More than a decade ago, I began my counselling journey in India and carried it with me to Australia, believing my job was to help people solve their problems. I had no idea that the lessons from that room would one day shape a lifelong purpose: making mental health support accessible to everyone, everywhere.
Again and again, my clients showed me something powerful. Often their deepest pain came not only from what happened to them, but from the meaning they had made of it: “I wasn’t good enough.” “This always happens to me.” The real turning point in therapy often came in one quiet moment, when a person saw their experience from a new angle for the first time. Nothing around them had changed, yet something inside them had opened.
But I also saw how many people never reach that moment. Across the world, millions live without access to a counsellor, because of cost, distance, stigma or simply because support does not exist where they live. That realisation changed my journey.
It inspired the Sentio Framework, a perception-led approach to emotional awareness designed to be shared, taught and carried into communities far beyond the
counselling room. It did not come from a textbook. It came from my clients, from every person who trusted me with their story at the hardest point in their life.
A community learning session in Sierra Leone, in partnership with CINORG
Since then, my work has followed that intention. As International Advisor to CINORG, I support community work in Sierra Leone’s informal settlements, including Kroo Bay, where people face enormous hardship with incredible strength. Through a partnership with ECO-MAMA, I will share Sentio with women in their Women Warriors Program, women building resilience for themselves and their communities. Through the Global Mental Health Action Network’s Stigma and Discrimination group, I join voices around the world working to make sure no one is ashamed to ask for help.
Presenting the Sentio Framework to the ACA Chapter Meeting, 26 September 2026
Closer to home, I presented the Sentio Framework at the ACA National Regional, Rural and Remote Chapter Meeting. Sharing this work with counsellors who support some of Australia’s most isolated communities reminded me that accessibility matters just as much here as it does overseas.
This year I was honoured to be named a finalist for Counsellor of the Year at the Australian Allied Health Awards. But the recognition truly belongs to the shared work of the counselling room, and to the belief that mental health support should never depend on where you were born or what you can afford.
To every counsellor reading this: never underestimate what happens in your sessions. The insight you help one person discover can ripple outward further than you can imagine. Mine began in a small counselling room in India. Yours could reach the world too.
In 2026, Nidhi was named Counsellor of the Year at the Australian Allied Health Awards. She describes the recognition as belonging to the clients, partners and team who have shaped her work, and to the belief that mental health support should never depend on where you were born or what you can afford.