watching movies, long walks with loved ones, and the smell of rain. Languages: English, Telugu, Hindi