Dr. Amanpreet Kaur

Dr. Amanpreet Kaur is an Associate Professor & Associate Dean of Research, Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Mental Health Researcher. She was born in Delhi and pursued her graduation (2007-10), post-graduation (2010-12) from University of Delhi. With an inclination towards clinical psychology, she underwent an intensive supervised clinical training (M.Phil. Clinical Psychology) from the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS), Delhi from 2012-14. Soon after, she pursued Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru and focused upon research, teaching, clinical work, supervision and managing Behavioural Medicine Unit services (2014-18). She worked in collaboration with four different palliative cancer care centres across Bengaluru to develop Mindfulness integrated Cognitive Behavioural Interventions for palliative care professionals.

Soon after submission of her thesis, Dr Kaur joined The George Institute for Global Health India (TGI) and managed various mental health related projects. Dr Kaur’s work for about four years post her doctorate focused on stigma related to mental health, better mental health care, awareness, development, and implementation of psychosocial interventions. The findings from the projects have been in various high-impact journals and print media. She was selected as an emerging thought leader in the year 2021. She has been an active member with International Association of Hospice and Palliative Care, Life Professional Member of Indian Association of Clinical Psychologists and registered with Rehabilitation Council of India. She has qualified and awarded for UGC-NET/JRF (National Eligibility Test/ Junior Research Fellowship) twice, UGC-SRF and ICMR-JRF (Indian Council of Medical Research-Junior Research Fellowship).

Dr Kaur is currently serving as an ‘Associate Editor’ for peer-reviewed open access journal Acta Psychologica. She is a trained Hindustani Classical Music Vocalist and holds a degree in the same. She wants to continue working and developing the field of mental health in India by contributing in research, regular clinical practice and teaching.

Dr Kaur’s work has been the first and an innovative attempt with implications for field of mindfulness and palliative care in India. She has been awarded twice (2017 and 2021) for best paper based on her PhD work at the International Annual conference of Indian Association of Palliative Care. She was awarded travel grant to present her work in an international conference held at Singapore (2017) by International Association of Hospice and Palliative Care and she presented her work at European Association of Palliative Care conference held at Berlin (2019) too.

Dr Kaur has written journal papers, blogs, newspaper articles, book chapters, articles, and regularly gets invited as a resource person for talks, workshops, seminars, symposiums, webinars and podcasts to generate awareness around mental health, wellbeing, and mindfulness. Not only she published journal papers; she presented at various national and international forums, worked across teams, sites and built collaborations for research projects as a research fellow, she is currently co-investigator for the ongoing study funded by ICMR. She has been successful in conducting the workshops based on her research work at AIIMS Delhi, AIIMS Jodhpur, and JIPMER Pondicherry in addition to other public engagement workshops. She regularly gets invitation as guest faculty within and outside India to conduct workshops on Mindfulness and Self-Compassion. Dr Kaur is serving the role of Associate Dean for Research and Exchange Committee of JSPC.

Dr. Amanpreet Kaur has 12 years of clinical experience. She has always been drawn towards healing, providing better mental health care and building healthier societies. She has had extensive training, clinical and supervisory experience in the field of clinical psychology. She has demonstrated her clinical competence and skills by providing psychotherapy in broad spectrum of mental health issues and she can conduct, analyze and interpret psychological assessments with great ease. She has also worked with marginalized populations and believes in providing a non-judgemental environment for everyone and anyone in her sessions. Dr Kaur is trained in various forms of mindfulness meditation and has an experience in conducting and organizing workshops on mindfulness meditation and other stress related disorders with both clinical and non-clinical populations. Her expertise involves individual (adults, adolescents, and elderly) and group psychotherapy. She also conducts grief support groups as part of her clinical practice.

Dr Kaur has taken formal lectures for undergraduate and postgraduate students of Nursing, Psychiatry, Clinical Psychology and Psychiatric Social Work in NIMHANS. She has taught and mentored PhD, post-graduate and undergraduate students, project interns, apart from training junior colleagues, community and primary health care workers. At JSPC, she has taught Statistics, and has been teaching Research Methods and Clinical Psychology. Her approach is interactive, collaborative classroom teaching using innovative teaching methods.

