Aradhya is an 18-year-old student from Bennett University. She is pursuing her bachelor’s in Technology, specialising in Computer Science.
She is a fun-loving, extroverted person who resembles her mom in personality. Aradhya explains that she has lovely and supportive parents and a younger brother. She feels closer to her mom and shares a special bond with her.
“I was provided with every sort of happiness a child can imagine from my family. Despite being an extrovert, I bond more with my family and a close bunch of friends.”
Aradhya explains that she prefers to be surrounded by genuine people who have her best interests in mind. She also expresses her emotions and thoughts through her paintings and artworks.
However, Aradhya struggled with some personal issues at the beginning of her college days, which overwhelmed her. This led her to search for a safe space to vent her emotions, which led her to remember the campaign that happened at her university.
She recalled the management briefing about their subscription to YourDOST platform to provide counseling services for the students. She decided to log in with her student mail ID and started taking the sessions with Ms Janaki Ramaswamy.
Aradhya found the therapist to be kind and compassionate. She admired how Ms Janaki listened to everything she had to express patiently without any judgment. Aradhya opened up about the incidents that led up to her feeling emotional, which made her break down completely.
“During the first session, I was in a state of panic, so I spoke continuously for 30 minutes, and she didn’t interrupt me even once. She let me finish before giving me any suggestions.”
Aradhya elaborates that she wanted to sort out those emotions and move forward in her life. She also expressed this to the counselor.
“It was one of the terrible phases of my life, and I was desperately trying to be normal around my circle. It gave me panic attacks, and I spent a lot of time crying.”
Aradhya says that the counselor slowly taught her some techniques that were extremely helpful for her healing. She gave her some activities related to mindfulness to practice every day and taught her the 5-4-3-2-1 technique to help with her overthinking patterns about her past and future. It made her more present in the moment.
She adds that the sessions helped her stop the spirals and organise her thought process better. Aradhya explains that she gradually managed to move on and started having a positive outlook. She also worked on her issues related to time management, and with discussions with Ms Janaki, she says it helped her grow holistically.
She explains that she became more emotionally stable and learned to keep moving forward and fight the challenges that life throws at her. She shares that Ms Janaki has been an anchor in her growth and helped her transform into a person with emotional maturity and clarity of thought. She also stopped overthinking and began communicating better with his close circle.
“In this fast-paced world, people listen to reply and not understand, but Ms Janaki listened to me, intending to help me heal, be brave and confident. I thank her for all her time with me in the sessions.”
Aradhya thanks her for guiding her through her challenges and helping her rationalise her emotions. She says that being someone who perceived therapy as a mechanism for severe mental health issues only, knowing that therapy can teach the right lessons for even the simplest issues of life, was an eye-opener for Aradhya.
“Honestly, I think everyone should take therapy at some point to heal, deal with traumas, or even just to be better at communication. It can teach a lot.”
As she reaps the benefits of therapy, Aradhya rates herself 4 out of 5 and keeps growing in her life. We are happy to be a small part of her journey and delighted to see her progress.
Aradhya’s Warrior Tips:
1.“When teenagers like me start college, they experience many changes and uncertainties. Despite the fast-paced path, we should never lose ourselves.”
2.“Use therapy as a tool to be more self-aware, learn compassion and be a better person.”
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