Six days a week, with no end in sight
Long weeks, a commute that swallows hours, and leave you never quite take. Burnout tends to arrive quietly, and then all at once.
Online counselling : Bangladesh
Counselling in Dhaka,
and anywhere else
you happen to be.
Bangladesh has a small number of trained counsellors for a population of well over a hundred and sixty million, and most of them work in Dhaka. I work online in English, from a UK qualification, with complete separation from local professional and family circles.
Qualified practitioner
CPCAB Level 4, UK
Registration No. 433TM4D-128-303701
UK CPCAB Level 4 qualification
Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet and beyond
No local connection to your circles
Strictly confidential
How do I find a counsellor in Bangladesh?
Trained counsellors in Bangladesh are few relative to the population and concentrated in Dhaka, with stigma keeping many people from approaching the ones who exist. Kaan Pete Roi runs a volunteer emotional support line. Online counselling with a qualified practitioner abroad adds access and keeps the work entirely separate from local circles.
Who I work with
Who books from
Bangladesh.
Work pressure and privacy account for most enquiries from here.
Not wanting this in your network
Word travels fast in professional Dhaka. Working with someone outside the country takes that worry off the table.
Chattogram, Sylhet, Khulna, Rajshahi
Almost everything sits in Dhaka. Online sessions make your city irrelevant to the quality of care you get.
Decisions made by committee
Timelines, in laws and reputation, argued over by people who are not you. We work on your footing inside that.
Admission pressure that began years ago
Competition, family hopes, and the sense that one exam decides everything. It rarely does, though the fear is very real all the same.
Half your people in another country
Siblings in London or Toronto, parents here, and the responsibility landing on whoever stayed.
Been running on empty for months?
Sessions arranged around a six day working week.
Access and stigma
Why so few people
here start therapy.
Two things stop people in Bangladesh from getting help. The first is supply: a country of more than a hundred and sixty million people has only a small number of trained counsellors, almost all of them in Dhaka. The second is stigma, which turns asking for help into something that feels risky to your reputation, your marriage prospects or your job.
Online work addresses both. Your location stops mattering, and the person you talk to has no connection to anyone you know. Nobody sees you arrive at an office, and there is no waiting room and no receptionist who recognises your surname.
Medication, psychiatric assessment and emergency care need a locally registered doctor, and counselling with me can run alongside that. Kaan Pete Roi offers volunteer emotional support by phone if you need to talk to someone tonight.
My approach
An approach that
fits a six day week.
Most clients here are fitting therapy around long working weeks and full households. The methods I use are chosen partly for how well they survive that, which means practical tools alongside the talking.
Talking therapy
Unhurried sessions where you can say anything at all, and I help you find the shape of what you are feeling.
Stress management
Small, practical things you can use between sessions to ease the daily load and look after your energy.
Breathwork
Simple breathing practices that settle the nervous system when thinking alone will not reach it.
Mindful somatic work
Hakomi based approaches that follow what the body holds, useful when emotion sits below language.
Family therapy
Sessions that gently look at the patterns a family repeats together, rather than treating one person as the problem.
Couples therapy
Gottman informed work on communication, conflict, trust, and the friendship underneath the relationship.
Nature, breath and the nervous system
Finding your footing
when something strong
is running inside.
How do you learn to stay calm when you feel something strong rising?
Calm is a skill rather than a personality trait, and it is taught through the body before the mind. Slow breathing, grounding through the senses, and contact with the natural world all lower the physical arousal that fuels panic and anger. Practised in ordinary moments, those skills become available in hard ones.
Most of us arrive wanting the feeling to stop. What tends to help more is learning to stay upright while it moves through, since a wave that is ridden passes far sooner than one that is fought. Nature does a surprising amount of this work on its own, and Dhaka makes it harder than most places, which is exactly why it is worth planning. A lake in the early morning, a rooftop before the traffic builds, a park at the weekend, or twenty minutes of daylight without a phone in your hand.
Settling the body first
Simple breathing practices that lower arousal in minutes, so thinking becomes possible again.
Coming back to the room
Sensory techniques that interrupt a spiral before it gathers pace, usable anywhere and unnoticed by anyone.
Healing that draws on the outdoors
Daylight, green space and movement built into the week, because the nervous system responds to place as much as to insight.
Early morning, evening, or Friday.
Sessions built around a six day week, from Dhaka or anywhere else in the country.
Fitting sessions around work
Making an hour
actually possible.
The commonest reason people here never start is time. These are the arrangements that tend to solve it.
- Early morning sessions, before the commuteMost popular
- A weekday evening, once the household settlesWidely used
- Friday, when the week finally pausesLimited slots
- Fortnightly rather than weekly, when work is relentlessWorks well
- Somewhere private, with headphonesWhat it asks of you
- A session moved when you give noticeAlways possible
Sessions and fees
A clear fee,
and private throughout.
Sessions run by secure video, so all you need is a quiet room and a pair of headphones.
