Dr. Rajeswari (Raji) Natrajan-Tyagi graduated with her Ph.D. in Child Development and Family Studies with a specialization in Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) at Purdue University, Indiana. She also earned her Master’s in Social Work from Madras School of Social Work, India. She is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and in her private practice she works with individuals, couples and families with children. She served as a Professor and Branch Director in the Couple and Family Therapy Program (CFT) housed within the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) at Alliant International University, California from 2005 to 2024. She currently serves as adjunct faculty in the CFT program where she mentors doctoral level students in their dissertations. She also works closely with SAAHAS for Cause, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping the South Asian Community, mentoring staff and interns in research, developing psychoeducational curriculum and conducting psychoeducational workshops. Dr. Raji’s research interests are in the area of Immigration, acculturation of individuals, couples and the elderly, bicultural parenting, cross-cultural training, cross-cultural relevance of family therapy, cultural competency, self-of-therapist training and supervision, qualitative research and systemic training & evaluation. She has several peer-reviewed publications and book chapters on the above topics. She has also presented at international, national and regional conferences.
What was your path to becoming a therapist? What inspired you to choose this profession?
I was trained as a social worker in India and I worked there briefly with families and children. I found that my work was, for the most part, putting a band aid on broken family dynamics. I felt a need for more training. I was grateful to have discovered the field of Marriage and Family Therapy in the U.S. I was exposed to whole new world of systemic theories and dynamic ways to work with families and relationships. I have never turned back since. Working as a healer and a therapist feels like a spiritual calling for me and I do not see my work with clients as separate from my own work on myself. I feel honored when clients invite me into their lives and let me walk alongside them;letting me help them and be helped in the process.
How have your personal experiences helped your work with your clients?
As a systemic therapist, I believe that a therapist is part of the client system. They take all of themselves into their work with clients, impact the client system and in turn be impacted by them. I also believe that since the ‘self’ of the therapist is their most important instrument and tool in their craft, we have to work on it and keep it sharp. Having said that, I believe that all of my personal experiences, struggles, achievements and relationships provide me with insight into human nature, impact of their contexts and relational dynamics. Tapping into my personal processes helps me be curious about those of my clients and take them to deeper levels of processing and relating. My own personal experiences keeps me humble when working with clients and helps me honor their human struggles and failings. I strive to remember how I am limited by my experiences and make space for different experiences, values and ways of being. The more courage I show in working on myself and my relationships, I feel like I have the ability to lead clients to have difficult conversations with themselves and significant others in their lives.
Short Term (Solution-focused, etc.)
Ideal for those who are coming in with a specific problem they’d like to address and gain clarity on. Typically, short term therapies are present focused and do not dive deep into your past.
Structured
Structured therapies are goal and progress oriented. Therapists may incorporate psychoeducation and a specific “curriculum.” In order to stay on track, therapists may provide worksheets and homework.
Insight-oriented (Psychodynamic, Existential, etc.)
Exploring the past and making connections to present issues can help clients gain insight. Getting to the root of the issue and finding deeper self-awareness can help with long-term change.
Non-directive (Humanistic, Person-centered, etc.)
Going with the flow and seeing where it leads.
Behavioral (CBT, DBT, etc.)
Focuses on changing potentially unhealthy or self-destructive behaviors by addressing problematic thought patterns and specific providing coping skills.
Trauma Focused (EMDR, TF-CBT, etc.)
Recognizing the connection between trauma experiences and your emotional and behavioral responses, trauma focused therapy seeks to help you heal from traumas.