• Kaur, A., Kallakuri, S., Mukherjee, A., Wahid, S. S., Kohrt, B. A., Thornicroft, G., & Maulik, P. K. (2023). Mental health related stigma, service provision and utilization in Northern India: situational analysis. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 17(1), 1-12.
• Daniel, M.*, Kaur, A.*, Mukherjee, A., Bhattacharya, A., Tewari, A., Sagar, R., … & Maulik, P. K. (2023). The systematic medical appraisal, referral and treatment (SMART) mental health programme: Formative research informing a cluster randomized controlled trial. SSM-Mental Health, 3, 100223.
• Kaur, A., Sharma, M. P., & Chaturvedi, S. K. (2022). Psychological Well-Being amongst Cancer Palliative Care Professionals working in Bengaluru, India. Indian Journal of Palliative Care, 1-6.
• Mukherjee, A., Daniel, M., Kaur, A., Devarapalli, S., Kallakuri, S., Essue, B., … & Maulik, P. K. (2022). Operational challenges in the pre-intervention phase of a mental health trial in rural India: reflections from SMART Mental Health. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 16(1), 1-15.
• Daniel, M., Prashad, L., Kaur, A., Kallakuri, S., Devarapalli, S., Sagar, R., & Maulik, P. K. (2022). COVID-19, adversities and depression among older adolescents in urban slums of India. Asian journal of psychiatry, 74, 103194.
• Mukherjee, A., Daniel, M., Kallakuri, S., Kaur, A., Devarapalli, S., Raman, U., … & Maulik, P. K. (2022). Protocol for process evaluation of SMART Mental Health cluster randomised control trial: an intervention for management of common mental disorders in India. BMJ open, 12(6), e058669.
• Henderson, C., Ouali, U., Bakolis, I., Berbeche, N., Bhattarai, K., Brohan, E.,Kaur, A. … & Thornicroft, G. (2022). Training for mental health professionals in responding to experienced and anticipated mental health-related discrimination (READ-MH): protocol for an international multisite feasibility study. Pilot and Feasibility Studies, 8(1), 1-11.
• Kaur, A., Sharma, M. P., & Chaturvedi, S. K. (2021). Mindfulness Integrated Cognitive Behavioural Intervention: Effects on Palliative Cancer Care Professionals. BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care.
• Kaur, A., Kallakuri, S., Daniel, M., Yatirajula, S. K., Devarapalli, S., & Maulik, P. K. (2021). Directly engaging with People with lived experiences of mental illness from the communities in India. SSM-Mental Health, 100024.
• Kaur, A., Sharma, M. P., & Chaturvedi, S. K. (2021). Felt Needs of Cancer Palliative Care Professionals Working in India: A Qualitative Study. Indian Journal of Palliative Care, 1-8.
• Kaur, A., Kallakuri, S., Kohrt, B. A., Heim, E., Gronholm, P. C., Thornicroft, G., & Maulik, P. K. (2021). Systematic review of interventions to reduce mental health stigma in India. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 55, 102466.
• Kallakuri, S., Kaur, A., Hackett, M. L., & Maulik, P. K. (2021) Operational challenges in the implementation of an anti-stigma campaign in rural Andhra Pradesh, India. Journal of Public Health, 43(2), ii26–ii34,
• Daniel, M., Maulik, P. K., Kallakuri, S., Kaur, A., Devarapalli, S., Mukherjee, A., … & Peiris, D. (2021). An integrated community and primary healthcare worker intervention to reduce stigma and improve management of common mental disorders in rural India: protocol for the SMART Mental Health programme. Trials, 22(1), 1-13.
• Bhaumik, S., Kallakuri, S., Kaur, A., Devarapalli, S., & Daniel, M. (2020). Mental health conditions after snakebite: a scoping review. BMJ Global Health, 5(11):e004131.
• Kaur, A., Sharma, M. P., & Chaturvedi, S. K. (2018). Professional quality of life among professional care providers at cancer palliative care centers in Bangalore, India. Indian Journal of Palliative Care, 24(2), 167.
• Kaur, A., & Grover, N. (2016). The self as a Part of Society: Person-Situation Interaction Contributing to Development of Belief System-a Case Study. Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology, 42(1), 179.
• Kaur, A., Grover, N., & Desai, N. G. (2015). Therapeutic Identity among Clinical Psychology Professionals in India. Psychological Studies, 60(4), 402-406.

Book Chapters

• Anand, N., Sharma, M. P., Kaur, A., & Anand, P. (2020). Mindfulness Meditation: Principles and Applications for Holistic Healing. In Holistic Treatment in Mental Health : A Handbook of Practitioner’s Perspectives. McFarland. pISBN: 978-1-4766-6993-9.

