Selebral

Selebral was founded by Ayesha Hussain in 2019 as an umbrella for her initiatives targeting community awareness around mental health issues and personal and social narratives in India. A spin on the word ‘cerebral,’ the name originally drew its inspiration from social-emotional learning (sel) and stood for our vision of taking a preventive approach to mental health for all to everyone.

However, with Ayesha’s journey of mental health advocacy over the years wherein she also grew academically and professionally as a counselling psychologist and psychodynamic psychotherapist, the name has eclectically outgrown its origins. It stays as a commemoration of a transformational moment wherein Ayesha’s unfolding of her own journey as a client/patient allowed her to witness the ever-unfolding collective story of human suffering, healing and transformation.

The Hummingbird

The intimate and nourishing encounter of the flower-loving hummingbird with the bird-loving flower is made possible repeatedly by years of mutually faithful evolution. Each encounter, like a dreaming of a collective awakening and an awakening to a collective dreaming – vital in every sense of the word. The hummingbird is a centuries old symbol of love, joy, healing, hope, resilience, and renewal in many cultures across the world. At SELebral, as our logo, it is synonymous with vitality and with bringing together the three therapeutic forces that fuel it – community, conversation, and play. 

Ayesha Hussain, Founder

Hi! I am Ayesha, a Psychodynamic Psychotherapist with a Master’s in Psychosocial & Clinical Studies from Ambedkar University Delhi (AuD) and ongoing training in Family Systems Therapy.

I am also a Researcher and Consultant. I came to psychology and psychoanalysis through my own journey of recovering, healing, and being, before I pursued the field through formal education and training. My lived experiences moulded me into a mental health advocate and thus birthed Selebral that I continue to build additionally as a psychotherapist and researcher now. At Selebral, I lead the counselling and psychotherapy services. Psychotherapy, commonly referred to as ‘therapy’ is a process of working on our identified and unidentified psychological and emotional difficulties in life with the help of a trained professional.

With immersive trainings in psychosocial and clinical settings in virtual as well as in-person modes, I am trained to see my child and adult clients as relational beings coming with contexts both singular as well as universal. I use a transcultural, critical, and non-pathologising lens in doing the same. My training orientation is psychoanalytic-psychodynamic but I also use humanistic and existential approaches. I like to incorporate play in my work with all my clients. I believe that the child and adult are overlapping psychic locations that are separated only by ideology.

My passion for the work I do stems from my own experiences of systems and cultures and how they impact mental health and from my belief in the ability of every human being to live freely, creatively and lovingly.

My love for community spaces that generate spontaneous healing connection is where I find the anchor for Selebral!