What Are We Missing?

Fresh perspectives on suicide prevention & mental health conference

Nov 28th - 30th

Tarawade Clarks Inn, Pune

Join Us!

Be part of a three-day international conference focused on open dialogue, shared insights, and collective action in suicide prevention. Designed for mental health professionals, volunteers, social workers, and NGOs working in allied fields.

Hosted by Connecting Trust, celebrating 20 years of listening, connection and care.

📢 Call for Abstracts

We invite practitioners, researchers, educators, and individuals with lived experience to share their work at the conference.

If you’re exploring new approaches, grounded in practice or research, that respond to suicide prevention with care, nuance, and systemic insight—we’d love to hear from you.

We welcome submissions on lived experience, innovative practices, community approaches, research and evaluation, practitioner training, youth interventions and intersectional perspectives across gender, caste, disability, rurality and queerness.

Deadline to submit: September 30, 2025

SUBMIT YOUR WORK

For questions, please contact: events.connectingtrust@gmail.com

As suicide rates continue to rise, we’re being called to pause, pay attention, and ask deeper questions.

We invite you into a space of reflection, honesty and shared intention:

Why do suicides continue to rise, despite years of dedicated efforts?
What’s truly working—and what are we still overlooking?
What must we confront and reimagine together, as a society?

With care and curiosity, we’ll hold these questions close. Through lived experiences, emerging practices and evidence-based insights, we’ll explore new paths forward—together.

Speakers

Our speakers represent a rich tapestry of perspectives—from mental health and suicide prevention to lived experience, youth, education and community work.
Together, they’ll guide us in asking deeper questions, spotlighting what’s working, and uncovering new possibilities for collective action.

Dr. Dalbir singh Honourable Chairperson, Global Coalition Against TB (GCAT) and Policymakers Forum for Mental Health	Smt Vandana Chavan Honourable Former Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, Nationalist Congress Party	Shri Siddharth Shirole Honourable Member of Legislative Assembly, Shivajinagar, Pune, Bharatiya Janata Party
Shri Anish Gawande Honourable National Spokesperson,Nationalist Congress Party	Dr. Lakshmi Vijayakumar Founder, SNEHA, Member, WHO International Network for Suicide Research and Prevention (IASP)	Dr. Sukriti Chauhan (Moderator) Moderator ,CEO, ETI Services
Raj Mariwala Director at Mariwala Health Initiative, Mumbai	Dr Irina Ungureanu Somatic Therapist & Co-Creator, Suicide Attention Training	Dr Alok Sarin Psychiatrist, Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research, Delhi
Dr Shekhar Seshadri Child Psychiatrist & Former Professor, NIMHANS	Dr. Hvovi Bhagwagar Psychotherapist .	Adithy Counseling Psychologist
Harini Raval Therapist, Just Being Center, Pune .	Sandy Andrade Founder-Director - Just Being Center, Pune Co-Managing Trustee, Connecting Trust	Dr. Aruna Jha Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin
Nairuti Trivedi Clinical Psychologist	Anil Ukarande Founder & President - Yutak Charitable Trust	Vaidehi Warhade
Varsha Ramesh Volunteer, Connecting Trust	Viren Rajput Founder, Samtol	Dr Harish Shetty Psychiatrist, Mumbai .
Sachin Chitambaram Founder & Director of Training, The Connect Hut, Mumbai	Dr Teena Augustine Joseph Therapist, Trainer & Founder, Being Balanced Consultancy Ventures	Bindumadhav Khire Founder- Director of Bindu Queer Rights Foundation
Dr. Bobby Zachariah An Academic Researcher and Mental Health Professional	Prof. Dr. Sadhna Natu Professor and Former Head Department of Psychology Modern College Ganeshkhind

SEE ALL SPEAKERS

Agenda

Each keynote is designed to challenge, energize, and inspire. Whether they’re working on the frontlines of crisis response or shaping national policy, these speakers remind us of what's possible when we come together with intention and care.

SEE FULL AGENDA

Day 1 — Broad exploration of key themes in suicide prevention

Rooted in lived experiences, intersectionality, and social contexts. It opens up diverse perspectives and threads through panels, skill-building sessions and reflective listening circles.

Day 2 — Dive deeper, focusing on actionable pathway

With future-focused keynotes, evidence-based presentations and continued skill-building, it sharpens the dialogue toward collective learning and intervention.

About Connecting Trust

For over 20 years, Connecting Trust has been working in suicide prevention and mental health with a deep commitment to kindness, presence, and care.

Rooted in Mindfulness-Based Active Listening, our volunteer-led programs include:

A distress helpline (10 AM–8 PM) and email support
Peer education in schools, colleges and NGOs
Support for suicide survivors and high-risk communities
Awareness and listening circles across communities

We believe healing begins when we truly listen.

VIEW WEBSITE

WhatsApp Image 2025-06-13 at 06.14.28.jpeg

Be Part of the Conversation

Join us in building a more compassionate, connected approach to suicide prevention.

WhatsApp Image 2025-06-13 at 06.14.26 (1).jpeg

With Your Support, We Can Hold This Space

Your donation helps us keep the conference accessible, inclusive, and grounded in care. Every contribution supports community participation, scholarships and the ongoing work of suicide prevention.

DONATE 🤍