Transforming mental health stigmas into lifestyle choices

Arushi Sethi Shah, the visionary Co-Founder & CEO of Trijog - Know Your Mind, is on a mission to revolutionise mental health care in India. Her organisation has emerged as a beacon of hope, touching the lives of over 20 million people.

With a decade of unwavering dedication, Trijog has transformed the perception of mental health from a stigma to a lifestyle choice. In an exclusive interview with Bizz Buzz, Arushi shares the inspiring journey of building India's leading mental health organization and its ambitious plans for the future

What inspired you to establish Trijog and create this unique therapy centre focused on holistic mental health care?

We must dare to dream and venture into uncharted territories. Why do we dream? We dream to bring to life thoughts and ideas that have never been realized before. The inspiration behind creating Trijog stemmed from the glaring need for quality-driven mental health care in India. A decade ago, there were no organizations dedicated to mental health; only individual practitioners and clinics existed, and mental health was often viewed negatively. My life changed after surviving the near-death experience of the 2015 Nepal earthquake. Being given a second chance made me realize that what we all truly need is the feeling of safety. During my recovery from PTSD and anxiety, my mother, one of the most respected psychologists in the country, was my pillar of support. But what about others? Who guides those without such support through their emotional and behavioural challenges? It was clear that India needed to destigmatize mental health care. Seeing so many people suffer in silence without access, acknowledgment, or acceptance drove me to establish this organization.

Could you describe the idea behind your safe space and how it seeks to transform the conventional therapy experience?

What is a safe space? A safe space is where you feel relaxed, comfortable, understood, present, and at ease. When you are at ease, you feel better, and when you feel better, you do better.

Everything at Trijog is designed to make you feel at ease. We aim to redefine the traditional therapy experience, which is often viewed negatively. The term mental carries many negative connotations.

Mental health care and therapy were once associated with wards—something dingy, scary, and dark—far from safe. Our mind is not something to shy away from but something to champion. Our safe space aims to redefine mental health care as a form of wellness. We strive to create an environment where one feels free, at rest, alive, and as if they were on a retreat.

Trijog serves individuals, corporations, and the community. How do you tailor your approach for each of these groups, and what key challenges do you address?

Our key challenge is shifting the perception that counseling is only for those with problems. In corporate India, we emphasize that counseling is a lifestyle, not just a problem-solution tool. We tailor our approach to each audience, helping institutions view therapy as integral to emotional well-being, enhancing work style, ethics, communication, and stress management. For individuals—whether adults, adolescents, or children—we frame therapy as a lifestyle choice, akin to going to the gym or a spa. This perspective encourages consistent care for mental health with the same dedication given to physical health.

With a team of over 120 professionals, how do you maintain consistent quality of care and expertise across all locations and online platforms?

Our system addresses quality by establishing a robust foundation and continuously revisiting, reinventing, and refining our processes. We ensure that our systems are so well-standardized that they can be seamlessly operated and supervised. At Trijog, we maintain high standards of data collection, management, and analysis, supported by supervision teams across all aspects of our work, including corporate counselling and adult counselling. This approach guarantees that our services remain personalized yet consistently high in quality, whether for one individual or a million. Having a strong base that we continuously build upon, revisit, and reinvent is crucial. Additionally, we ensure that the expertise and knowledge of our team are continually enhanced to keep them at the forefront of the field.

As Trijog plans to expand internationally, what are your long-term goals for the organization, and how do you intend to preserve the personalized and supportive environment during growth?

I believe that having a solid foundation is key to any growth and stability. In the last decade, Trijog has focused primarily on its quality and stability while also venturing into international markets.

Through our robust process delivery system, we will ensure that despite scaling up, our quality remains uncompromised. Our long-term goal is to establish more centres in India to provide physical spaces where individuals can come and share their concerns. We aim to replicate this quality in international markets, starting with the UAE and expanding further. Our B2C operations have already begun in the UAE and the United States. We look forward to acquisitions and establishing a strong brand presence with a sanitized system and a healthy core by creating safe and supportive spaces worldwide.

