Your questions about counselling, therapy and courses

Happy Lab is in Jayanagar 3rd Block, South Bangalore. Our address is Old No. 405, New 21/1, 1st Cross, New Diagonal Road, Jayanagar 3rd Block, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560011. Visit our contact page for directions, or call +91 73381 26552.

Happy Lab offers individual, couples, marriage and premarital counselling. You can seek support for relationship difficulties, recurring conflict, emotional distance, stress, overthinking, self-esteem, grief and other concerns affecting your everyday life.

Yes. Happy Lab offers online individual and couples counselling across India, alongside in-person sessions in Bangalore. Choose a private space and a reliable internet connection. If you and your partner will join from different locations, speak to our team about the arrangements before booking.

Use the Book a session button, choose individual or couples counselling and select an available appointment with a suitable counsellor. If you are unsure which service to choose, contact our team on +91 73381 26552 before booking.

Check the current fee and session length for your chosen counsellor and appointment type in the booking details, or contact our team before booking. Review the final payable amount, including any applicable taxes, before confirming your appointment.

Look at the counsellor’s qualifications, relevant training, areas of work and available languages. Ask how they would approach your concern. During the first session, notice whether you feel heard, can ask questions and understand the goals you are working towards.

Cancellation, rescheduling and refund terms are explained in Happy Lab’s booking policy. Read the current terms before paying. If you need to change an appointment, contact our team as soon as possible to understand the options available for your booking.

Consider counselling when worry, conflict, sadness or feeling overwhelmed keeps affecting your relationships or everyday life. You can also come to understand yourself, work on boundaries or navigate a difficult decision. You do not need a diagnosis or a crisis to seek support.

Your first session focuses on what brings you to counselling, what has felt difficult and what you would like help with. Your counsellor asks relevant questions, explains the approach and discusses confidentiality and possible next steps. You can decide together where to begin.

You can begin with something that has felt difficult recently, even if you cannot explain it clearly. Your counsellor can help you find a starting point. You do not need a prepared story or to share everything in the first session.

Counselling is generally private, but confidentiality has limits. Your counsellor explains how information is handled and circumstances when disclosure may be necessary, such as serious safety concerns or legal requirements. In couples counselling, ask how information shared individually by either partner will be handled before you begin.

There is no fixed number that suits everyone. Your concerns, goals and progress guide the plan. Your counsellor will discuss the frequency of sessions with you and review whether the work is helping. You can ask about the plan and expected costs at any stage.

Agree on goals with your counsellor and review changes that matter to you. These might include coping with a stressful situation differently, expressing a need more clearly or recovering sooner after conflict. If you feel stuck or unheard, bring that into the session so the approach can be reviewed.

Starting counselling does not automatically mean you need medication. Counsellors do not prescribe medicines; a psychiatrist or another appropriately qualified doctor assesses whether medication is suitable. Some people benefit from therapy alone, while others need a combination of treatments based on their needs.

Couples counselling gives you and your partner a guided space to explore relationship difficulties, understand recurring patterns and practise different ways of responding. The work may focus on communication, trust, closeness or shared decisions, depending on what brings you to counselling.

No. Couples counselling can support partners who are dating, in a committed relationship, married or preparing for marriage. Marriage counselling refers to work with married partners. Premarital counselling focuses on expectations and decisions before marriage.

Consider counselling when arguments keep repeating, you feel disconnected or important conversations about family, money, trust or intimacy feel stuck. You can also attend before problems become a crisis, or to discuss the expectations you each bring to marriage.

You discuss what brings you to counselling, relevant parts of your relationship history and what each of you wants help with. Your counsellor explores the concerns, considers whether joint work is appropriate and discusses the approach, confidentiality and next steps.

Yes. You can begin with individual counselling to explore your feelings, boundaries and relationship concerns. This can help you decide how you want to respond and what you need next. Individual work cannot replace your partner’s participation in joint couples counselling.

The counsellor aims to understand both perspectives and help you examine what happens between you. They may challenge either partner’s behaviour when it causes harm. Being fair does not mean treating every action as equally acceptable or asking you to tolerate intimidation or abuse.

A repeating argument can continue because the underlying need remains unresolved or the conversation follows a familiar pattern. For example, one partner pushes for an answer while the other withdraws. Counselling can help you explore what happens before, during and after the argument, and practise a different response.

Counselling can help you discuss what happened, how trust has been affected and what each of you needs next. The work may involve accountability, boundaries and decisions about the relationship. Rebuilding trust takes time, and counselling cannot guarantee reconciliation or require you to forgive.

Yes. You can explore how family expectations affect your relationship and what boundaries you need as a couple. Counselling can help you discuss responsibilities, privacy and how to respond when you disagree. The focus is on decisions and actions you can take together.

Yes. Counselling can help you explore when closeness changed, what each of you misses and how stress, resentment or everyday routines affect connection. You can work on expressing needs and creating opportunities for attention, affection and shared time.

Couples counselling can help you discuss emotional closeness, affection, differing levels of desire and difficulties talking about intimacy. Your counsellor will work within their training and may recommend a medical or specialist assessment when needed. Your comfort, consent and boundaries matter throughout the work.

