At BrilliantRead Media, we always strive to bring meaningful and powerful stories from India and around the world to empower and motivate our growing community. As part of this endeavour, we invited Richa Mohta for an exclusive interview with us. She is an Entrepreneur, Coach, Psychologist, Therapist, Influencer and Change Enabler. Let’s learn more about her incredible journey, her background, and her advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Richa:
Could you please talk us through your background and your journey?
Well, growing up, I was an average student and could not really find any subject from an academic sense, that would hold my interest or get me scores. It is only in class 11 when I chose humanities, that I stumbled upon psychology, and have been with it since.
I completed my schooling, graduation, and master’s in psychology. Going forward with clinical psychology, I did my Mphil. Post which, I have been practising therapy. It has been around 3 years since I have been working.
I have been part of Mindpeers and also have been taking private clients. I also recently joined PHD. The area of my research is emerging adults’ mental health.
In terms of therapy, the area where my work mostly lies includes dealing with anxiety disorders, and personality disorders, improving relationships, coming out of unhelpful patterns of living, building healthy boundaries, healing through trauma and developing a strong sense of self.
I don’t believe there is one perfect therapeutic module/modality for all, so my approach is eclectic and I draw on different therapies to cater to each client’s needs. The sessions I provide are a mixture of explorative work as well as behaviour-based practices.”
One can expect a non-judgmental environment. I strongly believe that the more the therapist allows their authentic selves to come out, instead of really planning too much or trying to figure out answers in the mind instead of listening to what the client needs, the more organic the therapy process becomes.
My favourite therapies are acceptance and commitment therapy, dialectic behavioural therapy, mindfulness practices, polyvagal theory-based practice, and humanistic-existential approaches. But what has helped me the most, is insights from experts all over the world, their webinars and interviews.
So far, the journey has provided a lot of opportunities to learn as well as a lot of personal exploration and coming to terms with my own emotions.
While this has been my background professionally, and personally, my first love has always been dancing. Trained in Kathak for around 3 years, and now I have been learning belly dance. An interesting place of exploration was dance movement therapy, which compiled two of my major life-changing subjects. I did a year of diploma in DMT right between my Master’s and Mphil.
Not only the choice was made to practice but more to understand this unique body-mind connection. That exploration has had an important role to play in my clinical practice as well.
How did you discover your passion as a ‘Psychologist’?
Whenever I am asked this question, the first thing that comes to my mind is and it might sound weird, but I feel that I did not choose psychology, rather psychology chose me.
I was quite a clue-less kid and even as an emerging adult, I did not really know what I was doing. I would question if there was even a subject that I was good at.
This feeling remained the same even when I was already doing my graduation in psychology. It was only in my masters I realized, that this is what I am going to pursue.
But when I think in retrospect, I was always a good observer, a listener, and introspective, as well as I had a fair sense of judgement when it came to understanding what people around me were going through and why they are choosing the coping mechanism that they are choosing.”
I was always curious and often quiet as I was busy making sense of everything. It’s only recently I realized, wait a second, maybe I am meant to be in this profession.
With each passing year, I am feeling much more confident being in that therapy room with a client and there is an increased curiosity into discovering new therapy techniques, and signing up for every possible webinar or podcast. It is fascinating how human beings think, feel, and behave.
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
There have been quite a lot of ups and downs and periods of self-doubt, when it came to being a psychologist. Even now there are difficult times when facing the hard realities of this industry.
The challenges have come from periods of struggle, especially during Mphil, questioning my role as a therapist, dealing with the stigma against not only mental health but mental health professionals as well, besides, what society throws at you, especially being a woman.
However, resilience and a strong sense of will to make my dreams come true and curiosity to know more has helped me navigate through it all.
I come from a family background that is miles away from a mental health profession, and having to learn through mistakes, without much guidance in a professional sense, I think has made me an even more of a strong person.
Besides my efforts for myself, the drive to be able to do something for my parents also helps me continue to go.
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
My mother has been the biggest source of motivation in my daily life. This comes not only from a place of love but also from her strength which is staggering.
