Leading Organisations in Indian Counselling Psychology: NIMHANS and NCERT

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India’s mental health and educational landscape has been shaped significantly by two institutions that, while different in focus, share a common goal – improving the psychological well-being of people across the country. NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences) leads the way in clinical mental health care and research, while NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) drives counselling and guidance efforts within the school system. Together, these two organisations represent the twin pillars of counselling psychology in India.

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NIMHANS: India’s apex institution for mental health

NIMHANS is based in Bengaluru and holds a unique position in the country’s mental health ecosystem. Its origins trace back to 1847, when the Bangalore Lunatic Asylum was founded. Over more than a century and a half, the institution evolved dramatically – first into the Government Mental Hospital, and then into the All India Institute of Mental Health, before the present-day NIMHANS came into existence in 1954 through the merger of these two predecessors. In 1994, it was granted deemed university status by the University Grants Commission, and in 2012, it was declared an Institute of National Importance by an Act of Parliament.

Today, NIMHANS functions autonomously under India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and is consistently ranked among the country’s top medical institutions. It serves as the apex centre for mental health education and neuroscience research in India, with five campuses spread across Bengaluru covering over 174 acres.

The Department of Mental Health and Social Psychology

At the heart of NIMHANS’s counselling work is the Department of Mental Health and Social Psychology. This department delivers a range of psychological interventions for individuals dealing with conditions such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, trauma, grief, relationship difficulties, and emotional distress. The therapeutic approaches used include individual counselling, group therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), and family therapy – a multi-modal structure that allows clinicians to tailor treatment to each client’s needs.

The department does not operate in isolation. As documented on the NIMHANS services portal, family counselling, group intervention, and liaison services with communities are all integral parts of the clinical work. In addition, the department engages in outreach through camps, collaborates with voluntary agencies and educational institutions on preventive and promotive mental health initiatives, and undertakes research projects in partnership with national bodies such as the Ministry of Health, ICMR, and ICSSR, as well as international organisations including WHO and CARE.

Research and training: Building India’s mental health workforce

Beyond direct service delivery, NIMHANS plays a pivotal role in research and professional training. The institution has been involved in numerous research projects examining the cultural factors that influence mental illness and its treatment in the Indian context – an important dimension given India’s linguistic, social, and regional diversity. This culturally grounded research helps clinicians offer more contextually appropriate interventions rather than relying wholesale on Western frameworks.

On the training front, NIMHANS offers postgraduate programmes in clinical psychology, counselling, and mental health, along with specialised workshops for working professionals. The Department of Clinical Psychology at NIMHANS has also taken institutional leadership in shaping national practice standards – notably by formulating Guidelines for Tele-psychotherapy Services, which were developed in response to the access and continuity challenges that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. These guidelines provided an ethical and legal framework for delivering counselling services remotely, a development with lasting relevance for practitioners across India.

A multidisciplinary model of care

What distinguishes NIMHANS is its multidisciplinary integrated approach. The institution brings together psychiatry, clinical psychology, psychiatric social work, neurological rehabilitation, speech pathology, integrative medicine (including yoga therapy), and even a dedicated Centre for Well-Being under one roof. The Department of Integrative Medicine, for example, is the first of its kind in India to formally integrate traditional Ayurvedic and Yoga knowledge with modern clinical science in a mental health context. This breadth ensures that patients receive holistic care rather than siloed treatment.

NIMHANS has also received international recognition for its contributions – including the Nelson Mandela Award for Health Promotion 2024 from the WHO – further reinforcing its standing as a global leader in mental health advocacy and service.

NCERT: Building counselling into India’s school system

While NIMHANS addresses clinical mental health needs, NCERT tackles a different but equally important challenge: ensuring that children in India’s schools have access to guidance and counselling support. Established by the Government of India in 1961, NCERT operates autonomously and is mandated to support both the Central and State Governments in improving the quality of school education through policy recommendations, curriculum development, training, and research.

