About Gitika Talwar, PhD

Queer-affirming South Asian therapist in Seattle, WA offering virtual and in-person individual therapy

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When Success Doesn’t Feel Like Peace

I know You arrive at this website as a whole person, with stories,

strengths, and struggles that deserve

compassionate support and genuine understanding.

Whatever brought you to this page today,

I want you to know that’s exactly how I see you here.

A person standing alone, wistfully looking out of a window. A representation of how alone one can feel while reflecting on all that we carry, thinking we are alone because we are "too much" for people.

You’re Not Too Much. You’re Just Tired of Holding It Alone. 

Every client who reaches out carries a different story, though I notice many share familiar threads. Maybe you recognize yourself in a few of these:

  • Exhaustion from holding too much alone

  • A nagging sense that success and peace of mind live in separate rooms

  • Family relationships that hold both love and real harm

  • A quiet feeling that you’re the only one in your family who struggles, while others with the same upbringing seem fine

  • Chosen family who understands you fully, held at a careful distance from the family you were born into 

  • Guilt or shame for naming problems your family prefers to leave unspoken

These challenges show up in your daily life, your relationships, and your ongoing search for real peace of mind. They’re real, and they deserve real attention.

Therapy Is More Than Coping…. It Is About Learning To Feel Like You Again. 

It’s about creating an environment where your complete identity, covering culture, gender, sexuality, spirituality, and immigration background, is fully accepted as an integral part of the work, with full room to simply exist here, exactly as you are. 

This is your one hour a week where the only person you’re responsible for is yourself. 

The focus is entirely on your needs, feelings, and story. Here, you’re free to fully prioritize yourself, held without judgment. No one to impress and no role to fill except your own. To move from feeling broken, alone, and “too much” toward feeling fully understood, validated, and equipped with language for your experience that finally fits. 

If you’re the first in your family to do something different…

Whether that’s leaving a pattern behind, moving abroad, or choosing a different kind of relationship or parenting, 

Your resilience and hard-won achievements deserve to be truly recognized, even as you receive support for the personal toll that path has taken on you. Reclaiming trust in your own perspective of your history is a vital step. You are actively shaping a brand-new legacy—one where old, inherited patterns finally end with you.

Headshot of Gitika Talwar, PhD. LGBTQIA+ affirming South Asian Immigrant, Licensed Clinical-Community Psychologist in Washington

A Little About Me

I’m Dr. Gitika Talwar, PhD (pronounced “Ithaca” with a G; she/they), a narrative therapist offering individual therapy virtually across Washington State and in person in Seattle. 

As a South Asian woman of color who migrated from India, I built a career in mental health advocacy there before moving to the U.S. in 2007, navigating my own experience with the Green Card backlog along the way.

My clients consistently tell me they feel safe and genuinely seen in my care, met with warmth, curiosity, and a natural ease that has followed me since childhood.

  • PhD in Clinical-Community Psychology, University of Maryland Baltimore County (2014)

    MA in Social Psychology, University of Mumbai (2004)

    BA in Psychology, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai (2002)

    • Licensed Clinical Psychologist

    • Dialectical Behavior Therapy

    • Brainspotting, Phase 1 & 2

    • Narrative Therapy

    • Feedback Informed Treatment

    • Pursuing certification in Relational Life Therapy

Real Progress You Can Actually See 

You are the expert on your own life, and I meet you as an equal partner throughout the work. Our collaboration together opens with curiosity about the moment you decided to reach out for therapy, building an understanding of your full story as the foundation for moving forward. 

A structured feedback scale, checked at the start and the halfway point of every session, keeps the process grounded in what genuinely helps you, giving you a clear, visible measure of your own progress along the way and a persistent reminder that we are a team

Sessions are tailored to who you are, using narrative therapy paired with Feedback-Informed Treatment and flexing across modalities, including Brainspotting, CBT, and body-based (somatic) and contemplative practices, always shaped around your specific needs rather than a one-size-fits-all method.

What Happens After You Hit Send 

You fill out the form. I read every word. Then I reach out to schedule a first conversation, built around your story, your pace, your questions. Your story deserves a space built to truly hear it. This is where that space starts. 

Let's Get Started