“I felt like I landed on another planet,” Vidyasagar said. “It was so different from my reality. How people talked. How they dressed. Cultural references. What teachers expected. Style of testing. The food.”
 

With the support and encouragement of her teachers, Vidyasagar was able to adapt to her new environment. She went on to study the intersection between psychology and culture at McGill University in Montreal, earned a Master’s in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Oxford in England and another in Psychological Counseling from Columbia University in New York.
 

Now a licensed psychotherapist, Vidyasagar specializes in helping others negotiate their own unique identity, just as she has constructed and embraced her own “in-between” cultural identity. “I like to help people find themselves while navigating new experiences,” said Vidyasagar. “How to still feel strong about themselves. How to build confidence through transitions.”
 

In addition to her private practice, Vidyasagar, who has a dozen letters after her name (EdM MA MSc LMHC), spends one day a week on site at Google, meeting with employees as part of their benefits package.

“It de-stigmatizes mental health and I get to work with a very global staff, for whom my expertise is particularly relevant,” said Vidyasagar, who is currently developing a cross cultural training program that can be adapted to different forums. 

Aditi Vidyasagar is one of 12 alumni featured in the 40th anniversary magazine, published in May 2019. Learn more about the history of St. Andrew's and the impact our alumni are having around the world by reading our spring magazine.