Organizing Committee

Nimisha Patel, LCSW-S, RDN/LD, with HealthyLifestyles PLLC, is a Texas-licensed nutrition and mental health professional with over 30 years of clinical experience at the intersection of nutrition, mental and behavioral health, eating disorders, and culturally responsive care.

Nimisha is passionate about advancing mental health awareness within the South Asian community and equipping clinicians to provide culturally responsive, trauma-informed care. Her work explores how cultural identity, family expectations, intergenerational dynamics, immigration experiences, and stigma influence mental health, body image, and eating disorders. She also examines how colorism, casteism, and colonialism intersect with trauma, nutrition, body image, and emotional well-being.

Drawing on her extensive clinical experience, Nimisha helps clinicians move beyond cultural stereotypes to understand each individual's lived experience, build trust with clients and families, and reduce barriers to treatment. Her integrative approach combines clinical expertise, nutritional insight, and cultural humility to strengthen therapeutic relationships and improve outcomes for South Asian individuals and families.

Madiha Ashraf is a Licensed Professional Counselor, National Certified Counselor, and founder of Healing Grounds Counseling in Allen, Texas. A first-generation Pakistani Muslim American and Dallas native, she is committed to making therapy more accessible, culturally grounded, and welcoming for communities who have often felt unseen in traditional mental health spaces.

Before founding Healing Grounds, Madiha co-founded The Impact Counselors and became one of the voices behind The Brownified Podcast, where conversations about identity, faith, healing, and real life meet warmth and humor. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Counselor Education with a specialization in marital and family counseling.

Madiha blends evidence-based approaches including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and mindfulness with empathy, cultural humility, and faith-sensitive care. She works with children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families, helping clients feel seen, grounded, empowered, connected, and hopeful as they navigate anxiety, relationships, identity, and life transitions.

Gauthami Vemula-Queijo is the Founder of Color me SAFE Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering underrepresented families—especially immigrants—navigating the child welfare system. With master's degrees in clinical psychology and counseling, Gauthami spent over a decade at Texas CPS as an investigator and Training Manager. She was also handpicked for the Skilled Response Team, handling 40+ abuse cases a month. Her experience exposed deep systemic gaps, sparking her mission to be a voice for the unheard.

In 2023, she launched Color me SAFE Foundation, the nonprofit arm of her crisis management firm, that empowers families through guidance, education, and direct services focused on child welfare, parenting, domestic violence, and mental health, regardless of economic means.

Gauthami also developed countywide training models, co-authored and created the widely used “Tips, Tools & Tactics” training system for new CPS investigators.

A classical pianist and published children's book author, Gauthami co-founded UGauGrrl, a movement celebrating girl power, and produced projects like Gau Go Storytime, ChikChaat podcast, and Social Issues Time (S.I.T.). In addition, Gauthami was the CoFounder of an inspirational tee shirt line called, “UGauGrrl” (you go girl), inspiring women and girls globally.

Her heart for service spans from mentoring youth and teaching Balavihar to supporting shelters and orphanages in India. She's held leadership roles in Empowering Women as Leaders (EWL), Family Compass, Hope's Door, SAFF-DFW, Refugee Services of Texas, and more. Her work has earned her numerous honors, including the Maura Helping Women Award, DBJ Women in Business, UN Global Leadership Award, Biden Volunteer Service Award, and IANT Woman of the Year.

Changing your mind and ourselves seems difficult, but if you believe it is possible, it is possible. Counseling as a journey is eye opening to being mentally the healthiest version of yourself. As the journey unfolds my role is to make you feel safe and empowered as you find what matters to you. It is common to struggle with more than one problem at a time.

Through counseling, you can change behaviors, attitudes, and negative feelings, leading to an improved self and improved relationships with others. My passion is to encourage individuals who desire to grow and move forward to achieve their goals. By using techniques that suit your needs and helping you find value in your life, it is my role to make your experience positive and beneficial. I take pride in my ability to establish trusting therapeutic relationships through which we can explore the issue that brought you to therapy in the first place.

Dr. Megha Pulianda is a licensed psychologist, therapist, educator, and founder of Dr. Pulianda & Associates, a private psychology practice in Southlake, Texas. Her clinical work centers on helping individuals and families navigate anxiety, identity, relationships, family dynamics, and major life transitions. She has a particular passion for working with high-achieving adults and first-generation children of immigrants who are learning to balance the expectations of family and culture with their own evolving identities, relationships, and definitions of success.

As a South Asian American psychologist, Dr. Pulianda is especially committed to expanding conversations about mental health in communities where seeking support may still carry stigma. Her work recognizes the unique experiences that can accompany growing up between cultures, including achievement pressure, responsibility to family, intergenerational differences, guilt, belonging, and the challenge of creating healthy boundaries while maintaining meaningful connection. She advocates for mental health care that is culturally responsive, accessible, and grounded in an understanding of the broader family and community systems that shape an individual's life.

Beyond her clinical practice, Dr. Pulianda is an educator, supervisor, and advocate for increasing mental health awareness and strengthening connections between clinicians and the communities they serve. She is passionate about creating spaces where conversations about emotional well-being can happen openly and without shame, particularly within South Asian and immigrant communities. Through therapy, education, mentorship, and community engagement, she hopes to help normalize seeking support and empower the next generation to honor both where they come from and who they are becoming.

Priya Bhakta is a trauma-informed therapist with a strong interest in helping individuals understand themselves, process difficult experiences, and develop greater confidence and self-awareness. Trained in EMDR, with an integrative approach incorporating EMDR, ACT, CPT, and other evidence-based practices.

Her clinical interests include trauma recovery, anxiety, emotional regulation, self-esteem, and relationships.

Dr. Sapna Patel is a licensed psychologist and owner of The Embodied Path, a trauma-informed, culturally sensitive private practice. Her clinical work involves integrating Eastern and Western healing practices to support clients toward increased connection, growth, and wholeness. She has received specialized training in Internal Family Systems therapy, Somatic Experiencing, and EMDR, and adapts these modalities to provide culturally competent care.

Sapna is passionate about serving the South Asian community and understands the unique challenges, cultural factors, expectations, and intergenerational dynamics that impact the well-being and mental health of South Asians. She has been an advocate within the mental health profession, supporting other clinicians on how to better serve their South Asian clients by presenting clinical research and sharing clinical considerations to support culturally competent care.

She has worked in multiple mental health settings, conducted group therapy for South Asian clients, and believes in creating spaces for open, honest dialogue about the unique challenges faced by the South Asian community.

Nikita Swarna is an Associate Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and the owner of Welcome Path Integrative Therapy in Dallas, Texas. She specializes in culturally attuned care for South Asian and bicultural teens, young adults, and families.

Nikita is passionate about supporting individuals and families as they navigate the tension between cultural identity, family expectations, and personal growth. Her work centers on anxiety, perfectionism, grief and loss, family conflict, and the unique experiences of second-generation South Asian clients. She also specializes in chronic illness, as well as supporting the caregivers who carry so much of that weight.

Nikita brings a warm, integrative approach that honors each client's lived experience rather than relying on cultural stereotypes. She helps clients build self-esteem, set healthy boundaries, and feel understood in a way that makes room for both their heritage and their individuality.