The major objectives of NCERT include engaging in and coordinating research on school education, developing model textbooks and instructional materials, arranging pre-service and in-service training programmes for teachers, and collaborating with state education departments, universities, and NGOs. NCERT functions through eight constituent units, including the National Institute of Education (NIE) in New Delhi and Regional Institutes of Education (RIEs) located in Ajmer, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Mysuru, and Shillong.

The Department of Educational Psychology, Foundations and Evaluation (DEPFE)

Within NCERT, the Department of Educational Psychology, Foundations and Evaluation (DEPFE) – which houses the counselling and guidance function – has been instrumental in shaping school-based counselling across India. The department continuously updates the status of guidance services in the country, has organised All India Conferences of State Bureaus, and has conducted national status surveys of guidance and counselling services at multiple points since the 1980s. This longitudinal monitoring reflects a serious, sustained commitment to understanding how counselling is functioning on the ground in Indian schools.

The department’s work is explicitly aligned with national education policy. Both the National Policy on Education (NPE) and the Right to Education (RTE) Act emphasise the need for counselling and guidance within schools as part of children’s overall development. NCERT’s counselling department helps translate these policy mandates into practical programmes and frameworks that schools can implement.

The Diploma Course in Guidance and Counselling

One of NCERT’s most direct contributions to building counselling capacity in India is its Diploma Course in Guidance and Counselling (DCGC). This one-year programme, delivered through a blended model combining distance learning and intensive face-to-face contact sessions, is designed for teachers, teacher-trainers, school leaders, and guidance personnel. The course structure includes a three-month contact programme of intensive practical training and supervised field experience in schools, followed by a three-month internship in an actual job setting – schools, guidance agencies, and similar environments.

The programme is offered at NIE in New Delhi as well as at all five Regional Institutes of Education, allowing it to reach professionals across different parts of the country. Since the programme’s expansion, more than 1,200 personnel have been trained as teacher-counsellors and are now working in various school settings across India. This is a meaningful addition to a country where formally trained school counsellors remain scarce relative to student populations.

Research and policy impact in school counselling

NCERT also conducts research specifically aimed at understanding how counselling is being implemented in schools and what challenges counsellors face on the ground. Published research from NCERT’s journal Indian Educational Review has highlighted that schools where trained counsellors operate see improvements in the school environment, reductions in dropout rates, and better academic performance. The same research notes that parents and subject teachers develop a clearer understanding of students’ guidance needs when a counselling structure is in place – pointing to the wider cultural shift that effective counselling programmes can create within a school community.

NCERT’s guidelines for guidance and counselling programmes also address coverage across multiple domains – academic support, career guidance, personal-emotional counselling, and support for students with special needs – ensuring that the role of the school counsellor is understood in its full scope, not reduced to crisis management alone.

Two institutions, one shared purpose

NIMHANS and NCERT operate at different levels of the psychological care spectrum, but they complement each other in important ways. NIMHANS provides high-quality, specialist mental health care and builds the clinical workforce. NCERT, on the other hand, works at scale within the education system to embed counselling and guidance into the daily lives of students across India. One institution addresses illness; the other works to prevent it, or at minimum, to catch it early. Together, they represent India’s most concerted institutional efforts to professionalise counselling psychology – both in clinical settings and in schools.

The fact that both institutions also engage in research, training, and policy development – not just direct service delivery – is what gives them lasting influence. They don’t just treat or guide individuals; they build the systems, standards, and workforce through which counselling becomes sustainable at a national level.

What do you think? Given that NIMHANS operates at the clinical level and NCERT works within schools, do you think India currently has enough institutional infrastructure to meet the mental health and counselling needs of its population? And how might stronger coordination between clinical institutions and schools change outcomes for young people experiencing mental health difficulties?

