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| Dr. Shanthi Ramaiah, PhD, ICF-PCC, EMCC Senior Practitioner and mental health advocate, with her new book, The Emotional First Aid Framework™ Using the SHANTHI Model: A Practical, Evidence-Informed Guide to Everyday Emotional Resilience. She will present the framework at the Mental Health and Psychiatric Summit 2026 in Paris on 26–27 November 2026. |
Dr. Shanthi Ramaiah will present her seven-step SHANTHI Model as a featured speaker at the Mental Health and Psychiatric Summit 2026 in Paris. Her new book on the framework is available in six languages, including Malay, Tamil and Mandarin.
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 (Bernama) -- Malaysian-born coach, author and mental health advocate Dr. Shanthi Ramaiah, PhD, has been announced as a featured speaker at the Mental Health and Psychiatric Summit 2026 in Paris, France, where she will present her Emotional First Aid Framework™, a structured approach to the everyday emotional hurts most people are never taught how to handle. The summit takes place on 26–27 November 2026 under the theme “Making Mental Health a Global Priority.”
Most of us know what to do when someone cuts their hand: clean the wound, stop the bleeding, and get help if it is serious. Far fewer people know what to do in the first moments after rejection, humiliation, a painful conflict at work, a disappointment or a wave of emotional overwhelm. These everyday emotional injuries are common, yet they are often ignored until distress becomes harder to manage.
WHY IT MATTERS FOR MALAYSIA
The need is growing in Malaysia. According to the Ministry of Health’s National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2023, about one million Malaysian adults, or 4.6 per cent, are living with depression, double the rate recorded in 2019, with young people aged 16 to 29 the most affected. Mental health problems among children aged five to 15 have also doubled, from 7.9 per cent to 16.5 per cent, affecting about one in six children.
Suicide is also rising. The Department of Statistics Malaysia recorded 1,119 deaths by intentional self-harm in 2024, or 3.3 per 100,000 people, and police figures show cases increasing from 981 in 2022 to 1,114 in 2024, with rising numbers among young working adults, children and older people. More Malaysians are reaching out for help: calls to the Health Ministry’s HEAL 15555 helpline more than doubled, from 42,990 in 2024 to 90,981 in 2025.
Yet support remains stretched. As of November 2024, Malaysia had 623 registered psychiatrists, or about 1.8 for every 100,000 people, according to a 2026 peer-reviewed study, which notes that services remain largely hospital-based and concentrated in cities. The study calls for practical self-help tools that people can use in their own communities.
Depression and other mental health conditions need professional care. Dr. Shanthi believes that, alongside that care, Malaysians also need simple, everyday tools for the emotional hurts that often come before a crisis, at home, in school and at work.
Dr. Shanthi’s SHANTHI Model is designed to fill that gap. Developed from more than two decades of experience across healthcare, healthcare education, psychology and professional coaching, it offers seven practical steps, grouped into three simple stages: Settle, Decide and Recover.
“You wouldn’t ignore a bleeding wound, so why leave emotional injuries untreated? My hope is that emotional first aid becomes as familiar as physical first aid, in our homes, our schools and our workplaces.” – Dr. Shanthi Ramaiah
PRESENTING IN PARIS
At the summit, Dr. Shanthi will present her accepted abstract, “The SHANTHI Model: A Seven-Step Emotional First Aid Framework for Everyday Emotional Injuries: Conceptual Development, Theoretical Rationale, and a Proposed Evaluation Agenda.” Her presentation will introduce the framework’s conceptual development and theoretical foundations, and set out a proposed approach to evaluating it through future research.
The framework emphasises emotional awareness, self-regulation, reflection, constructive action and seeking appropriate support. It works alongside professional mental health care, giving individuals, families and organisations a shared language for responding early and constructively to emotional distress.
THE SHANTHI MODEL: SEVEN STEPS IN THREE STAGES
SETTLE (S – Sense · H – Hold · A – Anchor)
Pause, breathe and notice what you are feeling, before reacting.
DECIDE (N – Navigate · T – Take one step)
Choose one kind, constructive next step.
RECOVER (H – Heal and reflect · I – Invite support)
Reach out for support. Asking for help is a strength, not a weakness.
HOW THE SHANTHI MODEL CAN HELP
Emotional first aid is for everyone: children, teenagers, parents, working adults and older Malaysians. It may be especially valuable for groups facing a growing risk, including young working adults and men, who may find it harder to ask for help. The SHANTHI Model can help by:
• Offering support early, before a crisis. The Settle stage helps people notice what they, and those around them, are feeling, so emotional hurts can be recognised and eased while they are still easier to manage.
• Starting the conversation and reducing stigma. By framing emotional care as everyday first aid, just like caring for a cut or a burn, the model gives people a simple, shared language that makes it normal to talk about feelings.
• Encouraging people to seek help. The Recover stage stresses that reaching out is a strength, guiding people towards helplines, counsellors, psychologists and psychiatrists when they need them.
• Reaching people in their own language. With the book available in Malay, Tamil and Mandarin, families across Malaysia, including in rural areas with fewer services, can learn emotional first aid at home.
