Mariwala Health Initative (MHI), Mumbai is an agency pioneering innovative mental health initiatives, with a particular focus on making mental health accessible to marginalized persons and communities. Their core work includes advocacy, capacity building, law and policy, human rights, research and lived experiences. The Queer Affirmative Counselling Practice (QACP) certified course is one of their flagship programmes launched in January 2019, aimed at building capacity of mental health practitioners and allied professionals (counsellors, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, medical professionals) to respond to the specific needs and challenges of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual + (LGBTQIA+) communities. It is a 6-day course run by MHI to reorient mental health practitioners (psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, counsellors) to an anti-oppressive therapeutic practice. The curriculum for this training is based on and built from the Gay Affirmative Counselling Practice training manual (Ranade & Chakravarty, 2013) and faculty at the course are all queer mental health practitioners themselves.

SHSRC-K Kerala collaborated with MHI and conducted the first ever QACP programme in Kerala state, among government health care providers including doctors, Bhoomika centre counsellors, etc. as well as private counsellors and Psychiatrists practising within the state. The residential programme was held from 30th October to 4th November 2023 at the Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (IMHANS), Kozhikode.

The training covered both perspective building to recognise inequalities and their impact on mental health and also provided tools to address distress and promote the well-being of LGBTQIA+ persons. These perspectives and tools would support practitioners to modify their ongoing practice and make it queer affirmative.