Sophia Ali

Psychotherapist | Registered Somatic Movement Therapist | India’s First Certified Tamalpa Practitioner | Practicing since 2016

Based in New Delhi | Offering Online Services Worldwide

I’m trained in the Tamalpa Life/Art Process®, a movement-based expressive arts therapy developed by Anna and Daria Halprin at the Tamalpa Institute. I hold a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and am a Registered Somatic Movement Therapist (RSMT).

My approach is grounded in the client-centered principles of Carl Rogers and the expressive arts framework developed by Natalie Rogers. I integrate tools from the Tamalpa Life/Art Process®, including movement-based body part exploration, drawing, journaling, and embodied awareness practices that support emotional insight and mind-body integration.

I work with children, adolescents, adults, and older adults, supporting people through a range of experiences — including depression, anxiety, somatic pain, chronic illness, cancer recovery, liver transplant rehabilitation, trauma, and life transitions. I offer individual and group therapy (both in person and online), as well as workshops, courses, and supervision for therapists and professionals.

Currently, I work as a consultant at the International Pain Centre, New Delhi, where I bring somatic and expressive arts approaches into clinical care.

Previously, I worked at Max Hospital, New Delhi, for four and a half years in the Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Medicine Unit. There was no psychologist in the department when I joined. I initiated and shaped the role of a psychotherapist with an expressive arts background, beginning with pilot work, research, presentations, and discussions with the medical team to help them understand the value of somatic and creative approaches in clinical care. Over time, I formally opened the position for myself, integrating this work into the unit. My time at Max was foundational. I learned deeply from being with patients, listening, witnessing, responding to their needs, and allowing care to move in its own rhythm. It taught me how to hold space with presence and flexibility within a medical environment.

In addition to my clinical work, I have facilitated expressive arts sessions in school settings and with NGOs. These include projects with trauma survivors, widows, and marginalized communities, where I use movement and creative expression to support emotional awareness, resilience, and connection. These experiences have strengthened my belief in the accessibility of expressive work across cultures and the way creativity can speak when words may not be enough.

I feel deeply honored to witness the unfolding of each client’s process. It is powerful, humbling, and continues to show me how transformation happens through subtle, embodied awareness.

Movement-based expressive arts therapy is still a new approach in India. Bringing this work into different communities has been both inspiring and challenging. 

 For me, this work is a resource-gathering wheel,  a rhythm of returning to myself in order to move forward.

I also serve as an Associate Teacher at the Tamalpa Institute, where I supervise students completing their fieldwork in India. Teaching and mentoring in this way has become an important part of my ongoing learning.

Expressive Self-Care is an independent platform offering online sessions, creative resources, and professional support focused on body-mind awareness and the integration of expressive practices into daily life. It was created with the intention to bridge life and art through awareness and insight, offering space for reflection, clarity, and connection.