Happy Tuesday and a big hello to everyone, especially to those who are new to our community!
This a photo of me from last month in Delhi, India, where my parents live (most of my family live within a few hours). For a little over a month, my husband and I were working remotely from there while we all (most especially our toddler, Rumi) got to spend some high-quality time with loved ones — making some beautiful and indelible memories.
We’re now back home in San Francisco, and planning for a nomadic existence for the rest of this year, starting in June — when the three of us will head to Mexico City. (Ashish and I were lucky to spend 20 months living nomadically between 2016 and 2018, in cities across Asia, Europe, and north Africa, and so far, our son seems to share our love for adventure and travel). More on that to come.
Now that our community is growing, I’m reaching out because I’d love to poll each of you about how best to build this together.
For our next post, which will be a Deep dive, what do want to see featured?
What other topics would you like us to explore, either in Deep dives or in Spread the light columns? (Or reply to this email to let me know privately.)
Logistically, when and how do you want to receive Ask Dr Devika B?
Do have any other inputs or thoughts for our community as we build it together? Please share them below — or reply to this email to reach me privately.
Community-wide chats
On Friday, we had the first ever ‘community corner’ chat for paid subscribers by Zoom — and we really enjoyed getting to know each other in that dedicated space.
Today, I’m announcing a new addition for the rest of our community to enjoy: the Ask Dr Devika B community-wide subscriber chat.
This is a private conversation space in the Substack app or website that we’ve set up exclusively for our community — think of a group chat or live hangout. Community members can post short prompts, questions, and updates for each other, or jump into the discussion. Messages will be visible only to others in our community, but not the general public (which is not true of comments you make on public posts).
Of note, chats occur via the app and the website, but not email. To join our chat most easily, download the Substack app, now available for both iOS and Android.
How to get started
If you’d like to, you can download the app by clicking this link or the button below. Substack Chat is now available on both iOS and Android. You don’t need to have the app to use chat — you can also access chat via the Substack website.
Open the app or website and tap the Chat icon. It looks like two bubbles in the bottom bar, and you’ll see a row for my chat inside.
That’s it! Jump into our thread to say hi, and if you have any issues, check out Substack’s FAQ.
Wishing you light,
Dr Devika Bhushan
Child mental health issues-which type of practitioner to see when and what each can provide