JiVA Mental Health was founded by Ektha Aggarwal, LCSW, after more than 15 years of sitting across from South Asian individuals and families who were in real pain but had nowhere that felt safe enough to put it down. The mainstream mental health system had care to offer. But it consistently asked people to leave their culture at the door. Clients were told their family dynamics were enmeshed, their spirituality was avoidance, and their silence was just a symptom to fix.

Ektha built JiVA to change that.

The name comes from the Sanskrit word jīva, meaning to live, to breathe, or the soul within. That is exactly what this organization holds: the belief that healing has to account for all of who you are, not just the parts that are easiest to treat.

Since 2023, JiVA has reached more than 1,000 individuals across California through culturally responsive therapy, community programming, and mental health education offered in Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Gujarati, Tamil, and Bangla.

Here is what that looks like in practice:

We have delivered 400 or more therapy sessions on a sliding scale starting at $0 to $40. Many of our clients pay nothing because cost should never be the reason someone does not get help.
We launched Boldly Brown, the first South Asian men's mental health group in California.
We trained 5 South Asian clinicians and fathers in perinatal mental health through our PSI scholarship partnership, growing from 1 certified South Asian clinician in the state to 5.
All 7 of our community events since founding have sold out.
We run a postpartum support program for South Asian mothers who are suffering in silence.
We run Desi Affinity Space at Crossroads School, a mental health program for South Asian high school students in Los Angeles.
We launched Ramadan Together, the first clinically facilitated South Asian Muslim mental health group we are aware of.

And we are growing.

Every dollar that comes to JiVA funds subsidized therapy for people who cannot afford the going rate, training for the next generation of South Asian clinicians, and community spaces where South Asians can stop performing and start healing.

Because healing is not just personal. It is cultural. It is communal. It is sacred.

JiVA Mental Health 2026 Annual Fund