About
Dr. Prateeksha Sharma, the founder of Bright Side Family Counseling Center, understands mental health at close quarters. At present she is a psychotherapist, musicologist, and researcher.
However, once upon a time, in 1992 at the age of 20, she was given a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. She spent the next 18 years struggling in the role of psychiatric patient, losing all her important societal and professional milestones. In 2010 she quit psychiatric medication with the assistance of many supportive factors, documented in her research. Her exit from the patient role and its consolidation was further augmented by entering doctoral research in 2016 to study why people do not exit psychiatric dependence.
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She is here on Quora, Linkedin and ResearchGate
Bright Side Family Counseling Center is founded by psychotherapist- musicologist Dr. Prateeksha Sharma, Ph.D. who understands mental health at close quarters. As someone who has seen the inside-out of psychiatric patient-hood she is well-versed with the challenges of becoming a patient and what it entails for the family. But more importantly she comprehends the challenges one encounters on the path of leaving the patient’s role, which is also her doctoral research. In part this augmented her psychotherapeutic understanding of suffering and why people remain in the patient’s role in spite of progressive infirmity. That insight is part component of her peer- practice, the remaining parts combining research based insights from her own recovery, and a theoretically grounded counseling practice, offering solutions to scores of individuals and families, in over a decade of work and study.
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She has dedicated her life to understanding and addressing the complexities of mental health, interweaving knowledge from various disciplines including psychiatry, social psychology, sociology, law, anthropology, counseling, linguistics, and the performing arts. As the founder of Bright Side Family Counseling Center, she is creating an organization where people, whether employees or clients, are nurtured towards becoming their best selves. Bright Side Family Counseling Center follows a needs-adapted approach; offering specialized, one-on-one recovery-oriented counseling working especially in so-called intractable diagnoses like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other anxiety disorders, alongside comprehensive family and general counseling services.
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Dr. Sharma has extensive experience working with adolescents, youth, families, and students in schools and colleges, and adults in institutional and organizational settings. Her comprehension of stigma has propelled her to work with inmates in a prison, youth in a correctional facility, LGBTQ individuals, and other minorities.
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In enlarging the scope of the Bright Side Family Counseling Center, Dr. Sharma is currently training a team dedicated to promoting mental health recovery and well-being, offering tailored programs and support to meet the unique needs of each individual and family.