“You have to look out for yourself and help yourself before anyone else”, says Abhishek, a 28-year-old lead consultant at Birlasoft.
Abhishek was born in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, and lived there with his parents and elder sister until he married and moved to Gurugram, Haryana, in 2025. He explains that he has had a cordial relationship with each of his family members since childhood, and this relationship didn’t change even after his marriage. However, moving away from where Abhishek lived all his life hasn’t been easy.
Even though he has stayed away from home before as well, it used to be only for a few months. Since the move to Gurugram was permanent, it felt drastic to him. Abhishek says that his past professional experience was adding to the negative emotions he was feeling.
“I used to work in a company for five years. I joined somewhere else as there was no growth for me there, but in the next firm I joined, I started burdening myself with work to retain the job. By putting the job above myself, I created a toxic environment for myself. I didn’t want to repeat the same mistakes again.”
Abhishek elaborates that he even had to work continuously every weekend. He started to believe that workplaces aren’t ideally pleasant environments. Even after quitting the company and joining Birlasoft, Abhishek’s mind was unsettled.
Even though Abhishek and his partner have a loving relationship, he didn’t want to burden her by sharing the overwhelming emotions he was feeling. Precisely then, he learned about his new company’s tie-up with the YourDOST platform to offer free mental health resources for their employees. Abhishek decided to use the platform.
He recollects that he didn’t take time to research or surf through the counselors; instead, Abhishek opted to seek any available experts when he logged in. He got connected with Ms Arza, and he elucidates having a delightful experience.
“I’m very communicative about how I feel, and I told Ms Arza in the session that she might have to listen a lot as I had a lot in mind from my past issues to transitioning to a new city, lifestyle and workplace.”
He explains that Ms Arza was open to structuring the sessions based on his needs and also asked the right questions to push him forward in the right direction. Abhishek discussed with the counselor how he felt about the sudden loss of confidence. He adds that he has always appreciated his self-worth, and his self-doubts about his skills shocked him.
He feels that he didn’t stand up for himself in his previous job, making things worse. Abhishek recollects that all he wanted was to regain his confidence so he wouldn’t end up in the same situation again.
As Abhishek expressed in his first session, the counselor understood that he wanted to feel heard. Ms Arza listened to him patiently and helped him go through it step by step. He adds that the counselor also made him realise that what happened in his company wasn’t in his control and that he shouldn’t be hard on himself for it.
The discussions also validated him and gave him a space to vent all his thoughts and emotions. Every step of the way, Ms Arza updated her methods to accommodate Abhishek’s expectations from the sessions, says Abhishek.
In addition to the emotional support, the counselor suggested a few activities to address his financial issues, which helped him set a goal and better understand his path. He elucidates being surprised by Ms Arza’s patience in hearing everything he had to say in every session without any disruption.
“The most significant positive outcome of the sessions is that I finally got my confidence back, and therapy helped me look for solutions rather than fixating the problems. No one can imagine how thankful I am to Ms Arza for it.”
Abhishek adds that even when he was very resistant, the counselor managed to get through to him, and he shares that he respects her for the refreshing perspectives she gave him.
“I don’t think therapy can fix you in a day, but therapy can make you look at yourself differently and change your narratives towards life changes.”
As Abhishek accepted his past and his personality, he began putting himself first and became the go-to person for himself. He rates himself 5 out of 5 as he strives to look at things with better perspectives daily.
We are delighted and proud of Abhishek’s progress and happy to be part of his refreshing journey.
Abhishek’s Warrior Tips:
1.“Therapy is not just for your major issues, but also just to process your thpoughts and emotions.”
2.“Therapy can help you move on when you feel stuck in life.”
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