B.N. Sharada has around 20 years of experience in the field of counselling. During the years she has worked with a spectrum of ages ranging from children to senior citizens. Her special areas of interest include gender, LGBTIQ, caste, group work and using media for therapy.

Sharada has obtained a BSc (Horticulture) from the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bangalore (1988) and an MSc in Psychology from the University of Madras (2005). Additionally, she has completed a certification in Basic Skills in Counselling from Parivarthan, Bangalore (2001); Neuro-Linguistic Programme (NLP) (both basic and advance) (2001), Certification in ‘Couple and Family Counselling’ (2005) and ‘Child and Adolescent Counselling’ (2005) from Parivarthan. She believes that learning is a constant process, which shows through the workshops she has attended so far on Transaction Analysis, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Psychodynamic, Psychoanalysis, REBT, Gestalt, Values in the Counselling Room, Gender and Sexuality, Telephone Counselling, Gay Affirmative Therapy, Acceptance, and Commitment Therapy,  Reflective Supervision, Workshop on Supervision, to name a few. Currently, she is obtaining training in Integral Somatic Psychology (ISP).

She has been working with Parivarthan since 2001 as a Trainer, Counsellor, Supervisor and Outreach facilitator. Through the course, she has successfully conducted training modules in Counselling and Supervision in Bangladesh and Bhutan.

Being a co-founder of an NGO called ‘Sangama’, Sharada has in her kitty, a vast experience of dealing with the non-English speaking LGBT community. Sharada has also worked as Project Assistant and Interpreter to Ms. Aase, a Danish Research Scholar from Copenhagen University Denmark (1900-92); WYTEP-Women and Youth Training Project related to Agriculture (1992); Worked In Development and Human Right sector(1996-99); she has also trained the state police in gender sensitivity and counselling.

Vinita Shah has over 19 years of experience in the field of counselling. During these years, she has worked with a wide spectrum of ages from a 4-year-old child to a 70-year-old adult. Her specializations are in the areas of – career counselling and counselling for adolescents.

Vinita has a BA in Psychology from Kolkata University (1990) and an MA in Child Psychology from Kolkata University (1992). She has completed a Certification in Basic Skills in Counselling from Parivarthan, Bangalore (2002); Certification in Couple and Family Counselling (2005) and Child and Adolescent Counselling (2005) from Parivarthan. She also has a Certificate for attending a Workshop on Addressing Psycho-Social problems at Work conducted by International Labor Organization, Geneva (2004).

She has been working with Parivarthan as a career counsellor, counsellor, trainer, and supervisor.

She has also worked in Manovikas Kendra, a Rehabilitation and Research Institute for the Differently Abled Children, Kolkata, from Jan 1993 – April 1995 as a Special Educator.