• Being easy to teach and share. Its three stages are simple enough for parents, teachers, managers and community leaders to learn and pass on.
• Supporting healthier workplaces. Drawing on her experience as an Employee Assistance Programme coach, the framework can help employers support staff, including young working adults, through stress, conflict and burnout.
The framework works hand in hand with professional care and crisis services. Anyone in crisis is encouraged to contact a helpline or seek emergency care immediately.
IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW IS STRUGGLING
Talian HEAL 15555 – Health Ministry mental health helpline, daily 8am to midnight
Befrienders KL: 03-7627 2929 – 24-hour emotional support
Talian Kasih: 15999 – 24-hour support line
Emergency: 999
A BOOK FOR EVERY MALAYSIAN HOME
The framework is also the subject of Dr. Shanthi’s new book, The Emotional First Aid Framework™ Using the SHANTHI Model: A Practical, Evidence-Informed Guide to Everyday Emotional Resilience. Originally written in English, the book has been translated into five languages, Malay, Tamil, Mandarin, Arabic and Spanish, and is now available in six languages. With editions in Malay, Tamil and Mandarin, it is designed so that Malaysian families of every background can learn and use emotional first aid in their own language.
“Emotional well-being is not a luxury; it is an essential part of being human. I wanted this book to be accessible to everyone, whatever language they speak at home.” – Dr. Shanthi Ramaiah
FROM MALAYSIA TO THE MIDDLE EAST
Originally from Malaysia, Dr. Shanthi has built her career across Malaysia and the Middle East, a journey shaped by her commitment to turning personal adversity into purpose.
At King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre in Saudi Arabia, she serves as Resuscitation Training Faculty at the Immersive Learning Center and as an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) coach, supporting staff wellbeing and emotional resilience. She remains closely connected to Malaysia as an adjunct lecturer for MAHSA University’s open and distance learning programme in social and counselling psychology.
Her work is reaching readers across the region. Her earlier book, Bliss Access Within You, published by Austin Macauley Publishers in the UAE, is available at Jarir Bookstore and has been placed in a mental health institution in Abu Dhabi.
KEY FACTS
Event Mental Health and Psychiatric Summit 2026 – “Making Mental Health a Global Priority”
Date 26–27 November 2026
Location Paris, France
Speaker Dr. Shanthi Ramaiah, PhD, ICF-PCC, EMCC Senior Practitioner, Mental Health Advocate
Topic The SHANTHI Model: a seven-step Emotional First Aid Framework
New book The Emotional First Aid Framework™ Using the SHANTHI Model: A Practical, Evidence-Informed Guide to Everyday Emotional Resilience, available in six languages
Earlier book Bliss Access Within You – available at Jarir Bookstore and placed in a mental health institution in Abu Dhabi
ABOUT DR. SHANTHI RAMAIAH
Dr. Shanthi Ramaiah, PhD, ICF-PCC, EMCC Senior Practitioner, is an internationally renowned life and corporate coach, author, mental health advocate and creator of the Emotional First Aid Framework™. She is the founder of Shifts & Rise – Emotional First Aid Hub, and holds the International Coaching Federation’s Professional Certified Coach (ICF-PCC) credential and EMCC Senior Practitioner recognition, alongside academic qualifications in healthcare ethics and law and postgraduate education in psychology. As an academic, she has been appointed a Founding Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Advanced Research for Scholars (JARS) for 2026–2028, and serves as an adjunct lecturer for MAHSA University. For 17 years, she has also volunteered with children who have experienced sexual abuse and with survivors of domestic violence, work that has deeply shaped her understanding of emotional injury and recovery. Her vision is to help make emotional well-being a global priority. Her other books include:
• Bliss Access Within You (Austin Macauley Publishers, UAE, 2024), available at Jarir Bookstore and placed in a mental health institution in Abu Dhabi
• The Quiet Bloom: Refuse to Live Behind Excuses (2025)
• The Epic Book of Fails: How to Mess Up, Get Back Up and Get Stuff Done (2025)
• Mind Meets Machine: How to Stay Human When the World Runs on Code (2025)
RECOGNITION AND MEDIA FEATURES
• Gulf Prime Magazine: featured in “How Dr. Shanthi Ramaiah Turned Adversity Into Inner Leadership” (October 2026)
• Leaders of Middle East: featured in the Women of Influence series
• British Pedia: featured in Successful People, 9th edition, with an accompanying video profile
• The Book Stage: invited for an upcoming interview on The Writers Corner about The Emotional First Aid Framework™
SOURCE: Shifts & Rise Global
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
MEDIA CONTACT
Name: Sharvin Shanker
Admin Executive
Shifts & Rise – Emotional First Aid Hub
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel / WhatsApp: +60 17-306 8038
Email: admin@shiftsandrise.com
For interviews
Name: Dr. Shanthi Ramaiah, PhD
Tel / WhatsApp: +966 50 162 6445
Email: drshanthi@shiftsandrise.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/drshanthiramaiah
--BERNAMA
