Meet, Mrinal Gokhale, an Indian-American writer who began her career as a freelance journalist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the most segregated city in the United States. She reported on Mental Health Awareness Month events for Hispanic and African-American publications as part of her work. She realized that these conversations were lacking in Asian and South Asian representation. To increase education and acceptance of mental health among South Asian generations, while also showing non-South Asians how intersectionality looks in the diaspora, she went on to author 2 books, both anthologies, the f ..read more

So far in this season, we have been talking about normalizing conversations around mental health and we’ve also talked about the fact that seeking professional help isn’t always tied to big life events. In this episode, we talk to Shruthi Bharath about one of the biggest life-changing times in a woman’s life - motherhood. We delve into those vulnerable, often loney moments of early motherhood and the challenges it presents. Here are some of the topics we discuss Early motherhood challenges and how it impacts mental health and well-being We’re 3 women on this episode, all of us mothers, each o ..read more

Dr. Monica Shah is a licensed psychologist and certified school psychologist based in Manhattan. She specializes in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT ..read more

Chapter 1: What is Good Girl Syndrome? How the phrase "good girl" is ingrained in the vocabulary of our Indian culture and where it stems from? Shwetha & Rema share anecdotes from their personal experiences. Chapter 2: The personality and mental health implications of "good girl syndrome" Chapter 3: Shwetha & Rema answer a series of questions to find out if they have Good Girl Syndrome and you can play along too. chaiversations.org ..read more

Our guest today is Kareena Mehta, a mental health professional with a B.A. in Psychology from Bryn Mawr College and further education from Teachers College, Columbia University, where she earned an Ed.M. in Mental Health Counseling and an M.A. in Psychological Counseling. Kareena brings with her a plethora of cross-cultural experiences, both from her own personal life growing up in Belgium, moving to India and then the USA; as well as professionally, wherein her clients are spread throughout the globe from Africa to India, USA, Cannada and beyond. We talk to her about: Her forray into the men ..read more

We discuss the barriers we faced whilst trying to access mental health services in the US, and South Asian organizations that are doing the groundwork in creating databases of a network of therapists and services, Plus, Rema shares a few ground-breaking mental health books that were a huge part of her journey. We hope you enjoy this episode! You can check out our website chaiversations.org and Subscribe to our monthly Substack Newsletter chaibreakpodcast.substack.com ..read more

We, Shwetha & Rema, address the elephant in the room - mental health and well-being by sharing our own personal journey of how/why/what got us to seek professional help. It's raw, it's real and it's just the beginning of a power-packed season of personal stories, chaiversations with expert guests, and continuing the chaiversation online via Instagram and the launch of our Substack Newsletter.Sign up for our newsletter via our website chaiversations.org or at chaibreakpodcast.substack.com for your monthly fix of exclusive behind-the-scenes of the world of podcasting, exclusive guest intervi ..read more

In this episode we talk about body positivity and the impact of body shaming on individuals. We dive deep into our own personal journeys growing up in India and how casual commentary from friends and family can have a lifelong negative impact on your confidence and how you look at yourself. We end the episode with 6 key things you can do to start loving yourself today. Read more on the blog: https://chaibreakpodcast.com/2021/11/18/body-positivity ..read more

Are you an immigrant? Did you move to a different country later in life? Then give ChaiBreak Podcast a listen! This is the story of Shwetha & Rema, 2 Indian immigrants who moved to USA more than a decade ago and how they navigated everything from culture, career and conversations, to becoming the confident women they are today. For more about us and the podcast, visit our website https://chaibreakpodcast.com/2020/08/29/hello-namaste-welcome-to-chai-break/ Rate us, review us , hit that SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW button and don't forget to share it with your family and friends! Follow us on Instagram ..read more

Shilpa Bhim is the founder of Glowreel, a media startup dedicated to celebrating the achievements and amplifying the stories of BIPOC, Black, Indigenous, and people of color women. Through Glowreel, Shilpa's aim is to ensure current and future generations of BIPOC women feel represented, empowered and inspired to blaze their own trail! We talk to Shilpa about how it was like growing up brown in Kiwi land, her career in Social reform and policy and what led to her eventually starting Glowreel and her thoughts on USA's recent Roe V Wade decision by the Supreme Court, based on what NZ's Prime Min ..read more