Rita Shah
Rita has spent seven years sitting beside patients in Mumbai's busiest government cancer wards — Nair and KEM Hospital — helping them carry the emotional weight of diagnosis, treatment, and recovery that medicine alone cannot.
"Hiding a symptom never changes the reality — it only delays your healing. Your life is incredibly precious to your family. Don't let fear win."— Rita Shah
As a Cancer Survivor Counsellor, Rita has counselled 5000+ cancer patients and caregivers in government hospitals across Mumbai, providing emotional, psychological, and practical support throughout the cancer journey. Her own experience as a survivor shapes a counselling style built on lived understanding rather than clinical distance.
Rita uses Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and structured counselling techniques to help patients move past the fear, shame, and "burden complex" that so often delay early diagnosis in Indian households — replacing silence with informed, timely action.
Invited to support an international Retinoblastoma awareness programme, contributing counselling sessions with the parents of young patients alongside the clinical CME and workshop.
Conducted a stress-management session for approximately 200 Mumbai Central railway staff, on the occasion of International Women's Day.
Invited by the Budhrani Trust to run ongoing support groups for breast cancer patients undergoing treatment within KEM Hospital's wards.
Invited by the Medical Social Work department of Nair Hospital to educate cancer patients on psycho-oncology counselling, in partnership with Avashya Foundation's "Jeevan: Coping with Cancer" initiative.
If fear or hesitation is holding you or a loved one back from getting checked, Heal Cancer Support connects you with empathetic clinical and emotional guidance — completely confidentially.