Living abroad can be quietly isolating. You may have a good job, a settled home and a full calendar, and still feel that something is missing: someone who understands where you come from without needing it explained. For many Indians overseas, and for many international clients who simply want a therapist with long clinical experience, the answer is online therapy with a practitioner who knows both worlds.
Anuradha Banerji Sarkar has practised in South Delhi for more than 35 years. Alongside her in-person work, she sees clients by secure video call from across India and from other countries. This article explains how that works, who it suits, how to handle time zones, and what it costs.
Why Many NRIs Look for an Indian Therapist
Therapy depends on being understood. When a therapist has to pause to learn what a joint family expects of an eldest son, why a daughter feels guilty about living far from ageing parents, or what it means to be the first person in a family to leave, a good deal of the hour goes on translation rather than healing.
Clients abroad often bring a particular set of concerns: the pull between two cultures, guilt about distance from parents, loneliness after a move, pressure around marriage and career, difficulty with children who are growing up between two identities, and grief that has to be carried from afar, including the experience of being unable to attend a funeral. These are not unusual. They are, however, easier to explore with someone who recognises the cultural texture without needing a glossary.
Who Online Sessions Suit
- NRIs and long-term expatriates who want a therapist who understands Indian family and social expectations.
- Students and early-career professionals abroad dealing with anxiety, homesickness, sleep difficulty or pressure.
- Returnees and those planning a move navigating the practical and emotional side of relocation.
- International clients of any background who are looking for experienced counselling, CBT, hypnotherapy or past life regression.
- Parents abroad seeking support for a child, with sessions conducted with appropriate parental involvement.
What Is Available Online
All of Anuradha's services are available by video call. Counselling psychology offers an unhurried space to talk through relationships, identity, stress and life transitions. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is structured and practical, and works well online because so much of it involves identifying thought patterns and practising new responses between sessions. Clinical hypnotherapy is used for anxiety, sleep problems, habits and phobias, and requires only a quiet room and a comfortable place to sit or lie. Past life regression is offered for clients who are drawn to this work and approach it with an open and curious mind.
Sessions can be conducted in English, Hindi or Bengali. For many clients abroad, returning to a first language in a session is one of the most valuable parts of the experience, because feelings often surface more truthfully in the language in which they were first learned.
Working Across Time Zones
The clinic runs Monday to Saturday, 10 AM to 7 PM India Standard Time (UTC+5:30), with Sunday sessions by prior appointment. In practice that leaves workable windows for most clients. The figures below are approximate and shift by an hour when clocks change.
- UK and Europe: most of the Indian working day falls in your morning and afternoon. A 3 PM IST session is 9:30 AM in the UK in winter and 10:30 AM in summer.
- Gulf and Singapore: the gap is one and a half to two and a half hours, so daytime and evening sessions are straightforward.
- Australia: late-morning Indian slots land in the afternoon or evening for you.
- US and Canada: later Indian slots, around 5 PM to 7 PM IST, fall in the morning of the US East Coast, and very early on the West Coast. Sunday appointments can also help.
When you enquire, mention your city and your preferred times. Anuradha's team will suggest a slot that works, so you do not have to do the arithmetic yourself.
How an Online Session Works
After you make contact on WhatsApp or by email, a time is agreed and a secure video link is shared. The first session is a conversation: Anuradha listens to what has brought you to therapy, asks about your background and circumstances, and together you decide on a way of working. Some clients come for a short course on a specific concern. Others prefer a longer, steadier arrangement.
To get the most from a session, choose a private room, use headphones if others are at home, keep your device charged and your connection stable, and set aside a little quiet time afterwards. For hypnotherapy and regression work, please attend somewhere you can relax fully and never while driving or operating anything.
Fees for International Clients
For international clients, online sessions are $40 USD per hour. Clients based in India continue to pay ₹2,000 per 60-minute session, whether in person in South Delhi or online. Details on how to pay are shared when you book, and there is no obligation to commit to a course in advance.
An Honest Note on What Online Therapy Is Not
Online sessions are not an emergency service. Anuradha practises from India and cannot provide crisis response in your country. If you are in immediate danger or thinking of harming yourself, please contact local emergency services or a crisis line where you live, or go to the nearest emergency department. Therapy can sit alongside medical care, and if you are already under the care of a doctor or psychiatrist, nothing here replaces that relationship.
Taking the First Step
Reaching out from far away can feel like a bigger step than it is. A first message simply opens the conversation. Use the contact buttons on this page to write to Anuradha, tell her where you are based and which times suit you, and her team will respond within 24 hours. International clients: $40 USD per hour. Clients in India: ₹2,000 per 60 minutes.