Introduction
Banupriya is a Psychological Associate registered with the College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario. She is authorized to practice in the areas of clinical and counseling psychology. She has over 11 years of experience in the field of mental health and offers individual psychotherapy and diagnostic assessment services to adults at the Toronto Psychology Clinic.
Education & Training
Banupriya obtained her MPhil degree in clinical psychology from University of Delhi and MSc in psychology from Bangalore University. She is also a graduate of the Advanced Training Program in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy offered by the Toronto Psychoanalytic Society. She has extensive experience working in both hospital and private practice settings.
Therapeutic Approach
Banupriya has a strong commitment towards being helpful, no matter the approach. Her approach to psychotherapy is integrative and is rooted in the belief that longstanding difficulties in our relationships with ourselves and others that keep us stuck have their origins in our early developmental experiences. These difficulties may include abandonment anxiety, perfectionism, discomfort with uncertainty, conflicts about dependence, difficulty being vulnerable with others, challenges asserting boundaries, and excessive self- blame. In her work with her clients, Banupriya creates a space in which they can explore the client’s inner world together with curiosity. She works in collaboration with her clients towards co-constructing a coherent narrative of their past, their present experiences, and their fears and hope for the future. In her sessions, she often uses her understanding of child development, family dynamics and socio-cultural factors to support co-construction of such a narrative. With such understanding of one’s life comes a stronger sense of self, the ability to exercise choice, to affect positive change, and the capacity to endure unchanging external adversities. As one moves through such a therapeutic journey, one develops the fortitude to experience fear, guilt, grief, hope and other internal states safely, without falling apart.
Banupriya’s work draws from the following approaches to psychotherapy:
- Attachment-based psychotherapy
- Psychodynamic psychotherapy
- Trauma-informed psychotherapy
- Relational psychotherapy
- Culturally sensitive therapy
Banupriya works with a wide range of presentations that include:
- Anxiety
- Bereavement
- Childhood trauma
- Conflicts with family of origin
- Depression
- Dermatotillomania
- Difficulty asserting boundaries
- Difficulty being vulnerable with others
- Emotional dysregulation
- Emptiness
- Excessive self-blame
- Feeling stuck in relationship patterns
- Losses related to life transitions
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Procrastination
- Work-life balance
Languages
English, Hindi, Urdu and Kannada.
Personal Background
Banupriya identifies as a first-generation immigrant of Indian origin. Having spent a considerable part of her life in South Asia, specifically in the Indian subcontinent, she has a deep understanding of the regions complex history, political milieu, family dynamics and power relations. This knowledge and lived experience of being a part of a rich cultural heritage informs her work and nurtures her curiosity about various socio-cultural factors which have a place in the personal and intergenerational narratives shared by her clients.
Memberships
Ontario Psychological Association (OPA)