About Me

I’ve always found people boundlessly compelling. Even as a child I was more interested in asking people about their ideas and emotions than talking about my own. I never enjoyed being in room full of people, entertaining or being the life of the party. I’ve always been more focused on building and maintaining one-on-one relationships. My openness and curiosity about human behavior naturally led me to pursue a career in counseling. I truly enjoy helping my individual and couples clients increase and foster their emotional awareness.

I specialize in treating individuals with anxiety, depression and those who are struggling through a major life transition, and couples who have fallen out of synch, have trouble getting pregnant or are mourning the loss of a miscarriage. For all my clients, I encourage openness and exploration of difficult emotional needs, and I love it when I get to see the epiphany of a corrective emotional experience in the therapy room.

Not many therapists support families who are struggling with infertility or mourning the loss of a miscarriage. As I’ve gotten older, I found that these issues affect everyone, yet they are rarely spoken about, and there aren’t many resources for women who are trying to process fertility issues. It’s my intention, in my practice and in the world, to help make fertility and miscarriage issues an open topic of discussion and exploration. Providing recourses and empowering women to talk through these feelings is very important to me.

When I’m not in the office, I love to cook, plan parties for friends and spend time with my family. Maintaining a healthy work-home life balance is vital to me. I want to model to my daughter that I’m able to be successful in my career and be a present, nurturing mother at home. Growing up, I had the privilege of experiencing a strong parental model. My dad is a pediatrician, and his interest in helping children translated onto my brother and me. He was really easy to talk to, which allowed me to be open and authentic at home, and our relationship served as a model that taught me to be empathetic and honest toward others. My mom is an incredibly strong and independent woman. She worked full time while remaining present and encouraging at home. Her strength and softness fashioned my understanding of the union of love and hard work. Being a relational therapist, I know that our parents are the first example of what a relationship looks like. I was blessed to have solid parents, and I’m passionate and committed to helping couples permeate their happiness and kindness to model what an empowered and empathetic relationship looks like to others.

My practice is called True Therapy, a name meant to communicate my personal life philosophy. I bring my true self into the therapy room. I know that a lot of therapists impose manual, standardized therapy, but I’m not one of them. I offer a safe, empathetic space to explore our genuine emotional selves. I believe in honesty and being genuine in creating a personal connection.

I’ve been able to form and maintain genuine connections with people from all different walks of life. I’ve worked in Texas, Chicago and Boston in variety of different environments, including college counseling centers, community mental health, geriatric therapy, and now in my private practice. I try to help the population by learning about a wide spectrum of human experience.

I hold a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Illinois School of Professional Psychology in Chicago, a Masters of Science in Counseling Psychology from Northeastern University in Boston and a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Austin College. She is an active member of the American Psychological Association, the Texas Psychological Association and the Houston Psychological Association. Her private practice, True Therapy, is located at 4203 Montrose Blvd, Suite 310 Houston, TX 77006.  

Please email me at drruchikukreja@gmail.com to learn more about True Therapy, to schedule an appointment.