Meet Dr. Dipali Bharadwaj
Owner/Founder
Clinical Psychologist
Dipali Bharadwaj, PsyD founded Maitri Psychological Services in 2020. She graduated from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology in 2013 with a concentration in Diversity Psychology and has experience working in a hospital setting, community mental health and private practices.
Dipali started Maitri Psychological Services with the intent of creating a space where multicultural competence and cultural humility is the forefront of therapeutic practice. Dipali has a background in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and psychodynamic therapies (Object Relations and Self Psychology). In her work and training, she became increasingly aware of how deeply these models were embedded in Euro-centric values, and the limitations when applying them to individuals with differing backgrounds. Dipali focuses on how clinical models can be adapted in order to be made more accessible and applicable to individuals belonging to cultures outside of what has been implicitly accepted as the “norm”.
The field of clinical psychology has become increasingly focused on pathological processes, and has become relatively disconnected from the socio-cultural and anthropological roots of psychology as a discipline. Dipali believes that it is insufficient to help clients change internally to better navigate the world, but that it should also be the goal of mental health workers to make the world a better place that causes less harm to fewer people. Maitri Psychological Services strives to serve clients both inside and outside the therapy space by being an agent of positive change in our broader society.
Dipali specializes in trauma-related disorders, anxiety, mood disturbances, identity-related issues, and relational issues.
Pronouns: She/her