SRINAGAR, September 28: Kupwara-born clinical psychologist and holistic wellness practitioner Shazana Anjum is expanding her work on women’s emotional wellbeing through community workshops and outreach initiatives, with a focus on emotional awareness, self-understanding and access to professional support.
Based in Srinagar, Anjum has a background in Clinical Psychology and describes herself as a certified holistic healer, nutritionist and naturopath. Through her initiative, Shazana Holistic Therapy, she works on issues related to emotional wellbeing and what she describes as the relationship between psychological, physical and behavioural aspects of everyday life.
Anjum said her work focuses on helping individuals understand their emotional responses, recurring behavioural patterns and experiences that may affect relationships and everyday functioning.
She also promotes greater emotional awareness and what she terms nervous-system regulation, encouraging individuals to examine the relationship between prolonged stress, emotional experiences and physical responses.
According to Anjum, emotions including anxiety, anger, shame and bitterness can sometimes be linked to unresolved experiences, unmet needs or difficulties in maintaining personal boundaries. She said greater self-awareness could help individuals recognise such patterns and better understand their emotional responses.
Anjum said women often manage multiple family and social responsibilities while having limited opportunities to discuss their own emotional needs, aspirations and identities. She encourages women to look beyond traditional social roles and pay greater attention to their emotional wellbeing and personal boundaries.
Recently, she organised a Women’s Emotional Wellness Workshop in Kupwara, giving participants an opportunity to discuss emotional awareness, self-reflection and personal wellbeing.
For Anjum, who traces her roots to Kupwara, taking the initiative to her home district was aimed at bringing conversations around emotional wellbeing closer to communities outside urban centres.
She said awareness alone was not sufficient and that people also needed practical avenues to access reliable information and appropriate professional support.
Anjum said she plans to focus her community engagement on women-centred wellness programmes, mental-health awareness sessions in schools and colleges, workplace wellbeing programmes, trauma-informed awareness initiatives and collaborations with professionals and organisations working in the field.
She also called for greater collaboration among mental-health professionals, educational institutions, NGOs, women’s organisations and community groups to develop programmes suited to local requirements.
While social media has emerged as an important platform for mental-health discussions, Anjum said such conversations should also reach classrooms, workplaces and community spaces.
“You don’t need to be at your worst to deserve support. You’re allowed to seek therapy simply because you want to understand yourself better,” she said.
Through online appointments and community outreach initiatives, Anjum said she is seeking to extend her work beyond Srinagar and Kupwara.
Her stated objective is to create spaces where people, particularly women, can discuss emotional wellbeing without stigma, develop greater self-understanding and recognise when professional support may be appropriate.
With another Women’s Emotional Wellness Workshop open for enrolment, Anjum said she is also looking to collaborate with individuals and organisations working in mental health, women’s wellbeing, education and community development.
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