My Heritage and Identity
My name is Chandni Rajput. I’m a BACP-registered therapist, born and raised in Britain. I am British Indian, with an Indian diasporic family history spanning India, Africa and Britain.
Being British Indian is part of who I am, but like many people, my relationship with culture doesn't fit neatly into a single label. Our identities are shaped by where we grew up, where our families came from, the cultures we inherit and the experiences we have along the way.
For some British Asian clients, choosing an Asian therapist is important. There can be things we recognise without sharing exactly the same background — the influence of family and community, navigating different cultural expectations, or growing up British while carrying a culture and history that reaches elsewhere.
Sharing aspects of our cultural background doesn't mean our experiences will be the same. Indian and Asian identities — and the experiences of people of colour more broadly — encompass enormous differences in culture, religion, language, family and experience. But sometimes there is value simply in beginning from a place where less needs to be explained.
There are aspects of being a person of colour that I understand through lived experience in ways that professional training alone cannot provide. If cultural understanding matters to you, or you value a therapist with lived experience of navigating culture and identity, I'd like to hear from you.