The latest counseling intern for the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Student Services Office said he’s here to listen.
“I’m really here to help people regardless of their ethnicity, whether they need someone to listen to them or offer them support through times of difficultly,” Saurabh Bhatia, counseling intern for the GLBT Student Support Services Office this summer and fall, said.
With a psychology degree and minor in Spanish language and literature, Bhatia has worked with populations that are underserved or marginalized in some way, ?he said.
He has worked as a foreign language aid in public schools to help bridge language gaps and in learning disability classrooms and volunteered as an English-language tutor, but he was always interested in human rights.
Given his multicultural background, Bhatia said he knows that the LGBT community can be a vulnerable population demographic within the student body.
His work with the IU GLBT SSS office counseling internship so far has helped him reach the epiphany that he wants to work specifically with marginalized populations in a higher education setting, Bhatia said.
Now he is working toward his master’s degree in counseling and counseling education via the community track through the School of Education.
“I want to eliminate any stigma that anyone of any demographic might feel and realize that this kind of equal opportunity center is where anyone of any ethnicity just comes to reach out to outside people for help,” ?Bhatia said.
Doug Bauder, director for the GLBT SSS office, spoke to a multicultural counseling class Bhatia was taking when he first decided he wanted more experience with marginalized populations during the past spring semester.
“We have had a series of counseling interns, and as an ally Saurabh has a gift for listening well and offering helpful perspectives to the students who establish a counseling relationship with him,” Bauder said.
Bhatia’s perspective for problem solving can be seen as refreshing to those who might not feel comfortable reaching out for assistance at first.
“Problems seldom have one component to them and they’re easily solved. I mean, that’s why people go to counseling, because if it was really that simple they probably would have solved it and moved on,“ Bhatia said. “Certain cultures do kind of believe in you being less of a human or having serious mental problems if someone’s going to a therapist for help ... and I think that’s a perception that needs to change”.
Bhatia said changing the stigma around mental health will be one of the toughest challenges of his role at the GLBT SSS, but there are several options provided for those who have difficulty deciding what is best for them.
“He provides support to students at no cost on a variety of issues and has the advantage of having clients utilize our library and support groups in addition to his services,” Bauder said.
Those who are not yet ready for a counseling session can still reach out to IU’s community by participating in one of the many groups at the GLBT SSS office that are offered to everyone. Bhatia co-leads the group ‘Men-Like-Us,’ a discussion group for men of all sexual orientations, which will begin meetings again in the fall.
Bhatia said he felt welcome as soon as he stepped foot in the GLBT SSS office and hopes others begin to feel the same as well even if they haven’t stopped by to explore it yet.
Counseling with Bhatia or others from the GLBT SSS office is completely free of charge. Bhatia can be reached personally by email at glbtcoun@indiana.edu.