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References
  1. https://www.nimhans.ac.in/
  2. https://ncert.nic.in/
  3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Mental_Health_and_Neurosciences
  4. https://nimhans.ac.in/psychiatric-social-work-2/services-offered-psychiatric-social-work/
  5. https://nimhans.co.in/mental-health-advocacy/
  6. https://www.upseducation.in/update/ncert-diploma-course-in-guidance-and-counselling-admission-open-2024/
  7. https://www.ncert.nic.in/depfe/pdf/Guidelines_for_Guidance_and_Counseling.pdf
  8. https://www.ncert.nic.in/pdf/announcement/notices/Information_Brochure_DCGC2025.pdf
  9. https://ejournals.ncert.gov.in/index.php/ier/article/download/3190/3056
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Interventions in Counseling

1 Psychoanalysis/Psychodynamic Counseling

  1. Freud and Psychoanalysis
  2. Freud’s Theory of Personality
  3. Origin of Psychodynamics
  4. History of Psychodynamics
  5. Meaning of Psychodynamics
  6. Definition of Psychodynamics
  7. Freudian Psychodynamics
  8. Jungian Psychodynamics
  9. Meaning of Psychodynamic Counseling
  10. Meaning of Psychodynamic Theory
  11. Psychological Counseling
  12. Definition of Professional Counseling
  13. Counseling and Psychotherapy
  14. Classification of Counseling
  15. Goals of Counseling
  16. Principles of Counseling
  17. Steps in Counseling
  18. The Situation in Which Counseling is Required

2 Insight and Short Term Counseling

  1. Insight as a Counseling Method
  2. Definition of Insight
  3. Definition of Insight Counseling
  4. Counseling and Insight
  5. Psychoanalysis
  6. Humanistic and Existential Approach
  7. Psychodynamic Therapy
  8. Adlerian Psychology
  9. Existential Therapy
  10. Person Centered Therapy
  11. Gestalt Therapy
  12. Short Term Counseling
  13. Meaning and Definition of Brief Therapy
  14. Developments that Influenced Brief Therapies
  15. Common Aspects to Many Brief Therapies

3 Interpersonal Counseling

  1. Nature of Interpersonal Perspective
  2. Historical Background
  3. Theories and Empirical Research
  4. Minding Relationships
  5. Love
  6. Neurobiology of Interpersonal Connections
  7. Interpersonal Counseling (IPC)
  8. Goals of Interpersonal Counseling
  9. Interpersonal Therapy/ Interpersonal Psychotherapy
  10. Goals of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT)
  11. Identification of Problem Areas
  12. Unresolved Grief
  13. Role Disputes
  14. Role Transitions
  15. Interpersonal Deficits
  16. Structure/Model of Interpersonal Counseling (IPC)
  17. Factors Affecting Interpersonal Counseling
  18. Important Features for Interpersonal Counseling for Counsellor
  19. Stages of Interpersonal Counseling (IPC)
  20. Counseling Techniques
  21. Practical Applications
  22. Behavioural Therapy
  23. Cognitive Therapy
  24. Interpersonal Therapy
  25. Psychotherapy
  26. Psychodynamic Counseling
  27. IPT/IPC in Special Populations
  28. Subtypes of Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)
  29. Interpersonal Therapy as a Maintenance Approach (IPT-M)
  30. Interpersonal Relationship Skill

4 Counseling Children

  1. Children and Disorders
  2. Learning Disability (LD)
  3. Attention – Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
  4. Anxiety Disorder
  5. Behavioural Disorders of Childhood and Adolescence
  6. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
  7. General Counseling Techniques
  8. Counseling Middle School Students
  9. Other Counseling Techniques

5 Introduction to Behaviour Modification and Cognitive Approach in Counseling

  1. Introduction to Behaviour Modification
  2. Definition of Behaviour
  3. Meaning of Behaviour Modification
  4. Principles of Behaviour Modification
  5. Steps/Procedure of Behaviour Modification
  6. Techniques of Behaviour Modification
  7. Potentials and Limitations of Behaviour Modification
  8. Introduction to Cognitive Approach
  9. Steps/Procedure in the Cognitive Therapy
  10. Techniques of Cognitive Therapy
  11. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
  12. Techniques Used by CBT Specialists
  13. Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy
  14. The Sequences in REBT Model
  15. Potentials and Limitations of Cognitive Behavioural Approach

