Dr. Dimple Kaur Malhotra. A psychologist who dances. A dancer who listens to the nervous system.
October
Friday
Pacific Rasa Festival
Founding Edition, curated by Dr. Dimple. Lake Forest Performing Arts Center, 6:00 to 8:30pm.
Dr. Dimple Kaur Malhotra
Some people believe those two lives cannot share one page.
The clinic gave me the science. The stage gave me the instrument. My clients, my students, and my audiences are proof that they were never two lives at all.
Trauma is stored in the body, not in the story we tell about it. The Natya Shastra understood rasa, the felt, embodied emotion, two thousand years before psychology named affect regulation. I trained in both lineages because a clinician who cannot read a body is working with half the data.
- PhD and PsyD
- Two doctorates in psychology, with clinical specialization
- Two master's degrees
- Natya Theater and English
- Since 2014
- Founder of Applied Natya Therapy™, taught on three continents
- 2026–27 Fellow
- California Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship
“My address changed my nervous system. The stage taught me to show it. The clinic taught me to heal it.”
The Clinic
Trauma-informed, body-first psychotherapy
For adults carrying complex stress, migration, relational injury, or a body that no longer feels like home.
Individual therapy
clinical psychology with somatic and movement integration
Applied Natya Therapy™ sessions
rasa, mudra, and breath as regulation tools
Clinical hypnotherapy
Master Trainer level
Groups, circles & retreats
Body of Emotions, women's circles, survivor support
The Stage
Classical Natya Theater, made for this century
Solo productions on migration, identity, and the body, for festivals, theaters, universities, and museums.
SPLIT: Between Two Nervous Systems
Best Choreography, Hollywood Fringe 2026
I AM THAT, Shivoham
People's Choice Award, returned by demand
Classical repertoire
Natya Theater and Vilasini Natyam court pieces
MoonBell
a theatrical clown who says what the psychologist cannot
Where to find her this season
October
Pacific Rasa Festival
Lake Forest Performing Arts Center. 6:00 to 8:30pm.
Dates soon
The Nether, Gospel Project
Performing in Jennifer Haley's The Nether with The Wayward Artist.
From people who have done the work
Students from Applied Natya Therapy workshops and courses, in their own words.
I really liked this workshop. I can feel a difference in a lot of my habits and thoughts and I am really happy that there is a positive change in me. I want ma'am to come again, and this time for 15 to 20 days so that we can learn a lot more.
Tuhina
Student
That our body speaks a lot, and it speaks what words cannot. Another key takeaway was that I am not just enough, but I am good enough. This has had a tremendous impact on my self-esteem.
Mukta
Student
This workshop really helped me get out of my shell and gave me a chance to love myself and become more free. It gave me the voice I never knew I had.
Tanaya
Student
Choose your door.
Tell me which part of the practice you’re reaching for and I’ll reply from there. Therapy inquiries are confidential.
Direct
Elsewhere
Instagram @AppliedNatyaTherapy
TikTok and YouTube Shorts 108 Karanas with the Dancing Psychologist
Based in
Orange County, California. Available worldwide online.
Presenters: a technical rider, high-resolution photos, and a one-page artist bio are available on request.