Even though we have a lot of arguments with each other at times, the wisdom she holds and where she wants to see me gives a big reason for me to continue.”
In addition, there are so many role models in form of experts from the field who inspire me. I aspire to also build a niche for myself.
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
There are a few:
> Being accepting of the fact that struggles are a part of life and there will be days when nothing makes sense and that is okay.
> Instead of striving for perfection, strive to be consistent.
> Self-reflection about when to draw boundaries, what steps to take forward.
> Having a broad vision of where I want to be, but making plans on a shorter-term basis, allows me to grow without being overwhelmed
> Making room for things I love
> Working towards physical fitness
> Sometimes really disengaging and taking a breather allows me to come back more refreshed.
It is a recipe with many different ingredients.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
Firstly recognizing, what success means for the person. We all have different definitions of it, it could be gaining financial independence, it could be getting renowned in a field, being able to sit back and have a good laugh or having great relationships or being physically fit. Whatever that definition,
– Recognizing it, prioritizing accordingly and every day taking steps towards it no matter how big or small
– Rather than trying to achieve too many things at the same time, taking on one thing at a time
– Self-reflection, instead of being extremely critical and losing compassion, looking at things from a place of learning and acknowledging where change is needed.
– Taking inputs and learning instead of being defensive
– Having an insight into who around is your well-wisher and who is not, who you want to take inputs from or help from or whose opinions to take seriously
What advice would you give to our readers?
The readers who want to enter this field, need to understand that the journey does not end with gaining a degree most of the learning takes place outside the classrooms when you are with your clients, so gaining exposure practically is extremely important and time and again asking yourself where does your interest area lies, what is something that you can do for a long period. Is it teaching, is it practising as a therapist, is it being a researcher, is it being a writer etc?
Often our preferences change and as we learn more about ourselves, we also come across new interest areas, having that reflection from time to time is important, instead of pursuing things because that is how typically people function in the field or something has to come in so and so age.
Constantly updating your knowledge does not always have to come through books, it can be through webinars, podcasts, listening to interviews, or learning simply by being involved in a discussion with a person who is experienced and asking questions, watching thought-provoking movies, Signing up for good channels and learning platforms works wonders. There are amazing genius experts out there.
And not just restricted to people who are psychologists themselves, when you get to know how people from different walks of life think and push themselves gives you so many new ways to approach things.
Understanding that financial gains can be slow at first and it does not look the same as many other professions, however, just like any profession, the graph does go higher with more years of experience and making wise choices. And a lot of people around may make you feel that the profession isn’t right, creating that distinction between others’ opinions and your own becomes extremely important.”
For people thinking of pursuing therapy, it is important to realize that it is a job that can affect you mentally and physically, it is very important to give sessions keeping in mind your well-being. Also going for therapy, yourself, can be helpful.
As we are talking about mental health, instead of being in rush to reach somewhere very soon, taking your time, being mindful and making some progress every day will automatically take you where you want to be. There might be times, especially in courses where you do multiple things at the same time, being in touch with your body and mind and drawing a boundary of when to stop is required. Taking care of your physical health. Taking help and seeking support are equally important.
Doing things that you love, and that bring a smile to your face is often lost in our schedule, so keeping that time is extremely important.
I have also had better coping many times when I did not get into competition (and not just professionally) with others mindlessly and rather was interested in my journey. This is an important aspect as that is what society promotes but ends up creating many obstacles and prevents you to be appreciative towards yourself. I feel that holds for every industry or person.
Last but not least, what about your journey makes it satisfying/exciting?
Every time that I am able to help someone coming to the therapy room with mental health concerns and every time my client recommends others to take therapy because it worked for them makes me feel satisfied and gives me a purpose.
More than anyone else, that sense of validation that comes from knowing that today I did better, today I improved or there was growth makes it so much more satisfying.
Gaining new insights from different experts, having an interesting conversation about mental health and life in general. I have many plans, most of which are related to entrepreneurial endeavours and having my private practice makes me excited as well as sometimes nervous about what the future holds.
There is still a long way to go and while there might be difficult days, being hopeful and knowing that I am not where I used to be, motivates me a lot.
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