Yes. Counselling can offer space to explore your concerns, needs and options, including whether you want to continue the relationship. The aim should not be to pressure you to stay or leave. Your counsellor will discuss an appropriate approach when your goals differ.

Joint couples counselling may be unsafe when there is violence, intimidation, coercive control or fear of retaliation. Seek confidential individual support and a safety assessment before arranging joint sessions. Abuse is not simply a communication problem, and responsibility for it lies with the person using abusive behaviour.

Premarital counselling helps you discuss expectations before marriage. Topics can include communication, money, family boundaries, intimacy, children, careers and responsibilities at home. You can explore differences and how you want to make decisions together; counselling cannot guarantee a conflict-free marriage.

Counselling can help you explore what triggers worry, how you respond to difficult thoughts and what keeps the cycle going. Depending on your needs, the work may include practical skills and approaches such as ACT or CBT. Persistent or severe symptoms may need a broader clinical assessment.

Counselling can help you examine work demands, boundaries, expectations and patterns that leave you drained. You can work towards practical changes in how you respond and organise your life. When workplace conditions are contributing to the problem, changes in those conditions may also be necessary.

Yes. Therapy can help you explore what makes saying no difficult, what you fear might happen and how your needs get pushed aside. You can practise expressing a limit and responding to guilt. The aim is to make room for your needs while choosing how you want to relate to others.

Counselling can offer support as you adjust to a loss, explore difficult feelings and rebuild everyday routines. Grief does not follow one timetable. Your counsellor can work with you at your pace and assess whether you need additional support when distress significantly affects your functioning.

Choose individual counselling when you want to explore your own feelings, boundaries or decisions, or when your partner is not attending. Couples counselling focuses on work you do together. If you are unsure, speak with the team about your concern before choosing a service.

ACT helps you respond more flexibly to difficult thoughts and feelings while taking steps towards what matters to you. It uses acceptance, mindfulness and values-based action. Acceptance means making room for an inner experience; it does not mean accepting harmful treatment from another person.

CBT explores how thoughts, emotions and behaviours affect one another. You and your therapist identify patterns that keep a difficulty going and practise changes through discussion, exercises and everyday actions. The approach is adapted to your concerns rather than simply asking you to think positively.

DBT combines acceptance and change and teaches skills in mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation and relationships. DBT-informed counselling uses selected ideas or skills. Comprehensive DBT is a structured treatment programme with additional components, so using a DBT skill in counselling is not the same as receiving the full programme.

The Gottman Method is a research-informed approach to couples therapy that explores friendship, conflict and shared meaning. It uses assessment and practical interventions to help partners understand their relationship and change unhelpful interactions. The plan depends on your concerns and your counsellor’s training.

Emotionally Focused Therapy explores emotional needs and patterns of interaction through an attachment-based approach. In couples work, it helps partners recognise cycles such as pursuing and withdrawing, understand the feelings underneath them and work towards greater emotional responsiveness and connection.

No. Art-based activities can offer another way to explore feelings and experiences when words are difficult. The focus is on your experience, not making impressive artwork. Ask about your practitioner’s training: using creative activities in counselling is different from specialist art therapy delivered by a qualified art therapist.

Happy Lab Therapy School is a practical learning programme for psychology students, counselling trainees and practising counsellors. It brings together ACT, DBT foundations and skills, art-based approaches, Gottman-informed relationship counselling and private practice skills. Check the programme page for the current curriculum and enrolment status.

In the Therapy School programme, the therapy learning areas and private practice module belong to one programme. The planned structure is six months of training followed by six months of supervision. Check the current programme details for what is included before enrolling.

The programme is designed for psychology students, counselling trainees and practising counsellors who want practical learning in therapy approaches. Eligibility depends on the published admission requirements. Speak to the course team about your education and experience if you are unsure whether the programme fits your background.

The curriculum explores therapy tools, experiential exercises, skills practice and reflection on how you would use an approach. The private practice module covers areas such as onboarding, boundaries, pricing and organising a practice. Supervision is intended to support reflection on application questions; check its format, frequency and scope before enrolling.

No. The module is part of Happy Lab’s programme and is informed by Gottman principles. It does not award official Gottman Institute Level 1, Level 2 or Certified Gottman Therapist credentials. Those qualifications follow the Gottman Institute’s own training and certification routes.

The programme is for skills development. It does not replace a recognised professional qualification, supervised clinical preparation or registration required for a particular role. A completion certificate does not by itself establish competence to practise independently. Your qualifications, experience and scope of practice determine the work you can undertake.

A couples workshop usually teaches shared relationship skills through guided activities in a group or educational setting. Couples counselling focuses on your particular relationship concerns with a counsellor. A workshop does not provide the same privacy or individual attention and may not be suitable for serious conflict or safety concerns.

Visit the programme page or speak to Happy Lab’s course team for the current fee, dates, delivery format and eligibility requirements. Before paying, check the final amount, what supervision includes, attendance requirements, certificate details and cancellation terms.