Blogs & Articles

• Kaur, A. (2022, February 8). Death Anxiety & COVID-19 [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://therapheal.in/elementor-3860/
• Kaur, A. (2021, December 3). Effects of Mindfulness Integrated Cognitive Behavioural Intervention with Cancer Palliative Care Professionals. Blog for BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care. Retrieved from https://blogs.bmj.com/spcare/2021/12/03/effects-of-mindfulness-integrated-cognitive-behavioural-intervention-with-cancer-palliative-care-professionals/
• Kaur, S., & Kaur, A. (2021, December 7). Be a Man- Dilemma of masculinity and emotional expression [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://therapheal.in/elementor-3860/
• Biswas, A., & Kaur, A. (2021, December 30). Shades of Grief during COVID-19 amongst children and adolescents [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://therapheal.in/elementor-3860/
• Kaur, A. (2020, April 6). How to stay psychologically and physically strong during COVID-19 pandemic? Healthmedguru.com. Retrieved from https://healthmedguru.com/how-to-stay-psychologically-and-physically-strong-during-covid-19-pandemic/
• Kaur, A. (2020, April 6). Covid-19 and Emotional Health [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://myemotionalhealthin.com/2020/04/17/covid-19-and-emotional-health-by-dr-amanpreet-kaur-april-62020/
• Kaur, A. (2020, March 31). Maintaining your mental health during the COVID-19 lockdown. The George Institute TGI website. Retrieved from https://www.georgeinstitute.org.in/profiles/maintaining-your-mental-health-during-the-covid-19-lockdown
• Kaur, A. (2020, March 31). Mental health during the COVID-19 lockdown. GWiz George News. Retrieved fromhttps://myemotionalhealthin.com/2020/04/17/covid-19-and-emotional-health-by-dr-amanpreet-kaur-april-62020/
• Kaur, A. (2019, August 2). Rediscovering health and wellness in the age of fad diets and quick fixes. The Week. Retrieved from https://www.theweek.in/leisure/lifestyle/2019/08/02/Rediscovering-health-and-wellness-in-the-age-of-fad-diets-and-quick-fixes.html
• Kaur, A. (2019, July 11). Community input key to designing awareness campaigns. GWiz George News. Retrieved from https://sp.georgeinstitute.org/News/InternalNews/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?List=2f2eaf58%2Dcd8a%2D4d7f%2Dac72%2D4fb5557e9805&ID=238&Web=163a2610%2D7623%2D426f%2D8f4c%2Df0fbd7815bb0
• Kaur, A. (2019, June 3). Mindfulness as a form of self-care in End-of-Life Care [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://myemotionalhealthin.com/2019/06/03/death-dying-and-psychological-health-dr-amanpreet-kaur/
• Kaur, A. (2019, June 3). Death, Dying, and Psychological Health [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://myemotionalhealthin.com/2019/06/03/death-dying-and-psychological-health-dr-amanpreet-kaur/

Media Coverage

• Invited speaker for the session on ‘Accessing Mental Health Support’ on 17/08/2022 organized by Kangaroo Minds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-ob_YgTJqg&t=1005s
• Invited speaker for the session on ‘Helping an Elderly Parent Cope with the Loss of a Spouse’ on 26/03/2022 on zoom organized by Silver Talkies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v_keKHXE1g&t=470s
• Invited moderator and speaker for the session on ‘Peers for Community’ on 08/10/2021 at Facebook live organized by Life Surfers. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=472928223793833&id=100063860471344
• Invited speaker for the session on ‘Importance of Self-Care’ on 09/10/2021 on Instagram Live organized by Positive Insight. https://www.instagram.com/tv/CUzxFucq7Lj/?utm_medium=copy_link
• Coverage on Emerging thought leader Dr Amanpreet Kaur https://www.georgeinstitute.org.in/profiles/emerging-thought-leader-dr-amanpreet-kaur-on-what-drives-her-to-improve-mental-health-in
• Key speaker for podcast on ‘Living through crisis: the COVID-19 situation in India’ by Suno India, published on 25/05/2021. https://omny.fm/shows/the-scan/living-through-crisis-the-covid-19-situation-in-in
• Invited Speaker for webinar ‘caring for caregivers’ on 30/07/2020 organised by You, Me & Mental Health. https://www.facebook.com/youmementalhealth/videos/345048590182708
• Talk on ‘Substance use disorders and mental health during COVID crisis’ held on 13/04/2020 and covered by ANI news channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xA8-XMElbU&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR03GDKiLF_tA92RWdMs97h2M9h4PprZOpnOESQWePlohuvnau_OMi-bmMU