About Manttaq
Rooted in Culture, Designed for Healing, Built for Community
Manttaq is a pioneering mental health enterprise committed to decolonizing psychotherapy in Pakistan. We provide culturally-informed psychological services, training, and community programmes that honour our indigenous context while maintaining clinical excellence.
Manttaq is an SECP-registered organization working at the intersection of mental health, therapeutic services, education, research, professional training, and community outreach. Our work extends beyond traditional therapy. We serve marginalized communities in prisons and mental health institutions, create safe spaces for sexual and religious minorities, and make quality care accessible to underserved populations.
Through support groups, book clubs, and professional training, we are building an academic culture that challenges Western-centric approaches and centres Pakistani perspectives in mental health care. We collaborate with academic institutions, clinical settings, government and private organizations, prisons, mental health institutions, and community partners.
Vision
To transform mental health practice in Pakistan by creating a truly indigenous, culturally-grounded system of care that serves all people, regardless of age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, or religious background. We envision a future where psychological care is decolonized, accessible, and rooted in our own cultural wisdom and values.
Mission
Manttaq exists to indigenize clinical psychology practice in Pakistan, making quality mental health care accessible to marginalized communities who have been historically excluded. We provide inclusive psychotherapy services, culturally-informed professional training, and community-building initiatives that challenge Western-dominated narratives in mental health.
What We Set Out To Do
Our Commitments
- To provide accessible and inclusive mental health services.
- To promote culturally responsive psychological practice.
- To provide educational trainings and internships.
- To conduct and support socially relevant research.
- To extend mental health outreach to marginalized populations.
- To develop collaborations between universities, healthcare institutions, prisons, and communities.
- To create multidisciplinary spaces connecting psychology with philosophy, literature, art, and culture.
Our Philosophy
Towards Culturally Responsive and Inclusive Mental Health
Manttaq is interested in contributing towards the decolonization and localization of psychotherapy. This does not mean rejecting established psychological science. Rather, it means questioning the culturally uninformed application of therapeutic models and exploring how evidence-based psychological practice can become more responsive to the realities of local people.
We seek to engage with:
- Local cultures and communities
- Indigenous and community knowledge
- Punjabi culture and local narratives
- Local languages and expressions of distress
- Art, storytelling, music, and literature
- Collective and family-based understandings of wellbeing
Founder
Ms. Sara Ishaq
Manttaq was founded by Ms. Sara Ishaq, a Clinical Psychologist with approximately eight years of professional experience across clinical, academic, government, correctional, and mental health settings. She is a Clinical Psychologist at the Punjab Institute of Mental Health and a Clinical Placement Supervisor at the University of the Punjab, and served as Correctional Psychologist at District Prison, Okara from 2019 to 2020.
Qualifications
- BS (4 years) Applied Psychology, University of the Punjab, 2012–2016
- MS (2 years) Clinical Psychology, University of the Punjab, 2016–2018
Academic Affiliations
- University of the Punjab
- University of Central Punjab
- Government College University, Lahore
Areas of Experience
- Clinical Psychology
- Counseling Psychology
- Forensic and Correctional Psychology
- Psychological Assessment and Intervention
- Teaching and Training
- Research
- Community Mental Health
- Professional Capacity Building
- Work with Marginalized Populations
Work With Us
We welcome enquiries about therapy, training, internships, research collaboration, and community partnerships.