Adreeja Found the Courage to Put Herself First With Counseling

Working out on an island, surrounded by nature may seem like a dream job but the reality can be different. The isolation can bite one hard and having an unappreciated work culture on top of it can further make one doubt themselves. 

This is exactly what Adreeja Chatterjee was experiencing. A 28 year old Marine Biologist from Siliguri who’s full of life, loves animals and nature. 

“I grew up around a lot of nature and green. I like to hang out with my dog or go out for a drink with friends, and walk by the beach to unwind.” 

As a beautiful and free soul, Adreeja had never dreamed of finding herself in a situation where she’d start having troubles with her self-esteem and confidence. 

“It all started when I was in Germany.  I was stressed about my future.” 

On top of it, Adreeja felt as if she was unaware of the concept of self-love. She’d constantly doubt her decisions and feel anxious and this was because of her toxic workplace. As the only woman on her team, Adreeja could see her opinions being micromanaged, dismissed and not valued at work. 

This left affected her past’s underlying self-esteem issues. 

“I was confused if I should quit my job or not. I couldn’t trust my decisions. I felt like I was making a mistake. I tried to normalize this, which was not okay.”

But thanks to Adreeja’s strength and determination to keep going, she still didn’t give up. She continued to work in her rare field, out of remote places until one day when she reached her threshold. 

“I was working in the Maldives. We had minimal social contact and mostly tourists. I was all by myself. Since I was also the only woman on the field, my gender-biased team would insinuate that I’m not working or shouldn’t be on the field.”

While Adreeja was trying her best, working on several projects at one time, she could see that she wasn’t appreciated. This piled up so much that she felt very stressed and upset. After this, something happened which left her extremely disappointed and frustrated. 

“It was never disclosed to me by the management that I was receiving appreciation from guests who were visiting resorts. So when I found out, I was angry.”

The more stuck Adreeja felt after this, the more she worried about the consequences that would follow if she left her job. Being unemployed and judged for it pushed Adreeja towards a mental breakdown. 

“I had to choose between my happiness and my financial conditions. I decided to quit my job, move away and take the time to work on myself.”

This is when Adreeja heard of counseling platform YourDOST from her friend and connected with Liona to work on her self-esteem. 

“With my counselor, I started to realize I was putting a lot of pressure on myself after being constantly involved in work/degrees. So this was the first time I didn’t have work.”

As Adreeja started to unfold layers of her issues in front of Liona, she could realize how perfectly fit her counselor was. As someone who was from a technical background, it was Adreeja’s natural expectation to get that acknowledged and that she did. 

“My counselor was very professional. She explained everything and gave me the right tools. She constantly gave out a radiant feeling of stability and trust.”

The fact that Adreeja’s counselor was around her age, she felt like Liona understood her better and it was easier to connect with her. From here, it was only a path forward. 

Her counselor suggested Adreeja to journal her emotions/thoughts/actions so that she could reflect on them later and see what triggers her. They together brought into perspective what her root problems were and then got into details of her thought-pattern. 

“For my self-esteem issues, Liona gave me a bunch of questions where I had to think and answer. She also gave me an ‘about me’ worksheet to understand myself and instill positivity into my thoughts.”

As Adreeja continued to follow her counselor’s techniques, she started looking at her positive side. She could get out of the blame game she was in with herself and even overcame anxiety. 

Talking about her overall progress, Adreeja speaks about how helpful she found YourDOST as a platform. The fact that she could take the first step towards therapy and choose her counselor based on expertise, experience and more factors makes her proud of her decision. 

“I’m really happy that I chose YourDOST and got to connect with Liona. She understood exactly what I was going through and supported me with the right tools that I could use for the rest of my life.”

For those who have second thoughts about unleashing their best versions, Adreeja says, 

“Sometimes we just need a person to correctly analyze our thoughts and emotions so that we can tap into our best selves.”

Today, she is a 3.5 on a 1 to 5 scale of betterment and believes that she will soon reach a 5. Adreeja is indeed a true warrior!

Are you someone who has gone through a difficult phase and emerged stronger and better, with some professional help? Share your story with us to encourage thousands of others who might be struggling. Click here to submit your story.