Naila* came in initially with complaining of college stress and issues with her interpersonal relationships that she wanted to work on. A 19-year-old college going woman, Naila* found herself having panic and anger outbursts along with stress about her future.

After the initial session, our psychologist listened to her and suggested some relaxation techniques and a mindfulness routine. Naila* came back stating that it wasn’t helping her and our psychologist helped her identify what her coping strategies were and found that she resorts to suppression. Therefore, Naila* was suggested to talk to her friend, maintain a journal to process her experiences and information before her thoughts lead to a panic attack..

When she spoke about her interpersonal relationships, she expressed that she fights with her friends a lot and gets mad at them unnecessarily even if she didn’t want to. She had started distancing her friends due to the above reasons and didn’t know what to do. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helped her realize that she didn’t have to take everything personally and that not everyone is out to ‘get her’. Our psychologist suggested that she meet and spend time with her friends and see how felt when she actively worked on her distorted thoughts.

During one of the sessions, Naila* brought up the fact that she didn’t identify with the heteronormative sexual beliefs. She was very hesitant to talk about her identity and so, she was reminded that the therapeutic space was safe, confidential and a non-judgemental space for her to express herself. In spite of her struggling to open up, our psychologist constantly reminded her that however she was feeling was okay and that it didn’t matter how she identified. She was taught that she could be exactly who she is in terms of her sexual orientation and people around her who loved her would accept her for who she is. Once the reassurances and reminders were more emphasized upon, she started treating herself better and her interpersonal relationship

(*name changed for anonymity)