Yashtika Tandon
Expressive arts therapy practitioner, Menstrual health educator, and Artist in Mumbai, India
Yashtika Tandon brings an integration of multiple roles as an expressive arts therapy practitioner, menstrual health educator, animation designer, and artist. Their multifaceted roles are grounded in the power of arts to connect with the body, mind and soul, find rhythm in community, hold justice within institutions and breathe with the earth.
Yashtika's core intention centers on cultivating brave spaces from a feminist, intersectional, decolonized, queer affirmative, and trauma-informed lens. They hope to build an intuitive, attuned connection that fosters all parts of the self, known and hidden, to be seen, held, explored, expressed and nurtured through creative engagement.
Yashtika holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Expressive Arts Therapy from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai and a Bachelor's degree in Animation Design from MIT Institute of Design, Pune. They are a certified Menstrual Health Educator from Paddling foundation. Additionally, they are a One future fellow, a feminist leadership fellowship.
Yashtika is the Country Festival Director for India for Global South Arts and Health Week, happening for the first time ever in India.
In their current position as a Mental health professional and Head designer at Doctor Drama they offer individual and group expressive arts therapy sessions to children, teenagers and adults and also design therapeutic products and media. Additionally, in their capacity as Coach at One Future Collective, Yashtika played a vital role in a feminist leadership oriented fellowship, providing personal development coaching.
As an expressive arts therapy practitioner, they have worked with diverse groups such as individuals facing gender-based violence, elderly populations, and at-risk youth. As a Menstrual Health Educator at Paddling Foundation, Yashtika has been instrumental in designing programs and leading expressive arts-based workshops to promote menstrual health awareness with government school students, employees of corporations, teacher trainees and the queer community. As a One future fellow, their artist self created a zine exploring the intersection of climate and gender justice, called "Nature of Gender" and crafted an expressive arts guide to initiate the difficult conversation of "What to do with privilege?".
Drawing from multifaceted roles and channeling them through the power of arts, Yashtika Tandon aims to address power dynamics, trauma, body liberation, and its connection to collective healing and justice.