Established in 2016, the Ashoka Centre for Well-Being (ACWB) is the university’s dedicated mental health and psychological support centre for students, staff, and faculty. ACWB exists to strengthen the emotional, psychological, and social foundations that enable individuals and communities to thrive. We provide confidential counselling and psychological support while also working to build a campus culture where well-being is integrated into everyday university life. Recognising that mental health is shaped not only by individual experiences but also by the systems, relationships, environments, and communities people inhabit, ACWB adopts a holistic approach that combines support, prevention, education, research, and capacity building.
Led by Director Nivedita Singh and supported by a team of professionally qualified counsellors, ACWB strives to create a psychologically informed ecosystem where help-seeking is normalised, resilience is strengthened, and every member of the Ashoka community feels supported in navigating the opportunities and challenges of university life.
All counselling services are confidential, inclusive, queer-affirmative, and grounded in empathy, respect, and professional ethics.
Our Vision
To cultivate a psychologically informed university ecosystem where well-being is embedded into the fabric of learning, leadership, relationships, and community life, enabling individuals and institutions to flourish.
Our Mission
ACWB seeks to move beyond a service-delivery model and serve as a catalyst for a healthier university ecosystem by:
Well-Being Lab
The Well-Being Lab is ACWB’s innovation, outreach, and capacity-building arm. Through research, workshops, peer initiatives, campaigns, group programmes, and strategic partnerships, the Lab explores emerging well-being challenges and develops scalable solutions that strengthen the mental health of the university community. The Lab reflects ACWB’s commitment to not only supporting individuals in distress but also architecting conditions that enable people and communities to thrive.
Ashoka's residential setting offers a unique opportunity for students to intimately be part of a strong, opinionated and active community. In this context, students may become vulnerable to stress and anxiety that comes with achieving perfect grades and coping with the social demands of campus life.
The physical and emotional separation from hometowns and families adds to the aforementioned adjustment issues. Consequently, students have been found to experience symptoms of anxiety and depression. The Centre is focused on early intervention and capacity building.
“Members of a community are best suited to support each other. Our team of counselors, professionals and volunteers offer a range of services to help Ashoka community in building emotional resources and developing better coping strategies“- Arvinder J. Singh.