Ms. Shreshtha Malhotra – Child & Adolescent Counselling Psychologist at Coach For Mind

Shreshtha Malhotra

Counselling Psychologist

English | Hindi

About Ms. Shreshtha Malhotra

Child & Adolescent Mental Health | Parent & Family Work | Neurodivergence-Affirming | Counselling Psychologist

Ms. Shreshtha Malhotra is a Counselling Psychologist with over four years of experience working with children, adolescents, adults, parents, and families. Her work is grounded in the understanding that emotional distress is not always visible or easily expressed—particularly for children and young people—and that meaningful therapy begins with creating a space where individuals feel safe enough to be understood without judgment.

Shreshtha works extensively with children and adolescents experiencing emotional regulation difficulties, behavioural concerns, anxiety, school-related distress, school refusal, developmental concerns, identity-related challenges, grief, interpersonal difficulties, and periods of significant emotional overwhelm. She also supports adults navigating anxiety, stress, relationships, grief, identity exploration, life transitions, and difficulties in understanding recurring emotional or interpersonal patterns.

A significant part of her practice involves working with neurodivergent children, adolescents, and adults, including individuals with ADHD and Autism. Her work is neurodiversity-affirming and focuses on understanding each individual’s unique ways of communicating, processing emotions, responding to sensory and social environments, and navigating everyday demands. Rather than approaching neurodivergence solely through a deficit-based lens, she works collaboratively to support emotional wellbeing, self-understanding, regulation, autonomy, and sustainable functioning.

Shreshtha also works closely with parents and caregivers navigating behavioural challenges, developmental concerns, emotional dysregulation, parent-child conflict, school difficulties, and uncertainty around how best to support their child. She helps families move beyond simply managing behaviour to understanding what the behaviour may be communicating about a child’s emotional, relational, developmental, or environmental needs.

Her therapeutic style is collaborative, compassionate, and responsive to the individual. She recognizes that some clients come to therapy seeking practical tools and strategies, while others need space to process emotions, understand patterns, and make sense of their experiences. Her work is therefore flexible and tailored to each client’s age, developmental needs, strengths, goals, and context.

Drawing from Narrative Therapy, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), Play Therapy, trauma-sensitive practice, neurodiversity-affirming care, queer-affirmative therapy, and selected CBT-based strategies, Shreshtha creates therapeutic spaces that are both emotionally supportive and practically meaningful. Clients and families often experience her as warm, patient, curious, and collaborative—someone who takes time to understand the person behind the concern rather than reducing them to a symptom, behaviour, or diagnosis.

Is This You?

You may be a parent watching your child struggle—through meltdowns, school refusal, withdrawal, or big emotions you can’t always make sense of—and wondering how best to help. You may be seeking support for a neurodivergent child, or for yourself, and want care that understands rather than tries to “fix.” You might be a teenager feeling overwhelmed, misunderstood, or unsure of who you are. Or you may be an adult carrying anxiety, grief, or patterns that keep repeating, looking for a space where you don’t have to perform or arrive with everything figured out. If any of this feels familiar, Shreshtha offers a warm, judgment-free space to be understood.

Areas of Specialization

Child & Adolescent Mental Health
Anxiety in Children & Adolescents • Emotional Dysregulation • Behavioural Challenges • Anger & Emotional Outbursts • Low Self-Esteem • Social Difficulties & Peer Concerns • Adjustment Difficulties & Life Transitions • Grief & Loss • Emotional Overwhelm • Identity-Related Concerns

School-Related & Developmental Concerns
School Refusal • School Anxiety • Academic Stress • Adjustment to School • Peer Difficulties • Developmental & Milestone Concerns • Behavioural Difficulties Across Home & School • Emotional Distress Related to Academic Environments

Neurodivergence-Affirming Support
ADHD • Autism Spectrum Conditions • Emotional Regulation • Executive Functioning Challenges • Sensory & Environmental Overwhelm • Social & Communication Differences • Self-Understanding • Neurodivergent Identity • Parent Support for Neurodivergent Children

