Riya Jain is a 24-year-old determined corporate employee who works as a Talent Acquisition Partner at Hiver.
She comes from Udaipur, Rajasthan, and explains that she spent most of her childhood in a township near Udaipur, where her father worked as an engineer. Riya elucidates having the best childhood living there compared to city life.
“The town had close-knit communities far away from all the hustle and bustle, the hierarchies of class or caste, all the junk food, etc. It was good growing up. I cried when we had to move away due to my dad’s transfer, and I have missed the place ever since.”
After Riya shifted to the city, she explains that her experience and learning have been different. Once she finished her schooling, she went to Udaipur for her undergraduate studies and moved to Punjab to pursue her MBA.
Throughout her journey, Riya explains that her parents and grandparents have been supportive, keeping her and her younger sister, who is studying fashion design, safe and healthy. Riya started her career as an intern at a firm and eventually found her right fit at Hiver.
As her life proceeded, at the beginning of 2024, Riya was going through some personal issues, which affected her emotional well-being. She was also anxious about her career growth.
“When my contract extended after six months at work, it created a lot of self-doubt in me as I questioned why I couldn’t get converted to full-time employment.”
Riya recalls crying every day, thinking about all these, making her rethink her career choices. These stressors started affecting her personal life and took a toll on her physical health as well.
Knowing about her company’s sponsorship of the YourDOST platform as part of their employee assistance program, Riya went on the website looking for resources. She then started connecting with Ms Shreya Angara to find out more about how she could deal with the situation.
Riya elaborates that the counselor was humble, modest and well-spoken. She recollects feeling safe and comfortable as the counselor listened to her patiently. Riya expressed to the counselor the questions she had about her career and the concerns she had towards deciding her future.
“I felt like someone who was not part of my life was listening to everything that was bothering me. She helped navigate towards a good decision-making process.”
Riya says that although she had people in her circle who were open to listening to her issues, she wanted to talk to someone who had more than just life’s experiences. She wanted an unbiased third-person opinion. Riya explains that she also wanted to find the root causes of her self-doubts.
She recollects the counselor asking her follow-up questions to dive deeper into her emotional patterns. They started by talking about surface-level things, like watching a movie, and then explored the feelings she associated with those things. Riya explains that the counselor also validated her feelings, and that helped her feel heard.
When Ms Shreya wasn’t available, Riya also consulted Ms Kousalya Konila and Ms Anita Eliza whenever she had doubts or questions about day-to-day issues. She also took their guidance on career-related topics. She adds that they helped her by using categorising and organising techniques to decide on the choices she had. These made her gain clarity on her issues.
“The methods of each of these counselors helped me analyse my issues and rationalise them before anything went out of hand.”
She remembers discussing personal issues with Ms Kousalya, and Riya liked the way Ms Kousalya brought up relevant examples of outcomes and consequences to help her with them. This made her feel at ease and led her to see the logic in the situation.
Riya expresses that even though the counselors gave her various techniques and she worked on them to improve herself, it was the validation she received from them that went a long way for her.
“People in my close circle would help me with solutions from their experience, but the counselors always would take their time to analyse my emotions and say it was okay to feel that way. It helped me introspect, and I’m really grateful to them for that.”
She also thanks the counselor for helping her gain clarity and making her see perspectives instead of putting the blame on herself.
As she began to see herself in a positive light, Riya rates herself 4 out of 5 and works on achieving holistic improvement. We are glad to be part of her process and wish her all the best for her future.
Riya Jain’s Warrior Tips:
1.“Talking to a therapist isn’t just about seeking help; it’s about speaking with someone who has the expertise to discuss the issues affecting our emotional well-being.”
2.“Therapy gives you insights into things that you wouldn’t be aware of about yourself.”
3.“When you’re overwhelmed, take a moment to write everything down on a piece of paper; that can do wonders for you.”
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