Board members and advisors

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Dr. Toussaint is a professor of psychology at Luther College, USA.  He is vice chair of the Forgiveness Scientific Advisory Council for the Templeton World Charity Foundation, president of the Forgiveness Foundation International, associate director of the Sierra Leone Forgiveness Project, and a consultant to Mayo Clinic, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, and Boise State University. Dr. Toussaint directs the Laboratory for the Investigation of Mind, Body, and Spirit that studies virtues, especially forgiveness, and how these constructs are related to health and well-being. He encourages “everyday forgiveness” to build resilience and minimize stress in families, schools, healthcare, workplaces, and communities. He and colleagues recently published a compendium of research titled: Forgiveness and Health: Scientific Evidence and Theories Relating Forgiveness to Better Health (Springer).   

Dr. Toussaint’s work has been highlighted in a number of print, online, and radio media outlets such as: TIME, U.S. News, New York Times, Los Angeles Times,  CNN, Huffington Post, Men’s Health, Psychology Today, and the Associated Press.

Dr. Ani Kalayjian is a licensed multi-lingual clinician, scientist-practitioner-researcher, professor of psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University, consultant, Fellow of the APA and its International Division since 2000, over a hundred of research articles, 28 years of leadership within the United Nations and its NGO community working closely with others in the USA and 48 countries to expand human rights, peace building, conflict transformation, healing from personal and generational trauma, integrating mind-body-eco-spirit, and mental health & psychology policy development.  She is the founder and President of ATOP Meaningfulworld and has been on every single humanitarian mission since 1988 – presently over 100 missions. She founded the 7-Step Integrative Healing Model, as well as the Soul-Surfing exercises for health, joy, healing, happiness, and meaning-making. She is a student of Dr. Viktor Frankl.

For the past four decades, Dr. Paul has worked as a scientist-practitioner psychologist and advocate for violence prevention and positive psychological development of children and youth in schools and direct service treatment settings, particularly in under-represented and underserved economically disadvantaged immigrant communities in the US.

Joining the psychology department at the University of Rhode Island (USA), he served as training director for the masters and doctoral degree programs in school psychology for several years before becoming the director of the URI Center for Nonviolence & Peace Studies in 2009. He was honored as the first recipient of the URI Silvia-Chandley Professorship in Peace Studies in 2010-2012. He was introduced to nonviolence as an effective psychological method for personal and social transformation by Dr. Bernard LaFayette, who was a close associate of and staff member to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Under the mentorship and training guidance of Bernard LaFayette, Paul became a Level III advanced nonviolence trainer.

Mr. Bhat is a Clinical Psychologist and an MHPSS Specialist with local and global experience of working with marginalized communities and individuals. He has worked with international humanitarian organizations, while offering advice and support to local organizations. Mr. Bhat has dedicated his life to understanding  mental health issues in the clinical context; extending his expertise out in the field to support as many as possible. He has been creating awareness on ethics, stigma and many other related issues in the mental health sector through seminars, talks and sessions.

  Apeksha (she/her) is a neurodivergent, neuro-queer person. She holds a Master’s degree in Counselling  Psychology.  She is a trauma informed, queer affirmative therapist and has an experience of working with  clients living with anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, abuse / violence, suicidal ideations and  other crisis narratives, interpersonal/relational difficulties, neurodiversity, family or marital  concerns, psychological distress and other mental health concerns. She predominantly works  with young adults, adults and adolescents.  Apart from therapy work, she has conducted workshops and webinars on the importance of  mental health, setting healthy boundaries in relationships, sexuality counselling, mindfulness,  crisis management, and other topics related to mental health. She also has experience of  running a listening circle and teaching. She follows a relational approach in counselling, through a feminist and humanistic lens and her  inclinations are towards Gestalt therapy, Body work, Mindfulness and Self-compassion based  practices.

Zahida is a mental health professional currently working towards community mental health at Kashmir Lifeline as a Supervisor for the Young Minds Program and Chief Liaison Officer. Previously, she pursued a mental health fellowship at Pause for Perspective, Hyderabad, India working as a beginner therapist offering individual counselling sessions for children and adults. Her practice is queer affirmative and incorporates social justice stance along with the different therapeutic techniques.  Zahida’s previous education qualifications include an MSc in War and Psychiatry at King’s College London, a B.A. Honours in Psychology and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Research at Ashoka University where she completed a Thesis on Resilience in Kashmir. She further completed her master's dissertation on the mental health of women living in Kashmir with an aim to identify psychosocial factors leading to poor mental health outcomes. Her research interests include studying mental health in conflict zones and working towards developing evidence-based interventions to alleviate the impact of trauma.