The Tending Circle
—— A Coworking Collective For Therapists
Where the work of healing finds community.
A weekly gathering space for licensed therapists who attend to their work alongside peers — think, reflect, and recharge together. The colleagues who truly know you are the ones who show up beside you.
Why This Exists
Community as a practice
Over time, something quieter and more lasting takes shape: a circle of peers who know your work, understand your challenges, and think of you when opportunity arises. Not because networking was the goal, but because genuine connection happens when people show up together consistently over time.
The Tended Circle creates that consistent weekly anchor — protected time, collegial presence, and the slow accumulation of professional momentum.
"The work gets done — but that's only part of what this space offers."
✦ Protected Time — A reliable weekly rhythm for attending to the professional side of practice, without it being swallowed by the clinical week.
✦ Collegial Presence — Working alongside thoughtful clinicians sustains a sense of shared professional life that private practice can quietly erode.
✦ Professional Continuity — Small, steady periods of attention allow projects, systems, and ideas to develop gradually over time.
✦ Organic Connection — The colleagues who refer to you and advocate for you are the ones who genuinely know you.
Who It’s For
Three Kinds of Clinicians Find Their Way Here
Therapists a few years into private practice who want a consistent rhythm for attending to the operational side of their work — the systems, the materials, the presence-building.
01 Early Practice Builders
Clinicians with professional ideas, writing, groups, or projects that benefit from protected work time and a room where those things feel worth returning to.
02 Quiet Builders
Therapists who value collegial presence and appreciate being connected to a thoughtful professional field — not isolation, not a conference, but something steadier.
03 Community Oriented Clinicians
How It Works
Show up for yourself, weekly.
Each week, a small group of licensed therapists gathers for two hours of focused, structured professional work. The rhythm is simple and the structure holds itself.
two hours · tended · every week
What You Bring
Documentation and administrative work · Website updates or professional materials · Planning groups or workshops · Professional writing · Organizing systems and workflows · Referral outreach · Any professional project that needs protected time
Group Size
Intentionally kept small at 10 licensed therapists. Enough people to create a genuine professional field; few enough that everyone comes to know one another's work.
Format
Weekly on Zoom. No camera requirement during work blocks. Consistent day and time each week, so the rhythm becomes reliable
Membership
Simple, accessible membership
Spots are limited to keep the group intimate. Founding members lock in their rate for life — for as long as they remain in the group.
intimate · intentional · community
A Message From Ajen
Even those who hold space for others deserve to be held.
At Ameliora Wellness, our work centers on relational wellness, the belief that we heal, grow, and find our footing in relationships with others. That belief does not stop at the therapy room door.
There's no hallway. No staff. No one to catch your eye after a hard session. You close the door, you open the door. And somewhere in between, the work just keeps accumulating. The administrative tasks, the marketing, the things that hold a practice together but never quite make it to the top of the list.
Even with years of working alongside others in leadership teams, coworking spaces introduced me to something I hadn't quite found anywhere else.
I know the particular magic of them. Dynamically simple and yet quietly profound. Something happens when you let yourself be seen. When your work, your growth, your ordinary Tuesday morning is witnessed by people who understand.
We are practiced at witnessing others. Rarely do we let ourselves be witnessed.
The Tending Circle grew from that belief. We deserve that too.
A small group of therapists, meeting weekly, doing the real work together. Not talking about it. Actually doing it, side by side.
And in showing up week after week, something else begins to happen. We witness each other. We become people who genuinely know each other. Not from a conference or a referral directory, but from being in the room.
The Tending Circle is the community expression of A. Meliora Relational Wellness, the same belief in relational healing, turned toward those who do the healing work.
FAQ
Everything you want to know
If something isn't answered here, reach out directly at info@ameliorawellness.com
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The Tending Circle is a professional ecosystem for licensed therapists in solo private practice across the Bay Area and California. At its core is a weekly two-hour virtual coworking session: three focused work blocks, brief check-ins, and a closing peer reflection. Beyond the weekly session, members benefit from monthly intention setting and professional development conversations, quarterly reset sessions, a growing collaborative resource board curated for private practice, and ongoing community connection between sessions. It is not supervision, consultation, or a training program. It is a professional community built around protected time, collegial presence, and the slow accumulation of professional momentum.
