Tripura Kashyap pioneered Dance/Movement Therapy in India in 1990 after completing her specialization at the Hancock Center for Dance/Movement Therapy in Wisconsin, USA. She is also a graduate in Bharatanatyam from Kalakshetra, Chennai, and holds an M.A. in Psychology.

She has several years of experience as a Dance/Movement Therapist, working across halfway homes, special schools, treatment centres, and retirement homes, as well as with individual clients. Tripura has received fellowships from the Ashoka International Foundation, the Indian Ministry of Culture, and the Sangeet Natak Akademi for her innovations in dance therapy, as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award from Sancheti Healthcare Academy, Pune.

She is the author of My Body, My Wisdom, a book on dance therapy, and teaches DMT across Certificate, PG Diploma, and M.A. programs in India. She has also served as visiting and adjunct faculty at Ashoka University, Ambedkar University, and the University of World Design, Delhi. Tripura has presented her work through lectures and workshops at numerous national and international conferences, seminars, and colloquia, through both onsite and online portals.

Reetu is a Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT) facilitator, dancer, choreographer, and doctoral researcher. Her dance repertoire spans Indian classical and folk forms, Ugandan folk dance, and tribal fusion belly dance.

With over 13 years of experience as a DMT facilitator, her practice has focused on working with women, hijra, and adolescent groups across community and educational settings. Through her work, she creates open and safe spaces for self-discovery, dialogue, and expression, with a particular interest in questions of gender, sexuality, and identity.

Reetu has presented at conferences including the American Dance Therapy Association’s 50th Annual Conference and has played a key role in several training programs, including CMTAI’s Certificate Course and Therapeutic Dance in Education programs. She has also contributed to DMT education at the university level, serving as an advisor to Pratt Institute in New York, co-developing and teaching a DMT elective in Ashoka University’s Psychology Department, and teaching at Ambedkar University Delhi.

Reetu holds a Master’s degree in Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin and previously worked as a CPA in the United States. She is currently a PhD candidate in Expressive Therapies at Lesley University, USA.

Maanasa Akshay holds an M.S. in Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT) from Sarah Lawrence College in New York, and a B.E. in Information Technology from S.I.E.S. GST in Mumbai. A trained Bharatanatyam dancer with 23 years of experience, she founded the Anahata Academy of Dance in 2015. She has directed several dance productions, one of which was featured in Prajavani newspaper, and represented India at the 50th World Dance Congress in Greece.

Maanasa has interned at Andrus Early Learning Center in New York, working with children aged 0–5, and at Sri Jayadeva Institute for Cardiovascular Sciences in Bangalore. Her experience also includes work at Prameya Health Care Center for Cancer Rehabilitation and a sports rehabilitation center, as well as facilitating corporate workshops.

Maanasa is Guest Faculty for the M.A.-EMT program at Sancheti Health Care, affiliated with Pune University, and Course Director and faculty at CMTAI. She has presented on DMT in Cancer Care at CMTAI’s Conference and on Indian Dance Forms in DMT at IIT Mandi’s workshop on Indian Knowledge Systems and Mental Health.

She is currently a Professor at the University of Würzburg in Germany, where she teaches Introduction to DMT in the B.A. Social Work program.

Sindes Jabore is a Dance/Movement Therapist, Perinatal Mental Health Facilitator, Counselor (Diploma), Yoga Practitioner, Creative Supervisor, and Movement Educator dedicated to supporting emotional well-being through movement, creativity, and embodied awareness.

She holds a Master’s degree in Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT) from Sancheti Healthcare Academy, affiliated with Pune University, and brings over seven years of experience working with children and four years with senior citizens. She also has specialized experience facilitating movement-based interventions for individuals living with Parkinson’s disease.

Grounded in DMT and an integrative, person-centered approach, Sindes creates inclusive and compassionate spaces for people of different ages, backgrounds, and movement abilities to explore self-awareness, emotional resilience, connection, and self-expression. Her work spans therapy and counseling, movement-based well-being programs, perinatal mental health support, workshops, and community-based interventions.

Prerna is a Trauma-Informed Therapist and Counselling Psychologist with a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Amity University and a certification in Trauma-Informed Therapy from Emotional Wellness Initiatives. She currently works as an Administrative Executive at CMTAI, contributing to the organisation’s work in mental health and creative arts therapies.

With 1.5 years of counselling experience, Prerna works with individuals across a range of emotional and psychological concerns. Her approach is integrative and trauma-informed, drawing from different therapeutic perspectives to understand each client’s unique experiences and needs.

She creates a safe, non-judgmental, and collaborative therapeutic space where individuals can explore their emotions, relationships, and experiences at their own pace. Her work supports clients in developing greater self-awareness, emotional understanding, and healthier ways of navigating life’s challenges.

