Ashwin Thind

Ashwin believes in meeting the people he works with where they are and embarking on a mutual journey with them.  He is experienced in working with anxiety, depression, psychosis, schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, compulsive sexual behaviour and addictions. For approximately six years, he has been working at a local NGO that provides inpatient addiction treatment. He has worked with individuals who struggle with substance, alcohol and behavioural addictions, trauma, co-occurring mental illnesses, co-dependency, family issues and interpersonal conflicts. Ashwin has also trained at a refugee clinic, where he continues to provide therapy and serve the community. Ashwin is sex-positive and LGBTQ+ affirmative with a keen interest in working with individuals who struggle with managing the fusion of substances and sex. 

He holds a trauma-focused approach towards therapy and practises Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR). Ashwin is a trained EMDR practitioner (Level I and II) registered with the EMDR Association of Australia (EMDRAA). Formally trained in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), he adopts an integrative approach and works from a Motivational Interviewing and Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy (REBT) perspective. Ashwin has received intensive training on addiction from the Drug Advisory Program under the Colombo Plan, where he obtained both the International Certified Addiction Professional (Level II) and Recovery Coach credential. He is currently working towards completing his accreditation in EMDR. He advocates for Evidence-Based Drug Policies that include decarceration, decriminalisation and regulation of substances. He is also a passionate substance-use disorder trainer.

Areas of Interest:

• Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
• Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT)
• Alcohol, Substance and Behavioural addictions
• Sexualised drug use (Chemsex)
• Gender identity and sexual orientation
• Problematic sexual behaviours
• Harm Reduction 
• Personality Disorders
• Trauma- and Stressor-related Disorders including Complex Trauma (C-PTSD)
• Psychosis 
• Anxiety and Depression

Language fluency:

• English
• Malay
  

Affiliation:

• International Society of Substance Use Professionals (ISSUP)
• EMDR Association of Australia (EMDRAA)
• Malaysian Society of Clinical Psychologist (Student Member)