About me
My name is Ramya Sastry and I am a psychotherapist fully accredited with the Karuna Institute and the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy in the UK. My psychotherapy practice is based in Bengaluru.
Click on the following links to learn more about these organisations:
https://www.psychotherapy.org.uk
I hold space for a safe and an exploratory approach to engaging in therapy. I attempt to meet a person where they are in life and offer them a way to finding what their internal resources are, if they have lost touch with them due to the pressures of life. I help them to slowly regain their confidence and awareness to find ways to better cope from what is ailing them.
My training and supervision are based in a holistic and contemplative framework. It is held by a comprehensive depth psychotherapy approach that combines western psychodynamic principles, eastern non-dual consciousness and mindfulness teachings in a coherent way.
In simple terms, I work with the idea that while suffering maybe unavoidable, being open to the immediate experience of how it presents as we are living in the moment in a safe relationship can be healing. In this way, a lot of issues that we may think are hard to make sense of may become a little easier to understand when we are in a therapeutic space. A space that is flexible and open to supporting our journey towards health and recovery.
I am interested in working with individual's who are presenting issues in the areas of:
Relationship Issues
Sexuality
Anxiety
Depression
Life transitions
Bereavement
Personality tendencies
Early Trauma
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I am a savarna and neurodivergent therapist who is keenly interested in holding space for systemic and structural impacts on an individual's mental health. Through my unique life experiences and training, I have come to understand that what facilities ethical behaviour on part of the therapist is to recognise that cultivating a safe environment is a collaborative practice that involves engaging with what is arising in the therapy space between the client and the therapist. My interest in relational experiences as they emerge in the therapy space is central to how I practice psychotherapy.
My Qualifications:
PG Dip. in Developmental Model of Couples Therapy from The Couples Institute, Menlo Park, CA, USA
BS in Psychology and Bio Archaeology from Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
Two-year certification in Next-level Practitioner’s program, a trauma-informed practice of psychotherapy from NICABM
MA in Mindfulness-based Psychotherapeutic Practice from The Karuna Institute, UK.
If you would like to work with me, do write to me at rsastry@icloud.com.
What is psychotherapy and why come to it
Psychotherapy is an opportunity to collaborate with a psychotherapist to create a relationship in a therapeutic space where one can explore the underlying meanings behind why we feel the way we do. And why do we respond in ways that might seem confusing or at cross-purposes with our intention.
Most of us go through phases where life might seem really challenging, scary, confusing and we might find ourselves feeling that we do not know how to navigate these feelings. And might struggle to come from a calm, creative and heartfelt place within us in our relationships and in life. Some people come to psychotherapy to learn to understand their own emotions better and find relief in discovering that they can access an innate capacity to be well. While encountering challenges in life that they spent years not really being fully aware of. Awareness and a deepening sense of connection with oneself and with the life around us as it is unfolding can be an invigorating experience.
Some people discover psychotherapy when they are in ‘eye of the storm’ of a life crisis. While being in the centre of a difficult crisis, lot of us come face to face with our own history of having experienced childhood trauma and never having had the opportunity to address it in any way. A lot of us may not be aware of the impact of early trauma, the core wounding that we may be operating from in our relationships. We might be experiencing difficulty in understanding it. Understanding it in a safe therapeutic relationship can help us change how we relate to our unique history and ourselves. Recovery can become an option and a way forward that can get us in touch with our own unique strengths as human beings.
Life can be about coming from aliveness, ease and connection. These can become our core ways of functioning and can be cultivated from the moment of recognising our inherent capacity to be integrated in health and inner harmony.
FAQ's
How long will each session be
Each session will be 50 minutes to an hour.
How frequently are we going to meet
I offer weekly sessions or four sessions in a month. It is important to consider the feasibility of making space for these sessions while considering starting therapy with me.
I have a lot of anxiety. Will being in therapy help?
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Feeling anxious can be a clue to understanding how we are responding and reacting to what life is bringing to us. Being in therapy can be an opportunity to look at how it is normal to want to be rid of anxiety. And at the same time it might help to remain curious about what our anxiety might be telling us. Listening to anxiety, while not easy and might require support from a loved one or a therapist, voicing it, learning more about what triggers it with an attitude of compassion and openness might really help. Anxiety is a part of our physiological make-up. It can be really challenging to manage it but if we can find a way to voice it, we might be able to learn to shift how we feel about feeling anxious.
I need help navigating difficult relationships. Can therapy help?
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Undergoing therapy can be very helpful in cultivating self-awareness, improve your emotional skills, raise your sense of self-worth. You can learn to function more effectively in important relationships when you are less bottled up and feeling more free of your internal suffering.
I am not sure if therapy can help me.
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It is natural to feel unsure of a process where there seems to be an idea around being listened to and an interest taken in understanding you as a person and supporting your growth and well-being. Many of us are unfamiliar with being taken seriously for who we are. You may be right about therapy not being right for you. Or you may learn that therapy can really support you through some changes you'd like to see in yourself. You can book a session to explore these questions.
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How much do you charge per session
INR 3500 for residents of India
INR 5500 for non residents
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