At CMTAI, Prerna supports administrative coordination, programme management, and the execution of initiatives, courses, and events in the field of dance/movement therapy and other creative arts therapies.

Nishtha Agarwal is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) with the Board of Allied Mental Health and Human Services Professions in Massachusetts, USA, and a Registered Expressive Arts Therapist (REAT).

Based in Delhi, Nishtha maintains a private practice where she specializes in working with individuals and couples using a trauma-informed and body-based approach within expressive arts therapy. Her clinical experience spans India and the U.S. and includes work in several specialized treatment settings. As part of a state-funded initiative in Massachusetts, she worked within a multidisciplinary team providing early intervention to individuals experiencing first-episode psychosis. She has also worked in intensive outpatient (IOP) and partial hospitalization (PHP) programs at a leading eating disorder center in Boston, supporting adolescents and adults with eating disorders. Additionally, she provided therapy to individuals, couples, and families at an outpatient mental health clinic in Boston.

Nishtha is visiting faculty for postgraduate and certificate programs in Dance/Movement Therapy at St. Mira’s College in Pune and at CMTAI. She holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Expressive Arts Therapy from Lesley University in Cambridge, USA, a Master’s in Applied Psychology from Delhi University, and a certificate in Dance/Movement Therapy.

Purva is a software engineer by education, but after a couple of years in the IT industry, her spirit took her to more creative avenues. Over the years, she has served as associate director of sales at Kingdom of Dreams, India's 1st Broadway style theater and cultural center. She has also served as the Head and Chief Happiness Officer with Zorba the Buddha, one of India's largest open faith spiritual and cultural centers. She has also worked with some celebrity management and event companies. She likes to travel and blog about these said travels. Purva is playful and heartful, and brings practicality, positivity and mindfulness in all her interactions.

Nalini Prakash, a board-certified dance/movement therapist and a certified movement analyst, has extensive experience working with individuals suffering from chronic mental illness within the criminal justice system. A classical Indian dancer, Nalini facilitates recovery-based groups that value cultural and ethnic diversity. She integrates elements of Indian dance and creative movement encouraging individuals to safely re-experience emotions, empowering them towards positive change. She has also used her skills in movement observation to reduce violence, fostering social change among a forensic population. Nalini is currently a PhD candidate within the Creative Arts Therapies graduate program at Drexel University.

Dr. Malini Nagpal has been working since the 90s with organizations and individual clients on refining human inter/intra-action and communication to achieve empowered and effective personal and professional success. With a MA in Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT), Board Certified Dance/Movement Therapist (BC-DMT), MS & Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology (I/O Psychology), Dr. Nagpal has combined the practice of DMT with the science of I/O Psychology and created education, training, and advocacy materials. She also trains actors, attorneys, athletes, sales/marketing teams, healthcare professionals, etc. internationally to achieve success in their respective professions.

Dr. Sohini Chakraborty, Ashoka fellow, sociologist, dance activist, and dance movement therapist, is the founder/director of Kolkata Sanved. She is a pioneer of dance movement therapy(DMT) in India and South Asia as a tool for psycho-social rehabilitation to provide a fresh approach both in DMT and social development sector. For more than 25 years, Sohini has experimented with DMT as a tool for empowerment, psychosocial rehabilitation and reintegration for vulnerable/marginalized children, young people and adults. Creating a pool of DMT practitioners from the grassroot level and from survivors is her significant contribution in the global DMT approach. The unique and innovative Sampoornata approach was developed by Kolkata Sanved under her leadership. Honed over the past two decades, Kolkata Sanved’s Sampoornata’ model is a globally recognized approach today. Sohini was instrumental in launching one of the country’s first Diploma DMT programmes in 2012 with the Center for Lifelong Learning, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. She is the International Working Committee Member Rise Learning Network- work for recovery reintegration for child sexual exploitation and Chair-Status and Development, World Dance Alliance, Asia Pacific. She has received multiple national and international awards for her innovation, leadership, outstanding achievement and inspiration.

Roopika Saran brings over 20 years from corporate and NGOs on defining strategy, scaling up programs, building teams, engaging communities, monitoring impact and driving on-the-ground implementation. Roopika is currently the Director of the Delhi chapter of Each One Teach One, an organization that has provides educational support and holistic development for 2000 underprivileged children in government schools. She has also been the program advisor to the Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation where she guided the Bal Mitra Mandal (BMM) program. BMM works with over 15,000 children in Delhi on preventative, sustainable and holistic child protection programs in urban slum communities. She also advises multiple NGOs on a range of issues to enhance their impact. Previously, she worked as a technology consultant at Pricewaterhouse Coopers in the US and with a Boston-based education start up. Roopika is a graduate of the University of Maryland, USA. In her spare time, she is a meditation facilitator, an Akashic records reader, a freelance photographer, a writer, and mother to her three children.