The peers and practitioners behind Peer Positive

Gaganjeet Singh, M.A studied Applied Psychology and is always fascinated by the intricacies of human behaviour. He started his career by working with Corporate Training organizations, gained experience and exposure in the field of learning and development.

From 2013, he felt an inner calling to work in the development sector. Since then he has moved along a colorful trajectory, enriched by diverse roles and achievements, with a growing appreciation about complex issues the social sector strives to solve.

He has seen mental suffering closely, and on every occasion chosen a non-medical approach towards healing and regaining his sense of self.

Porkodi Palaniappan, M.A., M.Phil. is a community mental health practitioner, art therapist, and founder of the non-profit, Better Chances. For over two decades, she has been at the forefront of community-based mental health initiatives, creating pathways for recovery, inclusion, and social participation for persons living with mental illness.

Her work integrates psychosocial rehabilitation, livelihood development, advocacy, and community engagement, with a strong emphasis on dignity, rights, and hope.

Drawing from extensive grassroots experience and a deep respect for lived experience perspectives, she writes on mental health, recovery, and social inclusion, amplifying voices that are often underrepresented in mainstream discourse and practice.

Prateeksha Sharma, M.A, Ph.D. is a researcher who works as a peer-therapist and musicologist. She is at the Bright Side Family Counseling Center, New Delhi and a distinguished research fellow at the Center for Disability Studies, NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad.

Among other areas her research lies in unraveling personal recovery in the midst of myriad barriers that jeopardize people's prospects of waging political struggles and remain confined to personal battles mostly.

She is working on a synthesis of her lived experience to center the perspectives of people who suffer injustice, violence and marginalization, into an emancipatory praxis, grounded in theory, ethics and practical methodology.