School Initiative for Mental Health Advocacy - SIMHA

02/11/2025

🏆 We are delighted to share that SIMHA has been announced as the winner of the Team Award: Innovation in Research, Training or Practice in Lower-Middle Income Countries by The Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH) — a leading global association advancing work in child and adolescent mental health through research, publications, and collaborations.

This recognition is a testament to the impact of our collective efforts and the unwavering support we have received from all our funders, partners, stakeholders as well as our dedicated team members. Your partnership has enabled us to undertake pioneering work in child and adolescent mental health, and we are deeply grateful for your continued trust and collaboration.

Congratulations to everyone! ✨

09/10/2025

🌱 The IMHA National Convening 2025 brought together mental health practitioners, researchers, organisations, and lived experience experts from across India to reimagine mental health systems through collaboration. Across thought bites, panels, and co-created sessions, the convening explored adolescent well-being, lived experience leadership, systemic funding, and inclusive care.

SIMHA was honoured to be part of the co-created session on Adolescent Mental Health, alongside SNEHA, Ekjut, Salaam Baalak Trust, and Youth Ki Awaaz.

Our conversation centred on using a whole-school approach to promote the mental health and well-being of young people—where schools become ecosystems of care, and support is woven through classrooms, families, and communities.

A key strength of this session was the inclusion of young people from each organisation, who brought powerful perspectives on the diverse realities and needs of youth across India.

We also spotlighted the need to advocate for systemic and holistic programmes, and for dedicated funding to strengthen organisations and individuals working with and for young people.

💬 This session was a reminder that sustainable care for adolescents requires connected systems—and that collective advocacy can drive meaningful change.

Grateful to IMHA for creating such an inspiring and collaborative space for cross-sectoral dialogue.

28/09/2025

🌍 SIMHA was honoured to be part of the Regional Forum on Transforming Teachers and Teaching for Adolescent Health, Well-Being and Gender Equality, co-convened by ARROW, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNFPA, and Education International Asia-Pacific, in collaboration with the Global Education Cooperation Mechanism’s SDG4 Youth & Student Network and the Y-PEER Asia-Pacific Center, held in Bangkok (23–25 September 2025).

SIMHA was invited to participate in the forum’s poster presentation at the World Café on Teacher Training Education Innovations. We shared SIMHA’s journey of building schools in India into ecosystems of care—where teachers are trained as confident first responders, leaders prioritise well-being, and peer champions support students. The importance of using the whole school approach was highlighted as part of our innovative strategy to create meaningful and sustainable spaces of youth well-being.

This Forum was a tremendous opportunity not only to showcase SIMHA’s work, but also to learn from peers across Asia-Pacific who are innovating in teacher education and mental health.

Across three days, the Forum created an inspiring space for exchange through:
✨ Skills-building workshops on digital competencies, SEL, inclusive classrooms & values-based training
✨ World Cafés on whole-school approaches, digital innovations, research & measurement
✨ Panels on curriculum, teacher professionalisation, & elevating teachers as leaders
✨ Networking & peer learning that sparked new collaborations

💡 Our biggest takeaway: teachers cannot be change agents unless the systems in which they work are transformed into healthy, supportive spaces. As one panellist reminded us: teacher well-being IS student well-being.

We are deeply grateful to the organisers, convenors & participants for creating such a rich and collaborative platform. We look forward to meaningful collaborations and long-term partnerships as we carry forward this shared vision: reimagining schools as sustainable sites for mental health care and inclusive education.

08/09/2025

We’re incredibly honoured to share that SIMHA has been shortlisted for the team-based award category “Innovative Research, Training or Practice in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs)” by the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH). Being recognised alongside such outstanding work is a testament to the dedication and innovation that drive our project. The virtual awards ceremony will take place in October 2025.

A heartfelt thank you to our amazing team, whose passion and perseverance keep SIMHA moving forward. To our partners—your collaboration has strengthened both our vision and impact. And to our funders—your unwavering support makes this journey possible. This shortlisting belongs as much to you as it does to us. We look forward to continuing our shared commitment to advancing child and adolescent mental health.

To learn more about the award and ACAMH, head to this link (also pinned in our bio) - https://www.acamh.org/blog/acamh-awards-2025-shortlist/

22/05/2025

📢 Applications are now open for the 2025 PG Diploma in Psychotherapy & Counselling with Children & Adolescents!

Now in blended mode for the first time — join us online and on-campus at TISS Mumbai for a year of immersive, hands-on learning, expert-led courses, and personal supervision. Scan the QR code to apply.

🎓 Learn. Connect. Grow.

16/04/2025

We are proud to share that the School Initiative for Mental Health Advocacy (SIMHA) has been featured by HundrED as a leading education innovation with the potential to create meaningful, scalable impact.

SIMHA is a capacity-building initiative that works to strengthen school-based mental health systems. Through training, supervision, and collaborative engagement, we support educators, mental health professionals, and students in building inclusive environments prioritising well-being and mental health.

This recognition comes through the support of the HundrED Foundation, based in Geneva, Switzerland. HundrED is a global non-profit organisation dedicated to identifying, amplifying, and supporting impactful education innovations around the world. Their mission is to help improve education by connecting educators, funders, and changemakers with effective and scalable solutions.

We are deeply grateful to the HundrED Foundation for this recognition, and to our funders, partners, team members and all our stakeholders whose vision and support make this work possible. Your continued investment enables us to reach more communities, build local capacity, and work toward systemic change in how schools support young people’s mental health.

This recognition is both an affirmation and a call to deepen our shared commitment to ensuring that every child has access to supportive, mentally healthy learning environments.

