Issue#4 of Nepali Psychology Newsletter

[Nepalese Psychology Network]

Dear All,

We are pleased to share the new issue of our newsletter: https://open.substack.com/pub/nepsychnet/p/between-worlds-playing-learning-belonging

In this issue, we take you on the travels between worlds, between the make-believe world of a child at play and the therapy room, between Kathmandu and learning spaces abroad, between the joy pregnancy is supposed to bring and the silence that often surrounds it.

Shristi Shrestha opens the issue with a reflection on the power of play, tracing how something as ordinary as childhood games carries profound therapeutic potential — and why we should worry as free play gives way to screens. Suyosha Dhungel writes movingly about life as a Nepali student in the U.S., where independence and homesickness share the same plate of rice without daal. Sujen Man Maharjan shares his own recent journey to two summer institutes in the United States, and why he believes young Nepali researchers belong in those rooms far more than they realize.

Dr. Lalita Sah brings us back home with findings from her recent study on pregnancy and mental well-being in Nepal, showing how perinatal mental health is shaped as much by social expectation, silence, and son preference as by anything clinical.

We also congratulate Ms. Sirjana Gautam, recipient of this year’s Motilal Singh Master’s Dissertation Scholarship, and continue our Spotlight series with Dr. Karuna Onta, whose candid reflections on psychology, counselling, and development work in Nepal span four decades and multiple countries.

Thank you for reading and traveling with us!

Best regards,

NEPsychNet team