Aparupa Dasgupta
I'm a clinical psychologist based in Kolkata. My work rests on an understanding that Indian mental health care is still learning to make room for: that a person's distress is often not a flaw in them, but a mark of what the world has asked them to carry. I hold an M.Phil in Clinical Psychology from the Clinical Psychology Centre, University of Calcutta, and an M.Sc in Applied Psychology with a specialisation in Clinical and Forensic Psychology, and I'm registered with the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI). My clinical interest centres on how experiences of exclusion and discrimination slowly become internalised, quietly shaping how a person feels, thinks, and trusts themselves. I work primarily with individuals navigating anxiety, low mood, and persistent stress, offering a space where their societal, familial, or systemic burdens do not need to be explained before they are understood.
What I believe therapy is for.
I believe therapy should not require a person to explain or justify themselves before being taken seriously. My clinical training across psychiatric, medical, and shelter-home settings shaped my understanding of how systemic discrimination, exclusion, and a lack of safe spaces become internalised as anxiety, rumination, and difficulty trusting one's own footing. I approach the person, not as the problem but recognise what they have had to carry and works to loosen it’s grip. Change, in my view, starts with awareness, and it ends with the client learning to draw the correct boundaries and finding a sense of acceptance towards what can no longer be changed.
What therapy feels like with me.
The chosen modality runs as an overarching theme through every session, present even while the focus stays on whatever the client has brought that day. In the room itself, I keep my prompting light, letting the client's own direction lead the way. Homework between sessions carries the therapeutic work beyond the room and into the client's daily life. When something hard or emotional surfaces mid-session, I slow down and sit with it, giving it the time it deserves and exploring how it has affected the client and what it has stirred in their thinking. The session returns to its original agenda only if that feels organic, and only if the client is ready for it.
The first session.
The first session opens with me introducing myself, including my credentials and pronouns, before giving the client space to introduce themselves in turn. A significant part of this session is dedicated to building rapport, so the client feels comfortable before anything more is asked of them. From there, the client is given space to share what has brought them in, at whatever pace feels comfortable. Where systemic factors are part of the picture, I have already done my own groundwork to understand the general realities of that background, so the client does not have to justify or explain the basics of what they are up against. The focus instead stays on what these experiences have made the client think and feel. Nothing needs to be disclosed before the client is ready for it; the session closes with both of us agreeing on what the work ahead will look like and what happens next.
Whether we are a good match.
Who I work best with
- People navigating anxiety, low mood, or persistent stress
- People who have had to constantly adapt to an unaccommodating world
- Queer clients seeking an affirmative space
- People carrying the weight of systemic discrimination or exclusion
Where I may not be the best fit
My practice is not equipped for active psychosis or severe crises that require psychiatric admission; these are best met by a psychiatric setting with the capacity for higher-acuity care.
The things people bring me.
Primary areas
- Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) - single strongest area
- Third-wave therapies
- Queer Affirmative Therapy
Secondary areas
- Behaviour Modification
- Applied Behaviour Analysis
- Supportive Therapy
- Couple’s CBT
- Group Therapy
- “Anxiety and persistent worry”
- “Low mood”
- “Chronic stress”
- “Interpersonal issues”
- “Emotional dysregulation”
- “Rumination”
The shape of the work.
Modalities I use
- Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT): identifying and restructuring the thought patterns that keep distress in place
- Third-wave approaches: building acceptance and psychological flexibility alongside change
- Queer Affirmative Therapy: working from within a client's identity rather than around it
Session style
Every session follows the same three-phase structure. The initial phase checks in on how the week went, whether there were any troubles with the homework, and what I want to discuss that day. The middle phase discusses the agenda and the homework for the coming week. The termination phase closes with me summarising the session and giving feedback. Throughout, the process is collaborative: agenda and homework are set together, and I am asked to do the summarising. I take notes during the session only for important details, writing up the rest immediately afterward. Silence is allowed to sit rather than being filled quickly, since it often gives me space to arrive at something on my own.
Longer work
Longer-term work keeps its pace collaborative, moving at the speed the client is ready for rather than a fixed timeline. Sessions continue to build on the same three-phase structure, with depth accumulating gradually as earlier homework and insights are revisited and built upon over time. Progress is reviewed together at natural points in the work, checking in on what has shifted and what still needs attention. As the work nears its close, sessions shift toward consolidating what has been learned and building the client's confidence in carrying it forward independently, with endings paced and agreed upon together rather than arriving abruptly.
