"Discover how Naghma Qureshi empowers working women through The Emotions Way, offering accessible emotional wellness, therapy, and self-help tools."
It’s early morning in Mumbai, and Naghma Qureshi is on her balcony, coffee in hand, letting the city slowly wake up around her. This quiet pause, rare for a mother of two young children, is where she often reflects on the journey that brought her here: from a social worker and academic to the founder of The Emotions Way, a trauma-informed therapeutic practice dedicated to helping women find emotional balance and personal peace.
“I never set out to make this my career,” she says with a gentle laugh. “It started because I couldn’t find the help I needed, and ended with me realising I could be that help for someone else.”
Naghma’s journey into emotional wellness began during one of the most challenging chapters of her life. An unplanned career gap, her father’s worsening Alzheimer’s, and personal health struggles after two complicated pregnancies left her at rock bottom, impacting both her and her children’s mental well-being. She decided to reach out for help.
“We contacted many professionals, but the help we got was either dismissive, inaccessible, or too expensive,” she recalls. “One organisation simply suggested a parenting workshop over email. My immediate problem was still unheard.”
Frustrated yet determined, Naghma began seeking answers herself.
“I learned how we are taught so much misinformation about emotions all our life. Emotions are meant to be expressed. But we are taught to hold them back and push aside. That’s where most problems arise,” she reflects.
That’s when she discovered Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). Initially, it was a personal healing tool. But as she trained and practised, something unexpected happened — people she worked with began telling her they felt “safe and heard” for the first time in years.
“That feedback changed everything,” she says. “I experienced as well as witnessed people breaking free from decades-old self-limiting thought patterns. That awareness, that control over how we respond to life, is powerful. And I wanted to help other women find it.”
Naghma’s work addresses a critical gap in the wellness industry: accessible, empathetic, and personalised emotional support.
She remembers the frustration of searching for help, only to find professionals most of whom were unavailable, unaffordable, or dismissive. This shaped the core of her practice today.
“I offer my first consultations free of cost, as a glimpse of what collaboration and support my clients will be receiving,” she explains. “I want people to experience being heard from day one, so they can decide with confidence whether they want to continue.”
Her flexibility extends to financial arrangements, especially for women facing difficult circumstances such as survivors of abuse, those returning to work after long breaks, or those navigating divorce.
“Sometimes,” she adds, “all someone needs is that initial boost of confidence to get back on their feet.”
Today, The Emotions Way offers one-to-one emotional wellness sessions, group workshops, and self-help journals. While she works with a variety of clients, her primary focus is on working women, particularly those in emotionally demanding professions like social work, education, and healthcare.
“I realised that we are never alone in what we go through; what I felt, many other women are also going through the same,” Naghma says. “My role is to offer them a space to pause, reflect, and heal.”
Her approach blends EFT, NLP, and hypnosis, tailoring each session to the client’s comfort and needs.
“It’s never one-size-fits-all. It’s co-created, with the client fully informed and in control.”
Beyond therapy sessions, she is developing self-help journals that incorporate therapeutic principles in an accessible format, currently being tested before publication.
“They’re designed as gentle companions for people to support their own healing journey,” she explains.
For all her professional expertise, Naghma’s entrepreneurial journey was anything but straightforward.
“The biggest challenge was, and sometimes still is, time,” she admits. “My children’s routines dictate mine. Finding uninterrupted, productive hours is a luxury.”
She learned to adapt, keeping her energy high while balancing household responsibilities, motherhood, and self-care. This personal struggle gave her deeper empathy for her clients, many of whom face similar challenges.
Another hurdle? Limited resources and zero entrepreneurial background.
“I had to learn everything from scratch, from marketing to building a client base, through online research, free resources, and a lot of trial and error,” she says. “There were wrong turns and bad decisions, but each became a valuable lesson.”
While many entrepreneurs have a single defining “breakthrough” moment, Naghma’s journey has been more of a steady climb.
“Deciding to do this work was a personal breakthrough,” she reflects. “The rest has been about showing up, learning, and growing.”
Over the next five years, Naghma plans to collaborate with social work education institutions and workplaces in the social service sector for curated emotional wellness programs.
She will soon be expanding her services to Muslim women and children as well, offering a safe space to explore identity, faith, and belonging in a world where these can be sources of anxiety and uncertainty.
She envisions therapeutic circles, group workshops, and workplace wellness programs, particularly in under-supported sectors like nonprofits and social work. Her illustrated book on emotions for children and caregivers is also in the works, alongside the official launch of her self-help journals.
“At its core, my mission will remain the same: making emotional wellness as accessible as possible,” she says. “We all hold our well-being in our hands.”
Naghma’s journey offers a wealth of takeaways for those considering starting their own venture:
Start with what you know and what you’ve lived.
“My personal struggles became the foundation of my work. If you’ve been through it, you understand it in a way no book can teach.”
Accessibility matters as much as expertise.
Accessibility turns knowledge into change. It’s the bridge that leads to transformation.
You don’t need to know it all on day one.
“I learned marketing, sales, and business operations bit by bit. The important thing is to keep learning and not be afraid of mistakes.”
Your time is your most valuable resource.
As a parent and solopreneur, choosing where to invest her limited hours has been crucial for sustainable growth.
“When someone leaves my session feeling lighter, more in control, and more hopeful than when they came in, that’s the real measure of success for me,” Naghma says. “If I can help someone feel empowered enough to decide what’s right for them, then I’ve done my job.”
If you’re navigating burnout, overwhelm, or life transitions, or if you simply want to understand and manage your emotions better, explore Naghma’s work and resources:
🌐 Website: theemotionsway.com
💼 LinkedIn: naghmaqureshi
📸 Instagram: @theemotionsway
Your emotional well-being matters, and as Naghma’s story proves, sometimes the most important step is finding someone who truly listens.
I am an entrepreneur, marketer, and mentor with a certification in entrepreneurship from IIT Delhi, one of the most prestigious institutions in India. I have a passion for connecting businesses with their ideal customers, solving real-world problems, and inspiring the next generation of founders.I founded and lead DevoByte, a digital marketing agency that provides a range of services, from SEO a
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