Redefining Therapy Through Culture, Courage, and Connection – Interview With Param Singh Sahni

Param Singh Sahni is a BACP-registered Humanistic Therapist and Trustee at the Metanoia Institute. He is the founder of The Work, a platform dedicated to supporting the mental health of men of colour through vulnerability, connection, and culturally sensitive care. With nearly a decade of experience, he has supported people through life’s challenges related to addiction, behavioural patterns, and relational difficulties. He also works privately with individuals navigating grief, identity, emotional regulation, and life transitions. His approach is rooted in compassion, justice, and creating spaces where people feel seen, heard, and supported.

Param Singh Sahni, Humanistic Therapist & Coach

Tell me about yourself.

Param Singh Sahni is a Humanistic Psychotherapy Practitioner and Psychotherapeutic Counsellor in private practice, a speaker, and co-founder of The Work, a mental health initiative focused on emotional regulation and healing for men of colour.

Born in West London and raised in Los Angeles, California, Param grew up straddling traditional Sikh values, meditation, kirtan, martial arts (gatka), and the raw realities of gang culture, racism, and schoolyard violence. As a visibly different child, wearing a topknot (“gutti”) and patka, he was bullied relentlessly. Children would mock his accent, shake his gutti like a joystick, and say things like, “Why do you sound British, wear something on your head, but look Mexican?” The pain of that racialisation, confusion, and rejection left deep scars, but it also gave birth to something transformative.

Hip hop and freestyle rap became his first outlet. In cipher circles and notebooks, he found a language to express trauma before he had the vocabulary of therapy. That early need to turn pain into presence laid the foundation for his life's work.

From frontline addiction services in Southall, supporting men who had migrated to the UK only to find homelessness and despair, to treating high-net-worth individuals at The Kusnacht Practice in Geneva, Param has worked across the spectrum of suffering. He earned his postgraduate psychotherapy qualification from the Metanoia Institute, where he now serves on the Board of Trustees, influencing how therapy is taught for the future.

An active member of BAATN, a BACP-registered therapist, and a community-rooted practitioner offering low-cost services through Ealing Abbey Counselling, ADfam, and Kingston Bereavement Service, Param also recently completed research on the specific therapeutic needs of Sikh Punjabi men, particularly in relation to collective trauma, racial identity, and cultural silence.

He offers therapy globally, online and in person, working from Harley Street (Cavendish Square), Holland Park, Chiswick, and Harrow-on-the-Hill in Greater London. His work is grounded in spirituality, social awareness, and the radical belief that feeling is a form of freedom.

You grew up between cultures. What impact did that have on how you see people, emotions, and healing?

Growing up in LA to immigrant parents from the Sikh Punjabi community, I was constantly switching codes, between British reserve, American expression, and Indian traditionalism. That in-between space taught me how much we all long to belong. It also made me deeply attuned to how disconnected people can feel from themselves. That’s why I hold space the way I do now: without judgment, with cultural fluency, and deep respect for people’s complexity.

You’ve said that hip hop saved your life. What did it give you that nothing else could at the time?

It gave me language, raw, unfiltered, emotional truth. I didn’t hear men talking like that anywhere else. It taught me that pain could have rhythm, that anger could be poetic, that struggle could be voiced and still have dignity. Hip hop showed me that survival wasn’t shameful; it was powerful.

You’ve worked in some of the toughest frontline environments in the UK and at one of the world’s most luxurious rehabs. What did those extremes teach you?

That suffering doesn’t discriminate. Whether someone’s sleeping rough in Southall or checking into a £100k-a-week clinic in Geneva, the core wound is often the same: disconnection, shame, grief. What changes is how people mask it. But the work is always about coming back to what’s human.

Tell us about your research into Sikh Punjabi men in psychotherapy, what did you discover about their needs and barriers?

Many Sikh Punjabi men carry inherited trauma, silenced grief from partition, migration, and political violence like the 1984 Golden Temple assault. There’s a cultural code of stoicism, of “just get on with it,” that’s both protective and imprisoning. My research uncovered a deep hunger for safe spaces where vulnerability is not seen as weakness, but as courage.

You’re now on the Board of Trustees at Metanoia. What do you hope to change in how therapy is taught and practiced?

I want to bring lived experience to the heart of training. Theory is vital, but so are relational intelligence, cultural humility, and the willingness to sit with discomfort. I hope to influence how we teach therapists to work with climate anxiety, structural racism, ableism, and marginalised voices, not as “specialisms,” but as part of our ethical duty.

What does emotional regulation mean to you, and why is it essential for men?

It’s not about “controlling” your feelings. It’s about learning to stay in relationship with them without becoming overwhelmed or acting them out destructively. Most men were never taught this. We were taught to suppress, distract, or explode. Emotional regulation is about reclaiming your power, not through dominance, but through awareness and choice.

For someone reading this who is struggling but doesn’t know where to begin, what would you say?

You don’t have to be fixed. You just have to be felt. Reach out. Speak to someone. Start where you are. That first conversation could be the beginning of coming home to yourself.

Call to action

If this resonated with you, connect with Param or explore his work through:

• In-person locations: Harley Street (Cavendish Square), Holland Park, Chiswick, Harrow-on-the-Hill

• Param works globally, online, and in person

• linktr.ee/paramsinghsahni

• Instagram: @thesikhtherapist

Whether you're navigating grief, trauma, cultural identity, or simply seeking emotional clarity, there’s space for you here.

Visit my website for more info!

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