I’m Sahebjit “TJ” Singh, LMFT

Founder of Support Spirit Counseling & Therapy Practice.

An Indian immigrant that came to the USA as a young child. If you met me, you would not even think that.

I was taken from one world at a young age and placed in another. One where no one looked like me, the food was different, and only my parents could pronounce my name.

I can relate to the feeling of being an alien in another world. Culture shock hits no matter the age. I came to this country with only my mother, as my father was already in the USA. I remember how she pulled out rotis on the plane when we first came to the United States because the food tasted so strange and different. It was our first time on an airplane, our first time traveling, our first time eating airplane food.

As I got older, I never lost that feeling of being an alien. In elementary school, I was the only Punjabi kid I knew. When my family moved to the Sacramento area, I started to meet others like me. However, I was already becoming westernized, my cultural identity starting to fade into the background.

I had created two identities without even knowing it. I was “TJ” at school and with friends, and “Sahebjit” at home. I was also two different personalities. At home, I was quiet, kept to myself, and distanced. At school and work, I was loud, a social butterfly, and talkative.

I understand the pain that comes with trying to live in two different worlds. One telling me to remember where I come from, the other demanding I forget just to belong. Each one overwhelming and suffocating.

I lived within my own negative patterns, trying to please these two worlds. My own identity fractured into two parts. I went through mental health issues, identity crises, existential dread, and a hole in my soul that just wanted to belong.

This is why I chose to become a therapist. A career choice that broke the pattern of fulfilling cultural/familial expectations.

Becoming a therapist was my calling in life, a purpose I created for myself. I have healed and created unity between two different pieces of my identity. I want no one else to suffer through this life like I have, or let the wounds left from childhood fester and infect all aspects of their lives.

I want to support others in breaking from negative patterns that were birthed from trauma and negative experiences. I am here to tell you:

It is possible to break negative patterns.

It is possible to build a life you want for yourself.

It is possible to heal those deep wounds that you carry within your soul.

I did not believe I could, and here I am. I have broken patterns, negative beliefs, and built an identity I am proud of.

This is why I am a therapist. Because I want no one to suffer in this world like I have. I want everyone to succeed and build an identity and life they enjoy waking up to every morning.