15 + years
Master’s in Public Health from Oxford Brookes University, UK,
Mini-Fellowship in Successful Aging and End-of-Life (iSAGE) program – Stanford University School of Medicine,
MSc- Counselling & Psychotherapy, M.D - Homeopathic Psychiatry - Mumbai University, Foundation Course on
Education of Children with Learning Disability from Rehabilitation Council of India. Certified Personal
Counsellor – Robert Carkhuff model of Counselling, Certified REBT Practitioner, Certified Sex Educator
Dr Smita Akale is a dynamic young and enthusiastic Public Health and Overseas education specialist, Psychiatrist & Counsellor of modern age. Along with an impressive educational background, she has long experience of working with various age groups in different types of challenging clinical conditions and handling them successfully. In all her experience, she has worked in clinics, multispecialty hospitals, correctional facilities, educational institutions and community care in India, UK and Canada. Her specialty lies in going in-depth to understand her cases and managing all situations calmly with a smile. Her intuitive ability to understand every human being as a special individual beyond just being a client, makes her a counsellor par excellence. She brings this innate ability and personal touch for every client be it counselling or education. Along with expertise in educational opportunities in UK and Canada, she is also equipped with various certifications to handle areas of general concern like stress, anger, diet and weight loss/gain, depression, anxiety, etc. Her thesis focused on exploring the Mental Health Literacy of schoolteachers in Maharashtra.
A polyglot who is fluent in English, Marathi, Hindi and Kannada, she has been involved in developing training modules and programs and has conducted various trainings, workshops and seminars for students, teachers and parents on various topics including Mental Health Awareness, Stress Management, Life Skills Training, and disorders like ADHD, Autism, Learning disability and Physical illness. She aims to use her extensive knowledge of mental health and communication skills towards enhancement of subjective wellbeing of the community, thereby creating an environment for both individual and organizational growth. Her rich experience in child health care and her ability to give personal attention to the needs of growing children makes her most loved by all her children clients. For the past eight years, Dr Smita has been an active volunteer of Jeevan Aanand Sanstha a Not-for-profit organization working for elderly and mentally ill destitute. She also was heading the Dignity Foundation’s Successful Ageing Program known as Dignity Master Class, working with older adults in the slums of Mumbai.
She is presently teaching in a college in British Columbia, Canada and is actively involved in research projects.