Parenting & Family Support
Parenting Challenges • Parent-Child Conflict • Understanding Behaviour • Emotional Co-Regulation • Strengthening Parent-Child Relationships • Developmentally Appropriate Parenting Strategies • Caregiver Stress • Family Communication • Parent Psychoeducation

Trauma & Emotional Wellbeing
Trauma-Sensitive Support • Adverse Life Experiences • Emotional Overwhelm • Anxiety & Stress • Grief & Bereavement • Shame & Self-Criticism • Adjustment Difficulties & Life Transitions

Gender, Sexuality & Identity
Gender & Sexuality Exploration • LGBTQIA+ Affirmative Therapy • Identity Development • Self-Acceptance • Family & Social Concerns • Minority Stress • Relationship & Belonging Concerns

Adult Mental Health & Self-Exploration
Anxiety & Stress • Emotional Regulation • Relationship Difficulties • Interpersonal Patterns • Self-Esteem • Identity Exploration • Grief • Life Transitions • Personal Growth • Self-Understanding

Relationship & Interpersonal Concerns
Communication Difficulties • Boundary Setting • Interpersonal Conflict • Relationship Patterns • Family Dynamics • Attachment-Related Concerns • Relationship Loss & Endings

Crisis & Emotional Distress
Suicidal Ideation • Significant Emotional Distress • Emotional Overwhelm • Safety-Oriented Support • Crisis Stabilisation & Referral Planning

Therapeutic Orientation

Shreshtha uses an integrative, developmentally sensitive, and collaborative approach, drawing from:

  • Narrative Therapy
  • Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)
  • Play Therapy
  • Trauma-Sensitive Practice
  • Neurodiversity-Affirming Therapy
  • Queer-Affirmative Therapy
  • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)-Informed Techniques
  • Psychoeducation
  • Parent Guidance & Caregiver Support
  • Strengths-Based & Collaborative Practice

Child-Centred & Family Work

Shreshtha believes that children often communicate emotional experiences through behaviour, play, withdrawal, resistance, physical complaints, or changes in everyday functioning—particularly when they do not yet have the language to explain what they are experiencing. Her work with children is developmentally sensitive and may incorporate play-based approaches, narrative practices, emotional literacy, behavioural understanding, and caregiver involvement depending on the child’s age and needs.

When appropriate, she works collaboratively with parents and caregivers to:

  • Understand the emotional meaning behind behaviour
  • Strengthen parent-child communication
  • Support co-regulation and emotional safety
  • Respond to behavioural challenges with greater clarity
  • Navigate school-related concerns
  • Build sustainable routines and relational patterns
  • Support neurodivergent children without relying solely on compliance-based approaches

The aim is not simply to change the child’s behaviour, but to understand the child within the broader context of their relationships, developmental stage, environment, strengths, and emotional needs.

Qualification

  • Master’s in Psychology – University of Delhi
  • Advanced Diploma in Child and Adolescent Guidance & Counselling – National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD)
  • Post Graduate Diploma in Narrative Therapy and Community Work – Child First & Dulwich Centre
  • Certification in Queer Affirmative Therapy Practices – MHI

Therapy Philosophy

I see therapy as a collaborative process of understanding, healing, and growth. For me, it begins with creating a space where you do not have to perform, explain yourself perfectly, or arrive with everything figured out.

Some people come to therapy looking for practical tools. Others need space to process emotions, understand patterns, or make sense of experiences that have been difficult to name. I believe therapy should meet you where you are and evolve with what you need.

When working with children and adolescents, I pay attention not only to what is said, but also to what may be communicated through behaviour, play, silence, resistance, or emotional overwhelm. When appropriate, I work alongside parents and caregivers to help them better understand their child’s emotional world and strengthen the relationships around them.

We may not always be able to change what has happened to us, but we can change how we relate to our experiences and the meanings we carry forward. My hope is that therapy becomes a space where you feel heard, understood, and increasingly able to write your story in your own words.