Systemic Well-being Intervention
Vishakha approaches violence prevention, mental health, and collective care as interconnected dimensions of the same spectrum of well-being. From its early years, the organisation has worked simultaneously at individual, collective, community, and systemic levels — recognising that sustainable change requires space-making within institutions and public systems.
Our systemic well-being interventions build on this long-standing engagement. Whether through educational institutions, coaching hubs, structured dialogue spaces, or counselling initiatives, the focus remains on embedding emotional literacy, dignity, and care within existing systems rather than working outside them.
Vishakha’s focused engagement with youth mental health and wellbeing began in Bagru with the establishment of the Youth Resource & Well-being Centre (YWRC) — a community-based space that continues to anchor dialogue, counselling, and youth-led reflection. Grounded in a psychosocial and youth-friendly, rights-based approach, this work integrates conversations on gender, relationships, violence, identity, and emotional wellbeing.
The experience expanded into colleges in Jaipur, where counselling services strengthened institutional support for students navigating academic and personal challenges. It further extended to Kota, where we worked with students preparing for competitive examinations, addressing intense academic pressure, migration-related isolation, and emotional distress. Through safe spaces, structured dialogues, and counselling support, the initiative sought to normalise help-seeking and promote equitable, responsive care within high-pressure educational settings.
Although shifting contexts later required a strategic withdrawal from Kota, these engagements significantly deepened our understanding of youth distress in competitive environments. The ongoing work through YWRC and other youth platforms continues to reflect our commitment to systemic, youth-centred wellbeing
In collaboration with the National Mental Health Program (Rajasthan), Vishakha operated the helpline Mansamvaad at the S.M.S. Psychiatric Centre, Jaipur. Since its launch in 2019, the helpline responded to over 3,500 calls related to self-harm, mental health distress, sexual health, violence, substance use, and severe psychological challenges. Sustained by Vishakha until 2022, the initiative demonstrated how accessible mental health support can be embedded within public systems
Building on Vishakha’s long-standing work with adolescents in rural and tribal communities, we have initiated structured mental health dialogues within school spaces. In government schools and a residential hostel in the Salumber region, we engaged students — particularly in Grades 11 and 12 — on themes of emotional wellbeing, academic stress, consent, relationships, and self-care.
Guided by a whole-school perspective, these conversations challenge stigma around help-seeking and strengthen early support pathways, while deepening our understanding of young people’s realities in the community.
In Salumbar, Vishakha’s telephonic counselling initiative — which became especially critical during the COVID-19 period — highlighted the urgent need for structured and accessible psychosocial support for adolescent girls and women. Through sustained advocacy with district authorities, this evolved into Hamkadam – Adolescent Girls and Women’s Counselling and Support Centre at Jhallara Police Station.
As a pioneering block-level centre, Hamkadam offers integrated support across education, SRHR, violence, mental health, and overall wellbeing. Providing both telephonic and in-person counselling, it demonstrates how sustained systemic engagement can translate into accessible, community-rooted care for girls and women.
Abhiyaan -campaign is an intervention strategy through which we bring issues of mental health, violence, and wellbeing into the public domain. Rather than treating distress as a private concern, Abhiyaan mobilises communities, youth groups, schools, and local institutions to initiate open dialogue and collective reflection.
Through locally contextualised communication materials, community meetings, and public engagement processes, the campaign challenges silence and stigma while strengthening early support networks. Positioned within our broader work on gender justice and systemic wellbeing, Abhiyaan seeks to shift norms and embed care as a shared social responsibility.