Dr. Prama Bhattacharya Assistant Professor
School of Humanities, Social Sciences & Management

Research Interests

  • Critical Mental Health
  • Disaster Mental Health
  • Community Mental Health
  • Psycho-social wellbeing of Marginalized Populations
  • Critical Health Psychology
  • Qualitative Research Methodology

Contact Details

  • Room 09, Ground floor, SMMME Building
  • prama@iitbbs.ac.in

Other Profile Link(s)

Education

 Degree Discipline Year School
  PhD Psychology 2020 Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
  M.Phil Clinical Psychology 2014 Institute of Psychiatry, WBUHS
  M.Sc Psychology 2012 University of Calcutta
  B.Sc Psychology (Honours) 2010 University of Calcutta
 

Biosketch

Prama is an assistant professor at the School of HSS&M. Before joining IIT BBS, she taught for three semesters at the School of Psychology and Counselling, OP Jindal Global University, Sonipat.
Prama did her PhD from IIT Kanpur. Her PhD thesis is on the experiences of social sufferings, personal recovery and empowerment among homeless persons with severe mental illnesses. A passionate qualitative researcher, her interests evolve around any human experience. 
Prama is also a Consultant Psychotherapist registered with the Rehabilitation Council of India. She is a volunteer to the Kolkata- based NGO Iswar Sankalpa who works with homeless individuals with psychosocial difficulties. She has been actively working on social stigma and its consequences and the plight of the Indian homeless and migrant populations during the pandemic. 
Outside her classrooms, Prama enjoys folk-art painting, cycling, swimming and gardening. One might often spot this "lost-soul" roaming around the campus, either oblivious or mindful of what's happening around her, and that's also her general approach towards life. 

Teaching

  • Child Development and Educational Psychology (HS2L011)
  • Applied Organizational Psychology (HS3L001)
  • Psychology of Wellbeing (HS4L017)
  • Introduction to Qualitative Research Methodology (HS6L005)
  • Critical Perspectives in Mental Health (HS7L018)
  • Statistical Methods in Psychological Research
  • Environmental Psychology
  • Forensic and Criminal Psychology
 

Projects

  1. Understanding the Lived Experiences of Ageing in Vulnerable Populations: A Qualitative Inquiry of the Case of Elderly Transgender Population in Kolkata, India (Ongoing)

Recent Publications (International Journals)

1Bhattacharya, P. (2024). Homelessness and Mental Illness: Exploring the Lived Experience in India. Taylor & Francis.
2Banerjee, D., & Bhattacharya, P. (2022). Revisiting the ‘gap’: Intersections of health inequality, poverty and psychological wellbeing. Oxford Textbook of Social Psychiatry, 181. (Book Chapter)
3Bhattacharya, P., Khemka, G. C., Roy, L., & Roy, S. D. (2021). Social Injustice in the Neoliberal Pandemic Era for Homeless Persons with Mental Illness: A Qualitative Inquiry from India. Front. Psychiatry, 12, 635715
4Bhattacharya, P., & Priya, K. R. (2021). Stakeholders facilitating hope and empowerment amidst social suffering: A qualitative documentary analysis exploring lives of homeless women with mental illness. International Journal of Social Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F00207640211011186
5Banerjee, D., & Bhattacharya, P. (2020). Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Homelessness: Global Perspectives on the ‘Dual Pandemic.’ In J. M. Castaldelli-Maia, A. Ventrilglio, & D. Bhugra (Eds.), Homelessness and Mental Health (Ser. Oxford Cultural Psychiatry). Chapter, Oxford University Press. (Book Chapter)
6Bhattacharya, P. (2020). “And now I know how you feel . . .”: Lived experience of surviving mental illness as a prosumer. Psychological Services. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000484
7Banerjee, D., & Bhattacharya, P. (2020). “Pandemonium of the pandemic”: Impact of COVID-19 in India, focus on mental health. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(6), 588-592. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/tra0000799.
8Banerjee, D., & Bhattacharya, P. (2020). The hidden vulnerability of homelessness in the COVID-19 pandemic: Perspectives from India. International Journal of Social Psychiatry. 20764020922890-20764020922890. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764020922890

Recent Publications (National Journals)

1Bhattacharya, P. (2022). “Nowhere to sleep safe”: impact of sexual violence on homeless women in India. Indian Journal of Psychosexual Health. https://doi.org/10.1177/26318318221108521
2Bhattacharya, P., Banerjee, D., & Sahu, K. K. (2021). The migrant crisis in India during COVID-19: A narrative far beyond mental health. Indian Journal of Psychiatric Social Work, 12(1), 1-4.
3Bhattacharya, P., Banerjee, D., & Rao T. S. (2020). The ‘untold’ side of COVID-19: Social Stigma and its consequences in India. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine.
4Pandey, R., Khanna, A., Sharma, D., Gupta, A., Bhattacharya, P., Kukreja, S., Priya, K., R. (2019). Getting Close to the Context and Experience of Illness: Critically Reflexive Fieldwork in Qualitative Health Research. The Journal of Health Studies
5Gupta, A., Bhattacharya, P., & Priya, K. R. (2019). Revisiting the paradigm shift in trauma studies: Twenty-five years of Veena Das’ ‘Our Work to Cry: Your Work to Listen’. The Journal of Anthropological Survey of India.
 

Academic Honors & Awards

  • Outstanding Thesis Award, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur., 2021
  • Senior Research Fellowship, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, 2017-2019
  • Junior Research Fellowship, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, 2014-2016
  • Post Graduate Merit Scholarship for University Rank Holder, Ministry of Human Resource and Development, Government of India, 2010-2012
  • D. Mukhopadhyay Book Prize Award for securing the highest marks in B.Sc. Psychology (Honors) Examination, 2010 by the University of Calcutta, 2010
 

Research Scholar

Ongoing 
  1.  Akhila Ajith (joined Spring 2022-23) (Area: Lived Experiences of IPV among Male Victims-Survivors)
  2. Sharvari Sharad Ashtaputre (joined Spring 2023-24)
  3. Aishwarya Raj (joined Spring 2023-24)
  4. Sneha Kashyap (joined Spring 2023-24) (Area: Disaster Mental Health)
 
 
 

Professional Experience

Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT BBSR: December 2022- Present                                          Assistant Professor, Jindal School of Psychology and Counselling, O.P Jindal Global University: July 2021- December 2022    

Professional Affiliation and Memberships:

·       Rehabilitation Professional as Clinical Psychologist, Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI-CRR No. A46444)

·       Professional Life Member, Indian Association of Clinical Psychologists (Membership No.- PLM 536/14/17)

Reviewer

  • Frontiers in Psychiatry     
  • International Journal of Social Psychiatry
  • Psychological Reports
  • Global Mental Health
  • Journal of Psychosexual Health
  • Qualitative Health Research

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