%20(666%20%C3%97%20100px).png){kind=small}
Counsellor and community builder
I’m Zena Nicholas, a counsellor and the founder of The Counsellors’ Staffroom and The CoPractice Community, spaces created to support therapists in feeling less isolated and more thoughtfully connected in their work.
Alongside my counselling practice, much of my work is motivated by a belief that therapy as a profession must continually challenge itself in order to better serve both clients and therapists, particularly those from marginalised and minoritised communities.
I am interested in supporting therapists in their professional and personal development through environments that are both warm and challenging. Spaces where people can think carefully about their work, strengthen their skills and remain connected to one another.
What shapes my work
My work is shaped by my own experiences of navigating cultural expectations and neuronormative ways of being, and by what I’ve witnessed, particularly where people have been misunderstood, or expected to fit into ways of being that don’t reflect them, including within therapy itself.
I’ve also seen how powerful it can be when people come together around what connects them, while still making space for our differences, where people don’t have to minimise parts of themselves to belong, and can show up and contribute in ways that feel meaningful.
That’s shaped an ambition to be part of doing things differently in the spaces I’m involved in.
Creating professional communities
Alongside my counselling work, I’ve created spaces for therapists to connect and reflect on their work.This has grown over time into communities where people can share learning, think together, and feel less alone in what can sometimes be quite isolating work.
For me, therapy and community are closely connected. Both are about creating spaces where people can show up as they are, reflect on their experiences, and make sense of things in ways that feel meaningful.
Supervision
I offer facilitated group supervision and one-off consultations.
The groups provide an additional supervision space for therapists working with autistic and/or ADHD clients, creating room to think more carefully about the work alongside regular supervision.
Consultations offer a more focused space to think through specific pieces of work or questions that feel important.
You’re very welcome to get in touch to register your interest through my contact page.
Working with me
My counselling practice is relational and attentive to context, recognising how personal experience is shaped by relationships, culture and environment.
I am committed to creating a space where people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, asexual and anyone who identifies as gender, sex or relationship diverse can feel genuinely welcome and respected.