About Dr Balveer Sikh
Dr Balveer Sikh is a psychologist and therapist with over 25 years of experience working across the full spectrum of mental health and psychological care in New Zealand and Australia.
Throughout his career, he has worked in a wide range of settings—from community-based psychological services to acute psychiatric hospital care and psychiatric rehabilitation. This breadth of experience allows him to support people facing both everyday emotional difficulties and more complex psychological challenges.
Dr Balveer holds a Doctor of Health Science (DHSc) degree from Auckland, New Zealand. His doctoral research explored the relationship between Eastern mindfulness traditions and contemporary clinical psychology, examining how contemplative practices can deepen psychological understanding and support emotional wellbeing.
His research introduced a methodological approach known as mindfulness hermeneutics, which has been published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal through SAGE Publications.
In his clinical practice, Dr Balveer integrates evidence-based psychological therapies including:
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
These approaches help people understand patterns of thinking and behaviour, develop psychological flexibility, and build healthier ways of relating to difficult thoughts and emotions.
He works with individuals and couples experiencing challenges such as:
- stress and burnout
- anxiety and obsessive thinking
- depression and low mood
- psychological trauma and dissociation
- personality-related emotional difficulties
- psychosis and severe mental health conditions
- relationship and family difficulties
Alongside his clinical work, Dr Balveer has maintained a long-standing personal practice of meditation and mindfulness. His interest in consciousness and contemplative traditions continues to inform his understanding of awareness, emotional life, and psychological growth.
He has also contributed a scholarly chapter on Kundalini and psychosis to the forthcoming academic book Entanglement of Culture and Psychosis, to be published by Routledge.
Having lived and worked across different cultural contexts, he brings a broad and reflective perspective to understanding the human mind and the challenges people face in modern life.
His Approach to the Mind
Over many years of clinical work and contemplative practice, Dr Balveer has come to see the human mind not simply as a source of problems to be fixed, but as a complex and evolving system shaped by experience, learning, relationships, and awareness.
Much of our psychological suffering arises when patterns of thought, emotion, and behaviour become rigid or automatic. Therapy helps bring these patterns into awareness, allowing individuals to respond to life with greater clarity, flexibility, and choice.
Through careful conversation, psychological tools, and mindfulness-based practices, the therapeutic process supports people in understanding the workings of their own mind, easing unnecessary suffering, and reconnecting with a deeper sense of balance and direction in life.
Dr Balveer’s therapeutic style is calm, compassionate, and respectful. He works collaboratively with clients, recognising that each person’s life story, values, and challenges are unique.
Above all, he is committed to providing a safe, confidential, and thoughtful space where individuals and couples can explore their concerns, develop insight, and move toward greater emotional balance and inner clarity.
Who this is for
CounsellingSpace works with:
- Adults and adolescents
- Individuals experiencing stress, anxiety, or depression
- Trauma and post-traumatic stress concerns
- Personality-related emotional and relational difficulties
- Couple and relationship concerns (communication, conflict resolution, emotional patterns, intimacy and sexual concerns)
- Premarital counselling for couples preparing for marriage
- Individuals seeking emotional balance, self-understanding, or inner growth
Sessions are available online across India and in person in Dehradun.
How therapy here works
Therapy at CounsellingSpace is collaborative, respectful, and paced according to your needs.
The aim is not simply quick solutions, but developing:
- clearer understanding of emotional and behavioural patterns
- psychological flexibility
- healthier ways of relating to thoughts and emotions
The work integrates evidence-based approaches such as:
- Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Mindfulness-based psychological practices
These approaches help people respond differently to difficult thoughts and emotions and live with greater awareness and choice.
Alongside these psychological methods, the work is also informed by many years of mindfulness and contemplative practice, supporting deeper awareness, emotional balance, and the unfolding of inner growth.
What to Expect
Reaching out for counselling can feel like a significant step. Many people are unsure what happens in a session or whether therapy will help.
At CounsellingSpace, the aim is to make the process clear, respectful, and comfortable from the beginning.
You will always be treated with care, dignity, and respect.
Before beginning therapy, we explain:
- how counselling works
- the approaches used in therapy
- what typically happens during sessions
- your rights as a client
- privacy and confidentiality
Everything shared in counselling is treated with strict confidentiality.
The First Session
The first session is an opportunity for us to understand your situation and your needs.
We begin with a brief introduction so that the conversation feels natural and comfortable. You are welcome to share about yourself at your own pace. There is no pressure to discuss more than you feel ready for.
During the session we gently explore areas such as:
- what is currently troubling you
- your expectations or goals for counselling
- how the situation has developed over time
- life circumstances that may have contributed to stress or difficulty
- recent events that may have triggered your current concerns
- patterns of thinking, feeling, or behaviour that may be affecting your wellbeing
The conversation unfolds naturally as we work together to understand your experience.
By the middle of the session we usually develop a clearer picture of your situation. I will summarise what I hear and help connect different aspects of your experience—such as thoughts, emotions, habits, and life circumstances.
Towards the end of the session we discuss practical strategies or tools that may be helpful in daily life.
We also decide together whether further sessions would be useful and what goals we would like to work toward.
Follow-Up Sessions
Follow-up sessions usually take place once a week and last 50 minutes.
These sessions focus on:
- developing practical coping skills
- understanding patterns of thinking and behaviour
- learning healthier ways to respond to stress and emotions
- working steadily toward your personal goals
Each session builds on previous work while also allowing space to address new concerns.
Mindfulness Group Sessions
CounsellingSpace also offers small mindfulness-based group programs designed to help people develop practical skills for managing thoughts, emotions, and stress.
These sessions draw on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT).
The program includes four one-hour sessions, each focusing on an important aspect of psychological wellbeing.
Session 1 – Understanding Mindfulness
What mindfulness is, how meditation works, and how it supports mental clarity and emotional balance.
Session 2 – Mindfulness and Acceptance
Learning to relate differently to difficult thoughts, feelings, and sensations rather than constantly fighting or avoiding them.
Session 3 – Mindfulness and Self-Compassion
Developing kindness toward ourselves and reducing self-criticism.
Session 4 – Mindfulness and Gratitude
Cultivating appreciation, emotional resilience, and a more balanced approach to life.
A Note on Inner Growth
Alongside clinical concerns, some people come to therapy with quieter questions—about meaning, identity, or a sense of disconnection despite outward stability.
CounsellingSpace welcomes this dimension of human experience and offers space to explore it carefully, without labels or ideology.
Begin Therapy
If you are considering counselling, you are welcome to get in touch for an initial conversation.
In-person sessions: Dehradun
Online sessions: Available across India