17/10/2024

The School Initiative for Mental Health Advocacy (SIMHA), a field action project of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, in collaboration with the Ananya Birla Foundation, hosted a convening on “Promoting Mental Health and Career Support for Young People in Schools” on 3rd October 2024 at the TISS, Mumbai. This event brought together key stakeholders including government officials, philanthropic leaders, non-profit leaders and mental health experts, to explore scalable solutions for student mental health and career development in schools.

The event began with a welcome address from Professor Shankar Das, Pro-Vice Chancellor, TISS; and key note address by Prof. (Dr.) Rajinder K. Dhamija, Director, IHBAS; and Mr Aman Bhaiya, Vice President (Strategy), SBI Foundation who set the context for a meaningful dialogue on mental health and career support interventions for students in schools.
The event also featured inspiring speeches by two students, Ms. Durga Tote and Ms. Pallavi Agaldare, who shared their personal journeys from studying in ashram schools in Maharashtra to pursuing higher education. They offered a valuable perspective on students’ mental health and career support needs.

A panel discussion led by Ms Ananya Birla, featuring Ms Farida Lambay (Co-founder, Pratham), Mr Ghanshyam Thori (Mission Director, National Health Mission, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of Punjab), and Ms Astha Atray (Editor, Sunday Mid-day), focused on building cross-sectoral partnerships to enhance mental health support for students.

The convening also invited leaders from organisations to showcase their impactful work in career support for young people. A dynamic roundtable, featuring participants from non-profit and state initiatives, delved into the crucial role of emotional resilience in career development. The discussion generated actionable recommendations for creating a holistic, student-centred approach to building resilience and advancing career development in school systems.

[school mental health, student well-being, career, mental health]

27/09/2024

SIMHA, in collaboration with the Ananya Birla Foundation, invites you to a special convening on "Promoting Mental Health and Career Support for Young People in Schools". This gathering will bring together a diverse coalition of key stakeholders to address the critical need for scalable mental health policies in educational institutions, by inviting government officials, philanthropic leaders, policymakers and mental health experts.

This is an open event for students and professionals in the field of mental health and youth well-being. If you are a school counsellor, mental health professional, or work with school systems and youth in any capacity – we invite you to join us!

Registration link is here - https://forms.gle/ALhQKDm4m3yTRDSF8.

Please note that the number of seats is limited!

15/07/2024

The School Initiative for Mental Health Advocacy (SIMHA), supported by the , is excited to announce that SIMHA-SBIF Saarthi Helpline is now live, to support our partners in enhancing student mental health. This helpline offers resource sharing and assistance for school counsellors, teachers, and administrators who have participated in our training programmes. It’s a confidential platform to ask questions, seek support, and access mental health resources.

Phone: +91-8069265385
Hours: Mon-Fri, 10 am to 6 pm

17/05/2024

*Call for Mental Health Professionals/Researchers!*

The School Initiative for Mental Health Advocacy (SIMHA) is a mental health advocacy, research and capacity-building initiative of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai - supported by the . SIMHA works towards creating mental health-friendly educational institutions and schools across India.

We, at SIMHA, are looking for researchers with a Masters degree in Psychology to come on-board and implement a School Mental Health Review Tool, located in schools across various cities in India (except Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, Bangalore and Hyderabad) across the months of June - August 2024. This would require a commitment of 30 hours spread across 7 Days, wherein your role would primarily involve being trained in implementing the tool, collecting data from school stakeholders and collaborating with the SIMHA team to score and assess the school’s mental health friendliness.

The reviewers would be compensated with a dedicated honorarium for this role.

If you are interested in working in the field of school mental health, please fill the form in our bio. Someone from our team at SIMHA will get in touch with you if your profile matches our requirements!

For any questions, please write to us at simha.tiss.2022@gmail.com.

Please share this amongst your peers/professional circles for better outreach. Thank you!

17/05/2024

*Call for Mental Health Professionals/Researchers!*

The School Initiative for Mental Health Advocacy (SIMHA) is a mental health advocacy, research and capacity-building initiative of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, working towards creating mental health-friendly educational institutions and schools across India.

We, at SIMHA, are looking for researchers with a Masters degree in Psychology to come on-board and implement a School Mental Health Review Tool, located in schools across various cities in India (except Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, Bangalore and Hyderabad) across the months of June - August 2024. This would require a commitment of 31 hours spread across 7 Days, wherein your role would primarily involve being trained in implementing the tool, collecting data from school stakeholders and collaborating with the SIMHA team to score and assess the school's mental health friendliness.

The reviewers would be compensated with a dedicated honorarium for this role.

If you are interested in working in the field of school mental health, please fill this form: https://forms.gle/wVKSLYLrcq3hX9ew9

For any questions, please write to us at simha.tiss.2022@gmail.com. Our team at SIMHA will get in touch with you to take the conversation ahead.

Please share this amongst your peers/professional circles for better outreach. Thank you!

Access Google Forms with a personal Google account or Google Workspace account (for business use).

14/05/2024

*Call for Schools!*

The School Initiative for Mental Health Advocacy (SIMHA) is a mental health advocacy, research and capacity-building initiative of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, working towards creating mental health-friendly educational institutions and schools across India. As a part of our work, we are looking to administer the School Mental Health Review Tool (SMHRT) - designed by SIMHA - in schools across the country.

The SMHRT is a first-of-its-kind endeavour in India. This tool helps schools identify strengths and gaps in the existing mental health ecosystem and provides actionable recommendations to bridge these gaps. If you or your school would be interested in enhancing its mental health landscape, kindly fill the form below and someone from our team will get in touch with you:
https://forms.gle/3v2EFtzfSqwvS7J1A

Please share this with peers who might be interested. Thank you!