About Smitha Devara
I’ve always been a person with a lot of questions, a lot of curiosity, a deep and unrelenting sense of wonder. When still studying, a blade of grass would set me off into deep thinking, a dew drop could set off introspection and it’s this that led me to a masters in Philosophy, and I studied both eastern and western philosophy. While it got me a gold medal, I don’t think it answered all my questions back then.
Career wise I started with education; teaching little children through alternative teaching approaches. The pragmatic facets of life took over, and I found years go by in the corporate world, fourteen years with Industrial Development Bank of India, seven years with Google India, and two years with Selco India, and in between took a sabbatical of five years to do farming.
Equipped with almost thirty years of experience working with people in varying backgrounds, I chose to convert an underlying passion for introspection and an innate interest in human thought and behavior into a profession, and underwent the indepth and rigorous training to become a professional counsellor. And therein I found my answers.
I strongly believe that the mantra for ‘Well Being’ lies in clarity of thought and a higher degree of self awareness, and that is what I aspire to enable through counselling.
And why Aham?
Aham is a Sanskrit word denoting ‘Self'.
Every individual, at some level, is striving towards self actualization, an actualizing of their own potential. Counselling works at enabling this process, through a higher degree of self esteem and self acceptance to reach a more sorted and empowered ‘Self'.
Without a focus on the ‘Self’, there cannot be focus on the ‘other’... it is a gateway into a more authentic and meaningful life.