What I actually have experience with.
Working with LGBTQIA+ clients
Yes, I am queer affirmative in my practice. My interest centres on how systemic discrimination and exclusion become internalised, and my work is shaped by that understanding. It is grounded in research she has carried out on minority stress, rejection sensitivity, internalised stigma, and social support in marginalised populations, which informs how I respond to the specific systemic pressures queer clients carry, rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach to identity-related distress.
Working with neurodivergent clients
I work with intellectual disability, autism spectrum, and ADHD clients. My approach does not rely on Behaviour Modification and Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) alone; I place significant focus on tailoring the therapeutic process around the client's special interests and on building social skills, alongside Parent Management Training (PMT) and cognitive retraining where the severity of the case calls for it. My work spans both assessment and treatment, adapted to what each client and family need.
Trauma
With clients who have experienced trauma, Aparupa begins with supportive psychotherapy, moving into Trauma-Focused CBT (TF-CBT) once the client and family have been stabilised.
Couples and relational work
Yes I do work with couples, drawing on Cognitive Behavioural Couple Therapy (CBCT).
Training, registration and practicalities.
| Qualifications | Master of Philosophy (M.Phil) in Clinical Psychology from Clinical Psychology Centre, Rajabazar Science College, University of Calcutta (April 2024 to May 2026) Master of Science (M.Sc) in Applied Psychology, Specialisation in Clinical and Forensic Psychology from Rajabazar Science College, University of Calcutta (October 2021 to August 2023) Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) in Psychology from Loreto College, Kolkata (June 2018 to August 2021) |
|---|---|
| Registration | Registered with the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) Pre-Registration in the Central Rehabilitation Register: Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) | Reg. No. P-2503212106-032-1211-0214-18 |
| Years of experience | Three years of post-qualification experience following her M.Sc, and three months following her M.Phil. This experience spans psychiatric, medical, and shelter-home settings. |
| Supervision | Aparupa practises under regular clinical supervision. |
| Languages | English, Bengali, Hindi |
| Online or in person | Online |
| Availability and fees | Availability - flexible Session fee - Rs 1500 (sliding scale) Duration of sessions - 50 minutes |
What sits behind how I practise.
What I value in the work
Clients are not asked to explain or prove their struggles before being taken seriously, especially where systemic discrimination or exclusion is part of what they carry. Collaboration is equally central, and it shows up structurally, in agendas, homework, and summaries that are built together rather than handed down. A third value is groundedness in the client's own pace, whether that means sitting with silence, returning to a hard moment before moving on, or letting endings arrive only when both are ready for them.
Books that shaped how I work
- Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Basics and Beyond: Judith S. Beck
- DBT Skills Training Manual: Marsha M. Linehan
- The Big Book of ACT Metaphors: Jill A. Stoddard and Niloofar Afari
- Cognitive Therapy: An Introduction: Diana Sanders and Frank Wills
- Transdiagnostic LGBTQ-Affirmative Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: Therapist Guide: John E. Pachankis, Audrey Harkness, Skyler Jackson, and Steven A. Safren
Research, writing and talks
Research interests:
- Minority stress, emotion regulation, rejection sensitivity, internalised stigma, and social support in marginalised populations
- Qualified UGC NET in Psychology
Publication
- Dasgupta, A., Datta, S. (2024). Mental Wellbeing and the Kama Sutra: A Synergy Between Hedonic and Eudaimonic Approaches. In: Pant, N. (eds) Psychology of Sexuality & Mental Health, Vol. 1. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-0281-7_10
Conference presentations
- Dasgupta, A., Datta, S. (2024). Mental Wellbeing and the Kama Sutra: A Synergy Between Hedonic and Eudaimonic Approaches. Paper presented at the 6th Global Conclave on Neurology and Neurological Disorders, June 23 to 24, 2025, Berlin, Germany.
- Behavioural modification using visual aids in a child with mild autism: A case study. Paper presented at the International Conference on Cognitive Behavioural Interventions (ICCBI 2026), Clinical Psychology Centre, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India, January 2026. (Supervised by Dr. S. Banerjee)
- Behavioural modification and social skills training for a child with mild intellectual disability: A case study. Paper presented at the International Conference on Cognitive Behavioural Interventions (ICCBI 2026), Clinical Psychology Centre, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India, January 2026. (Supervised by P. Majumder)
- Recommended watching
- Cinema Therapy (YouTube)
- Rowan Ellis (YouTube)
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