Single session
One to one counselling
On request
one to one session
one to one session
- Zoom or Google Meet, in English throughout
- Early morning, evening or Friday slots
- Nothing recorded and nothing shared
Ongoing work
Regular sessions
On request
each session
each session
- Weekly or fortnightly, by agreement
- The same counsellor throughout
- Reviewed together as the work goes on
Couples and family
Relationship sessions
On request
booked ahead
booked ahead
- Gottman informed couples work
- Family sessions for repeating patterns
- Partners are welcome to join from two places
Booking and payment policy
Payment
Payment comes through at least 48 hours ahead, and that is what holds your slot for you.
Currency
Fees are shared the moment you ask, and payment details follow once your slot is confirmed.
Cancellations
Life happens. Let me know as early as you can and I will move your session. A last minute cancellation without a genuine reason is not refunded, because the time stays reserved for you.
Late cancellations
If a session is cancelled at the last minute without a genuine reason, I am not able to refund it, since the hour stays reserved and cannot go to anyone else.
Rather ask something first?
Message on WhatsApp and keep it brief. Nothing is shared with anyone here.
Two minute check in
Wondering whether
therapy is for you?
Six short questions about the last two weeks. It takes about two minutes, which is roughly the length of a traffic light on Gulshan Avenue, and nothing you enter is stored.
This check in gives you language for what you are noticing. It does not diagnose anything, and only a proper assessment can do that.
Question 1 of 6
Over the last two weeks, how often has worry stayed with you through the day?
About
A little about
who you would meet.
Mehwish Salman
Psychotherapist and Counsellor
I qualified as a psychotherapist and counsellor and I hold UK CPCAB Level 4 in therapeutic counselling, registration number 433TM4D-128-303701. I work with adults, couples and families, and I shape each session around the person in front of me rather than a fixed script.
My continuing professional development covers stress management, breathwork, Hakomi based mindful somatic approaches, family therapy, and couples therapy using Gottman methods. That range lets me bring the right tool to the right moment rather than stretching one method over every situation.
Clients in Dhaka often ask whether someone outside the country can understand the pressure here. What I bring is a great deal of work with people carrying long weeks, full households and family expectations, and the willingness to hear how that actually looks for you rather than assume it.
UK CPCAB Level 4
Adults, couples, families
Integrative practice
Online worldwide
Questions
What clients in
Bangladesh ask first.
Will anyone find out that I am seeing a counsellor?
No. Sessions are strictly confidential and I have no connection to professional or social circles in Bangladesh. There is no office to be seen entering and no records shared with anyone.
Do you work in Bangla?
Not at present. Sessions run in English, and in Urdu for clients who share it. If you would feel more at home in Bangla, a local practitioner is the better fit, and I would rather say so kindly than take a booking that will not serve you.
Are sessions available outside Dhaka?
Yes, on identical terms. A private room and a phone or laptop is all it takes, and Chattogram or Sylhet costs no more than Gulshan.
What if my internet drops mid session?
We continue by voice, which works better than people expect. If an outage cuts a session short, message me on WhatsApp and we will sort the remaining time out between us.
Can you give me a diagnosis or medication?
Those need a locally registered doctor or psychiatrist. If our work suggests an assessment would help, I will mention it early so you can arrange both alongside each other.
What happens in the first session?
We spend the hour getting oriented. You describe what brings you here, I ask about your history and current situation, and together we name what you want to be different. You control how much you share on day one, and you decide afterwards whether to continue.
How many sessions will I need?
Some people find that six to eight sessions cover a specific issue. Others stay longer for deeper work. We review progress regularly and you decide when to stop.
How do payment and cancellation work?
Payment reaches me at least 48 hours before the session and confirms your slot. If you cancel at the last minute without a genuine reason the fee is not refunded, because the time stays reserved for you. Tell me as early as you can when something genuine comes up and I will move your session.
How do I find a counsellor in Bangladesh?
Trained counsellors are few relative to the population and concentrated in Dhaka, so most people never get near one. Ask any practitioner what qualification they actually hold. Mine is UK CPCAB Level 4 in therapeutic counselling, and sessions run online from anywhere in the country.
What does counselling cost here?
Get in touch and I will tell you my fee right away, before you commit to anything. Nothing is added on top: no assessment fee, no intake charge, and payment reaching me 48 hours ahead of the session is what holds the slot.
Is it normal to feel this tired all the time?
Common is not the same as normal, and a six day week with a long commute and no real leave will exhaust anyone eventually. What we look at is the pattern, what it is costing you, and which parts of it you can actually influence.
Will anyone at work find out?
No. There is no local clinic, no employer connection, no insurance claim and no records held in Bangladesh. Word travels quickly in professional Dhaka, which is exactly why several clients here choose someone entirely outside it.
Booking
Two easy ways
to get started.
Send the form below or message me on WhatsApp. Mention the times that work around your week and I will fit around them. Every message comes straight to me.
Book on WhatsAppNot sure yet? Ask anything you like first. There is no pressure to book, and questions are always welcome.
- thehealingtreepk@gmail.com
- WhatsApp, the quickest route
- Sessions by secure video, wherever in the world you are