Our Story

"It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light” - Aristotle

The seed of Lighthouse was planted when I decided to explore and influence the therapeutic aspects of all art forms. When people ask me about my purpose in life, I tell them that my work is my purpose. It serves as an expression of my creativity and every day brings the promise of a new beginning, and the opportunity to transform every life challenge into a gift.

Since 19 years, Lighthouse and I have expanded our reach to different populations and now we take care of mental wellbeing of people from all walks of life. We offer a range of assessments and therapeutic options for children, adults, families, and couples from our centres in Mumbai and Pune. We pride ourselves on offering evidence-based interventions to teach skills, reduce distress and increase understanding across a wide range of mental health and neurodevelopmental difficulties.

I believe that individuals are free to explore themselves in a non-demanding, non-judgmental atmosphere and examine their emotional needs, blocks and solutions to their difficulties. I conceptualised Lighthouse safe place for change and growth. We hope to ease such transitions, assist in envisioning goals and encourage children and adults in achieving them. The facilitators here are compassionate enablers of this process.

Zill Botadkar, Founder/Director Lighthouse

The meaning of wellbeing is multidimensional. Mental Wellbeing matters, because everything we do and every emotion we feel relates to our well-being. In turn, our Mental well-being directly affects our actions and emotions. It’s an ongoing circle. Moreover, our Mind and Body are deeply connected and react to each other. Therefore, to achieve optimal wellness, it is important to care for the Mind as much as we care for the Body.

Zill Botadkar, has more than 20 years of experience of working extensively with children, adolescents and adults. Beyond holding a Post Graduation in Counselling Psychology, she is also an Arts Based Therapy Practitioner and Educator, Autism Movement Therapy Provider, EQ and Resource Educator, Play Therapist, Applied Drama in Autism therapist and many more courses to enhance her own skills.

She has been instrumental in starting the groundwork for many centres for therapy in Mumbai. She was an appointed faculty member as an ABT Practitioner in JBCN PAN Academy, Manu Prem, JBCN International School, Disha and Akanksha. She is the Course Director and Core Facilitator for training students as ABT Practitioners at Nirmala Niketan College, Mumbai.

She has travelled around the world to reach out to special educators, counsellors, therapists and the special needs population to educate them on importance of art forms and its therapeutic benefits. Few places to name are Malaysia, USA, and many states in India too.

She began Lighthouse because of her belief in an integrative approach that takes into consideration the physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual needs of the client to help individuals of all ages to cope with their challenges and to also learn and grow from them, in a warm, nurturing atmosphere that speaks to all the senses.

In her personal time, she spends time with family and friends, travels, cooks, is a music lover, and loves to go on road trips with her husband; and absolutely loves talking with her son.

Our Roots

Our Approach

We believe in dealing with perspectives and not just problems. We understand that different people come to us with different understandings of life and different needs. Hence we use an eclectic range of therapies from solution oriented to insight oriented to holistic meditative approaches, depending on what the individuals coming to us are comfortable with. We may combine several approaches or use different methods at different stages of therapy, integrating them completely to form a meaningful whole.

We see people for what they are primarily- with their struggles, their deeply ingrained habits and behaviour patterns, their needs and their understanding of life. Hence what we offer, in addition to being solution oriented in the present, it is aimed at effecting a holistic change which the individual himself initiates and which generalizes to most other stressful situations in the present and in the future.

Our Values

We create a safe space where clients are seen and heard. We recognize the courage to engage in this connection.

We empower our clients to achieve holistic health; emotional, physical, mental, spiritual, and relational

We strive to provide a compassionate, nonjudgmental environment where we listen to clients carefully and without preconceptions and where they will feel heard and validated.

Our logo

Our logo is a resemblance of our vision wherein the lighthouse is symbolized as strength, safety, individuality. The light beaming symbolizes the source of goodness and the ultimate reality and wisdom. Therefore the Symbol of the Lighthouse reminds us that, regardless
of how turbulent our emotional seas may become, we need to only focus on the Guiding Light beaming from the Lighthouse within us. Our Inner Lighthouse is our inner strength.

Our Purpose

Is to provide quality, effective, empathetic interventions, so you feel equipped and empowered to lead a happier, healthier, and a more fulfilling life.

We are dedicated to working with you to find the best course of intervention to help you achieve your goals.