Counselling Skills for Black Activists

To honour the long lineage of Black activists who have woven love and power into our communities, we will be hosting an experiential full day of training for Black activists and organisers looking for grounded, practical ways to offer care and sustain struggle. Rooted in decolonial counselling foundations, we will draw from Black feminist thought, abolitionist frameworks, and community healing lineages to build skills that align with social justice and liberation.

What we’ll do:

• Learn micro-skills, presence, reflective listening, tracking emotion, summarising, and asking consent-based questions—that help people feel seen without being pathologised.
• Explore trauma-aware approaches for check-ins, de-escalation, and conflict navigation that don’t replicate carceral logics.
• Map power, identity, and positionality inside organising spaces so support is accountable, not neutral.
• Experiment with somatic and nervous-system tools to use before, during, and after high-intensity moments like actions or crises.
• Set and communicate boundaries that honour capacity, redistribute care, and protect the mission.
• Create simple rituals for collective rest, grief tending, and repair.

You’ll leave with a take-home toolkit that includes scripts, prompts, and micro-practices to use in meetings, one-to-ones, mutual aid/community care spaces, and out in public. This space welcomes Black activists across roles (frontline, logistics, comms, care, facilitation). No counselling background is needed: curiosity and care are enough.

Access & care: Our venue is wheelchair accessible, a quiet room with sensory toys is available and we will take regular breaks throughout the day. If you have any access needs that you would like to share with us in advance, please get in touch and we will co-design or support wherever possible.

PLEASE READ THE FAQ BEFORE BOOKING.

Host - Black Psychotherapy

Black Psychotherapy is a mental health service serving exclusively Black and racially minoritised communities. The team provides decolonial, intersectional and anti-oppressive therapy alongside education, training and consultancy on liberation and justice-based approaches to mental health and wellbeing. With a low-cost community clinic in Brixton and sessions available virtually nationwide, Black Psychotherapy promotes an inclusive and culturally attuned approach to mental health that tackles stigma and directly addresses the impact of racial trauma on mental health and wellbeing.

You can find out more about their work on their website and social media.