Aditi Kaul, RCAT
Aditi Kaul, BA,MA,UNESCO-CID Grade 5 DMT, RCAT
After completing her Masters in Psychology from The Tata Institute of Social Sciences Mumbai and her Grade 5 UNESCO and Council of International Dance certified Movement Therapy course; she began working as an Expressive Arts Based Therapist in Fortis Healthcare, New Delhi; India. She has been running the expressive arts based therapy programme across the country for Fortis Healthcare since 2013.
Aditi discovered her love for the arts and art therapy (in spite of being asked to leave her art class for lack of skill/perfection in class 7) when she attended a workshop on poetry, movement & art therapy by an organization working with survivors of trafficking and abuse in 2010 which was the most powerful, overwhelming and transforming experience that allowed her to actively push to train in art therapy with a focus on trauma work. She has worked passionately to bring art therapy in India to clinical settings and now Fortis is a hospital chain with the largest mental health care and art therapy team in the country! Prior to this she worked through university and after for 4 years with The YP Foundation, a not-for-profit organization working with young people on enabling leadership, with issues ranging from education and healthcare to SRHR as a project head for Blending Spectrum (children living in the streets/slum dwellings on health education life skills and mental health using the arts).
In 2020, she graduated from the CiiAT Clinical Art Therapy Diploma Program and is currently working towards registration as an art therapist.
She works with a range of clients including working with persons diagnosed with trauma, anxiety, depressive disorders, disorders of childhood, adolescents as well as stresses of day to day life using psychotherapeutic techniques including visual art, movement, writing, storytelling, play, and music. The art therapy team under her leadership works extensively with in-patients. In health, psychology plays a pivotal role where they work directly with patients admitted for physical health conditions and in tertiary care in collaboration with other medical departments conducting arts-based support groups, therapeutic groups (breast cancer, dialysis, pediatric oncology, burns and trauma), palliative care, grief work, and rehabilitative work with patients in recovery.
She has done many preventive mental health workshops with schools, colleges and NPOs as well as capacity building workshops across the country and has been teaching "Expressive Arts in Clinical Practice" for the last 6 years in collaboration with UNESCO and the Council of International Dance, amongst other short term courses. She has also spoken on mental health and art therapy at forums including the WHO, AIIMS, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), Youth Ki Awaaz, Youth for Mental Health, Jindal University, Delhi University, Dhempe University Goa, Hope B Lit, Music Basti and CMTAI, Save The Children and TedXJMC.
She has also co-authored and published two life skills books with Macmillan and is a contributor to the book "Virtual Art Therapy in Research & Practice" published by Routledge. In addition, Aditi has written articles for various newspapers, e-journals, and she was featured on a series of podcasts with Habits Matter, Empathy4You and Mind U – My Upchaar on mental health, art therapy and wellbeing. Aditi can be seen featured if numerous social media live streams and e-panels about mental health.