6 Application of Cognitive Therapies in Counseling

  1. Application in Different Settings
  2. Educational Setting
  3. Clinical Setting
  4. Personal-Social Situation

7 Cognitive Behaviour Modification

  1. Self Instructional Technique
  2. Stress Inoculation Technique (SIT)
  3. Self Management Technique
  4. Problem Solving Technique

8 Solution Focused Counseling and Integrative Counseling

  1. Meaning of Solution-Focused Counseling
  2. Key Assumptions of Solution-Focused Counseling
  3. Procedure of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
  4. Potential and Limitations of Solution-Focused Counseling
  5. Concept and Meaning of Integrative Counseling
  6. Approaches to Integrative Counseling
  7. Potentials and Limitations of Integrative Counseling

9 Roger’s Client Centered Counselling

  1. Introduction to Rogers’ Counselling
  2. Humanistic Psychology
  3. The Phenomenology Framework
  4. Client Centered Counselling
  5. Concept of Self
  6. Counsellor’s Congruence
  7. Unconditional Positive Regard
  8. Experience of Threat and the Process of Defense
  9. Accurate Empathic Understanding
  10. The Master Motive: Self-Actualising Tendency
  11. The Fully Functioning Person
  12. Important Points to Remember for Effective Client Centered Counselling
  13. Scientific Evidences and Researches
  14. Therapeutic Relation

10 Psychodynamic Couple’s Counselling

  1. Psychodynamic Approach to Counselling
  2. Psychoanalytic Theory Versus Psychodynamic Theory
  3. Psychodynamics of Marriage/Couple Counseling
  4. Object Relation Theory
  5. Marriage Counselling
  6. Stages in Couples Counseling
  7. Sexual Counseling
  8. Couples and Domestic Violence, Mental Illness

11 Family and Group Counselling

  1. Introduction to Group and Family
  2. Multigenerational Approach
  3. Approaches in Interpersonal Functioning
  4. Structural Approaches
  5. Group Process and Group Dynamics
  6. Group Approaches
  7. Techniques of Family Therapy
  8. Types of Groups in Counseling
  9. Selection of Group Members
  10. Process in Group and Family Counseling

12 Eclectic Counselling

  1. History Behind Integrated/Eclectic Approach to Counselling
  2. Pathways of Integrative Approach in Counselling Practice
  3. Common Ground for Integrated Perspective of Counselling
  4. Multimodal Therapy
  5. Reality Therapy/Approach and Choice Theory
  6. Feminist and Systemic Therapy
  7. Advantages and Disadvantages of Eclectic Counselling

13 Teaching and Training for Counselling

  1. Before Start of Counselling
  2. Approaches to Counselling
  3. The Counselling Process
  4. Ethical Issues

14 Current Status of Counselling with Special Reference to India

  1. Development of Counselling and Guidance Centres in India
  2. The Secondary Stage Services of Guidance and Counselling Psychology in India
  3. Counselling Psychology: Education and Training
  4. Careers in Clinical and Counselling Psychology
  5. India’s Two Leading Organisations

15 Future Direction

  1. Application of Counselling Psychology
  2. Development of Counselling
  3. Counselling Psychology and Career
  4. E-Counselling: An Introduction
  5. E-Counselling: Benefits and Challenges
  6. Ethical Issues in E-Counselling

16 Research Findings

  1. The Leading Counselling Research Approach
  2. Systematic Case Study Research
  3. Qualitative Single Case Study Research in Counselling
  4. Single Case Experiments
  5. Single-Case Quantitative Studies
  6. Combined Quantitative and Qualitative Case Studies
  7. Outcome Studies
  8. E-Counselling Researches
  9. Ethical Issues in Counselling Research
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