My name is Rupi Legha (pronouns she/her/hers), and I am a cishet daughter of Punjabi-Sikh immigrants, born and raised in the United States. My proudest title is aunty to my beloved nibling. I am also a dog-mom to my delightful miniature dachshund Saint, the daughter of Kuldip (who passed on her fierceness to me), and a good friend to many. I bring joy and compassion to my care because I cultivate these values and ideals in my personal life. For the first part of my career I trained at top institutions like UCLA and Harvard Medical School. I also focused on health equity and global mental health while working at the Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health and Partners in Health in Haiti and Peru. While training at top academic medical centers offered invaluable opportunities, it did little to prepare me for understanding the oppression LGBTQ+ people face. Since leaving these institutions and operating as an independent scholar-activist, I’ve come to realize that the most important “expertise” that I need comes from holding space for people who experience this kind of oppression. People’s lived experience IS the expertise in the room. I feel lucky to support people’s healing while nurturing their autonomy and freedom to be the most important experts in their own lives.

My recent professional focus has centered on antiracism in mental health care for children and adults (I am double board-certified in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Adult Psychiatry). I codify antiracist practices in my clinical care and through my extensive writing and teaching projects. These approaches are liberating and compassionate towards everyone I am fortunate to provide care for. My approach is intersectional in nature, and I always explore the various systems of oppression (related to whiteness, racism, cissexism, heterosexism, and ableism, and others) shaping a person’s experience. I also recognize how gender, much like race, is a social construct borne from white supremacy and used to categorize, commodify, and reduce people’s humanity to categories. I constantly interrogate my own positionality to ensure I am not introducing any coercive or controlling practices into my clinical care. I also interrogate existing “standard of care” approaches that can be exclusionary, judgmental, and carceral. People who come to see me will often tell me that my psychiatric care stands our from previous experiences because people feel seen, heard, cared for, and like their healing is being prioritized. I truly love what I do and feel lucky to connect to the people who come see me. I often feel like I found my way to them as much as they found their way to me. I welcome the opportunity to partner with children, adults, and families seeking support for their (emotional) wellbeing. I am licensed and able to see people in California, New York, and New Jersey.