Nithyaa is a current graduate student at Columbia University’s School of Social Work focused in dialectical behavior therapy. She currently interns as a therapist at Brooklyn Heights Behavioral Associates and is training under the supervision of André Ivanoff, the Board Chair of the Linehan Institute. Outside of these roles, Nithyaa manages virtual career design programs for higher education institutions through Mission Collaborative and runs a wellness coaching program for front-line medical professionals at Stamford Health coping with the pandemic. Nithyaa is a certified hatha yoga teacher and holds additional certifications in trauma-sensitive yoga (TCTSY) through the Trauma Center of the Justice Resource Institute and expressive arts therapy through the East-West Center for Counselling and Training in Chennai, India. She teaches regular trauma-sensitive classes and workshops for educators, social workers, therapists and the general public. Prior to her work in the mental health field, Nithyaa served as the Chief of Staff at New Profit, Inc., a venture philanthropy firm dedicated to scaling innovating nonprofit organizations.
Nithyaa's deep interest in global mental health was piqued as a student of Sherman's at Tufts. She started a program during her time in college working in rural India supporting a local organization scale holistic community development efforts and participated in a year-long intensive program, EPIIC, focused on global health. During her time as an EPIIC scholar, she was able to attend a course in global mental health and crisis intervention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She also conducted research on global health related topics in nutrition, healthcare access and caste-based conflict in Guatemala, Rwanda and India respectively. Her long-term vision is to bring accessible and high-quality psychotherapy and advocacy platforms to women and children worldwide recovering from abuse and complex trauma. She integrates her skills in counseling, yoga and mindfulness into all of her work and believes that authentic human connection is at the core of healing and transforming our world