Trijog’s headquarters combines state-of-the-art design with a therapeutic, revitalizing environment. Could you elaborate on the specific design elements and features that create this atmosphere and their contribution to the overall therapeutic experience? At Trijog, we’ve put immense thought into our design, understanding that what you see and how you perceive it influences how you feel. A special thanks to the Design Space team—Aditya, Chintan, and Diya—for their invaluable contributions. Our colour palette, incorporating sage green, yellow, and white, creates a calming atmosphere. Sage green fosters tranquility, yellow brings warmth, and the abundant use of white enhances a sense of openness and ease. Each piece of furniture is crafted for maximum comfort, ensuring you feel at ease. Our therapy rooms are designed to evoke a spa-like serenity, soothing your senses from the moment you enter. The entire service experience, from greeting to amenities like blankets and menus, is thoughtfully curated to create an atmosphere of lightness and comfort, making it easier for you to share your concerns.

With Trijog offering eclectic therapy solutions, what specific therapeutic approaches or modalities do your professionals specialize in, and how do you determine the best approach for each client’s unique needs?

Every life is unique, and every individual and every individual’s concerns needs to be transformed or dealt with uniquely. An eclectic approach means tailor-suiting and tailoring and customizing amalgamation of different schools of therapy to best suit an individual’s needs. At Trijog, we begin our experience with the first session being one of history-taking, where we understand what are the challenges, what is the history, what are the triggers which have been in an individual’s life, which are causing the relevant concerns. On the basis of that, then we tailor-make a plan of action using different modalities that our psychologists are highly trained in understanding that would help best improve the concerns an individual are facing. Our modalities are a mix between RABT, CBT, art-based therapy, ETC

Types of therapy are as follow: Behaviour Therapy (Behaviour Modification); Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT, ) Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT); Person/client-centred Therapy, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT); Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Arts-Based Therapy (ABT), Occupational Therapy.

Corporate mental health and well-being are increasingly important. What key challenges have you observed in the corporate sector, and how does Trijog’s approach address these challenges through interventions like counseling sessions and specialized learning and development programs?

The challenges we face include: Inaccessibility of awareness about emotional well-being and its direct impact on productivity and work nature; Lack of proper knowledge around mental health care, emotional well-being, and behavioral well-being.

Insufficient emphasis by leadership and decision-makers on the seven pillars of well-being. True change requires a top-down approach, where leaders genuinely prioritize and integrate these pillars to enhance work output. The gap between investment in mental well-being and the expected outcomes.

We address these challenges through: Creating Accessibility: Our one-to-one counseling and learning programs, integrated from screening to onboarding, make mental health care a lifestyle.

Enhancing Knowledge: We provide practical knowledge to help employees navigate work challenges and foster emotional independence, improving their overall health and productivity.

Engaging Leadership: We ensure leaders champion mental health care by using services like counselling and behavioural development themselves.

Affordable Quality Care: We offer high-quality, affordable mental health care to corporate India, encouraging greater investment in these services.

Trijog is committed to community outreach and education through campaigns, events, workshops, and support groups. Can you provide examples of these initiatives and their impact on promoting mental health awareness and support within the community?

Trijog is actively involved in several impactful initiatives: The Dharavi Dream Counseling Project (TDDP): We provide mental health support to students in Dharavi, one of Asia’s largest slums, aiming to build a knowledgeable grassroots capable of addressing various concerns.

Concern India (A Girl Child Initiative): Our project focus on supporting underprivileged girls with essential mental health care and resources.

Diversify with Trijog: This initiative fosters connections among diverse groups and communities, creating safe spaces for discussions on mental health care across various sectors.

Yuva Bharat: In partnership with IMC, this project, which received recognition from the Prime Minister, focuses on empowering youth and promoting mental well-being.

Having already impacted over 25 million lives, what are some of the most significant success stories or transformations you’ve witnessed through Trijog’s services, and how do these experiences motivate you to continue expanding your reach?

Having impacted over 25 million lives, we’ve witnessed many profound success stories through Trijog’s services. One example that stands out is a recent experience where a woman, who had been waiting outside our office, came in and broke down in tears. She shared that, although she had no parents and only a supportive husband, Trijog had given her child with special needs a new lease on life. She described our work as a divine blessing, saying that Trijog had provided her family with hope and direction. Such heartfelt stories deeply motivate us to continue expanding our reach. We have numerous similar stories: from individuals overcoming severe depression to couples reviving their relationships when it seemed impossible. Every day, we see lives transformed and crises averted, reinforcing our commitment to expanding our services and touching more lives.