Pune: Dr. Sheetal Uday Harpale, mental health practitioner at Noble Hospitals and Research Centre was recently conferred with the Rising Clinician Award,2025 by the The American Art Therapy Association (AATA) at it’s 56th Annual Conference held recently in Portland Oregon, USA. This is a historic milestone as Dr. Harpale is the first Indian Art Therapist to be recognised with this prestigious award, marking a moment of global recognition for India’s advancing art therapy movement.
Presented during the in-person sessions of the AATA Conference, the Rising Clinician Award honors emerging professionals whose clinical work demonstrates innovation, depth, and substantial impact. The award plaque presented to Dr. Harpale bears the inscription “Serves as a Model of Excellence in Art Therapy,” acknowledging her dedicated efforts in advancing mental health through creative and culturally responsive therapeutic methods.
Dr. Sheetal Uday Harpale said that “Being the first Indian to receive the Rising Clinician Award is a humbling honour. I am grateful to AATA, my mentors, patients and my family for this journey. This milestone belongs to every Indian art therapist pushing boundaries.”
She added that Art therapy is gaining momentum across India as mental health awareness deepens in healthcare systems, corporate spaces, educational settings, and community programs. The practice is being recognized as a vital conduit for emotional regulation, trauma support, and neuro-aesthetic well-being. Despite this growth, more research is needed in domains such as clinical validation, neuro-aesthetic correlation, culturally adaptive tools, and outcome-based studies — areas .
Congratulating Dr. Harpale for her recognition, Dr. Divij Mane, Director Noble Hospitals and Research Centre said that this achievement extends beyond individual success; it shines a global spotlight on India’s growing presence in the art therapy field, affirming the power of creative healing in a culturally diverse context. The achievement symbolizes the increasing resonance of Indian art therapy practices in international discourse.
With over ten years of dedicated mental health practitioner , Dr.Sheetal Harpale has integrated expressive arts, psychology, and neuro-aesthetics in clinical, corporate, and educational contexts Dr. Sheetal Uday Harpale is a distinguished Indian Architect, Art Therapist, and Mental Health Consultant, widely recognized for her integrative work in mental wellbeing, neuro-aesthetics, and expressive art therapy. Dr. Harpale is empanelled as a Universal Accessibility Auditor by the Government of India, serves as a Mental Health and Neuro-aesthetic Consultant at the JCI-accredited Noble Hospital, and is also a professor at MIT ADT University. She is the Founder & Director of Canvas of Mind, a pioneering wellness initiative that conducts workshops for diverse populations, including corporate professionals, oncology patients, expecting couples, adolescents, children and senior citizens. She is a consultant & counsellor at leading corporate/IT companies. A MENSA member since 1994, she contributes to gifted education and intellectual development in India as the Editor of MENSA India’s Mind magazine and Vice President of the MENSA Pune Chapter. With a Bachelor’s in Architecture, a Master’s in Art Therapy, a Postgraduate Diploma in the Psychology of Gifted Individuals, and an Honorary Doctorate for her work in Human Consciousness, she is a dynamic educator, researcher, and international presenter who seamlessly bridges Eastern wisdom with evidence-based psychological practices to promote healing through neuro-aesthetic approaches.
