MY APPROACH and TRAINING
Hello. I am Urvashi, a clinical psychologist specialising in couple work.
Over a 22-year career, I have practiced as a psychologist and an HR professional. My roles include being a therapist, a facilitator, coach and supervisor of coaches and counsellors.
In my practice as a clinical psychologist, I bring an India-centric perspective and have integrated the systemic view to ensure that nuances of Indian marriages are acknowledged for the impact they have on Indian couples across the world. Through several years of practice, and with the witnessing of couples who have allowed my working together with them, I have developed a deep understanding of the systemic and relational complexity that Indian couples are contending with today.
This includes how joint families work, arranged marriages, gender expectations, and cultural silence around sexuality shape what Indian couples actually face.
No single school or body of work has all the answers, and my work is anchored in the work of selected international psychologists.
- 1997-99 MPhil in Clinical Psychology. National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, (NIMHANS) Bangalore
- 2019 Course in Psychosexual medicine. European Society of Sexual Medicine. Budapest.
- 2020 Certified Psycho-sexologist through the ECPS qualification exam ESSM.
- Queer affirmative therapist. 2023. Mariwala Health Initiative, India
- 2026 PG Diploma in Mental Health Supervision, TISS, Mumbai 2025
Relational Life Therapy (Terry Real)
Developed by American family therapist Terry Real, RLT looks at the patterns we carry into marriage from the families we grew up in. Most of us default to old protective habits under stress -withdrawing, controlling, needing to win. RLT helps partners recognise these "losing strategies" and replace them with skills for repair, honest speaking, and cherishing each other. It's direct, practical, and works especially well for couples stuck in long-running cycles of conflict or distance.
The Crucible Approach (David Schnarch)
Schnarch's work centres on differentiation — the ability to stay emotionally connected to your partner while remaining solidly yourself. His insight that sexual difficulties are often growth trying to happen, not dysfunction to be eliminated, shapes how I work with couples whose desire has faded: not as a problem to fix, but as an invitation for both people to grow up a little more inside the marriage.
The Wheel of Consent (Betty Martin)
This framework helps couples untangle a question most of us have never been asked: when you touch your partner, is it for them or for you? Learning to notice the difference - and to ask, offer, accept, and decline clearly. This transforms physical intimacy from a guessing game into a conversation. For couples where touch has become tense, obligatory, or absent, this work is often the turning point.
CONTACT INFORMATION
All appointments are online on a digitally secure platform
Urvashi Malhotra
MPhil Clinical Psychology, NIMHANS.
ECPS Certified by the European Federation of Sexology.
Supervisor, specializing in Couple Therapy and Marriage Counselling supervision. PGDSMHP from TISS, Mumbai.
RCI Number AA99357.
Message on WhatsApp
EMAIL: urvashy@gmail.com PHONE: +91-9663332022