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Some people find The Tending Circle through searches for body doubling for therapists. Body doubling, the practice of working alongside others to increase focus and follow-through, has its roots in neurodivergent and ADHD communities, where it has long been recognized as a meaningful support strategy. The research and lived experience behind it has since informed how many people think about coworking and shared presence more broadly. We honor that lineage. What happens in The Tending Circle draws on that same understanding of how presence supports focus and momentum, while being something more than a productivity technique. It is a professional community built around the belief that we do our best work, and our most sustained work, when we are not alone in it.
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No. The Tending Circle is not a peer consultation group, clinical consultation group, or supervision. Nothing that arises in this space constitutes clinical supervision or consultation. Each member remains the clinician of record for their own work and is solely responsible for their own clinical decisions. A private practice consultation group typically involves structured case review, clinical discussion, and peer feedback on clinical work. The Tending Circle is different. Members spend most of their time working independently on their own tasks: documentation, marketing, practice-building, writing, and planning. On the first Tuesday of each month, the group engages in a structured conversation focused on the business and professional side of practice, such as building referral networks, managing administrative systems, or navigating professional growth. This is a professional development conversation, not clinical consultation. We do not discuss client cases or clinical material. If you are looking for clinical consultation in the Bay Area, we are glad to recommend resources. If you are looking for a professional community that supports the business and relational side of practice, this is that.
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The Tending Circle is designed for licensed therapists in solo private practice: LCSW, MFT, PsyD, LPC, and equivalent California-licensed clinicians who want professional community, protected work time, and collegial connection. We serve therapists across the Bay Area including San Jose, San Francisco, San Mateo, Mountain View, and Sacramento, as well as throughout California. Active licensure in California is required for membership.ription
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Every Tuesday from 10am to 12pm via Zoom. The group is designed to be a consistent weekly anchor. The day and time remain the same each week so the rhythm becomes reliable.
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Camera is encouraged during the opening, check-ins, and closing reflection, as presence and connection are part of what makes the space valuable. During the work blocks, camera is optional. We recognize that therapists spend much of their day on camera with clients, and that a work block is a moment to simply work. You are welcome to turn your camera off and be present in whatever way feels right for you.
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We ask members to show up consistently, especially in the early months when the culture of the space is still forming. That said, membership is month to month, not per session. If life gets in the way of a Tuesday here and there, your membership remains the same. Occasional absences are understood. Ongoing inconsistency affects everyone in the group.
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On the first Tuesday of each month, we open with intention setting for the weeks ahead, followed by a structured group conversation on a specific topic related to the business and professional side of practice. Topics might include building referral networks, managing administrative systems, marketing, or navigating professional growth. This is a professional development conversation, not clinical consultation. We do not discuss client cases or clinical material during these sessions. A breakout room follows for those who want to go deeper and anchor their intentions in something concrete.
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Four times a year, when the calendar offers a fifth Tuesday, the group gathers for something different. In place of the regular coworking session, members are invited to a one-hour guided morning meditation, a moment to pause, breathe, and tend to themselves with the same care they bring to their clients. These sessions are included in your membership at no additional cost. Upcoming dates: June 30, September 29, and December 29, 2026, and March 30, 2027.
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Founding membership is $75/month, locked in for as long as you remain an active member. This rate is available to the first 10 members only. Membership includes weekly coworking sessions, monthly intention setting, and quarterly resets. There is no minimum term — you can pause or cancel at any time with two weeks' notice. The founding rate of $75/month is a limited offer. Once the founding cohort is full, membership will reopen at a higher rate. Founding members lock in their rate for as long as they remain active.
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No. Membership is month to month. You can pause or cancel at any time with two weeks' notice. There is no minimum term. We want therapists to join because the space is serving them, not because they feel locked in.
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If you need to step away, you are always welcome to return. Founding members who leave and return after three months or more will be welcomed back at a rate set at 25% below the general enrollment rate at the time of their return, as an ongoing expression of gratitude for their early trust. All other members who return will be welcomed back at the current general enrollment rate.
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If the founding cohort of 10 members is full when you reach out, we will add you to the waitlist. The waitlist serves two purposes: you will be the first to know when a spot opens in the current group, and you will be among the first invited when a second group forms. We will stay in touch as things develop.
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I am Jennifer "Ajen" Busher, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in solo private practice. Before stepping into private practice, I spent over 25 years in community-based mental health, starting with facilitating groups, managing cases, and directing programs with several teams. At one point in my career I was facilitating 13 groups a week. Although this was physically grueling and yet experientially enriching work, it taught me something I have never forgotten: what happens when inspired and dedicated people are in a room together.
Over the years I also experienced firsthand the power of professional community — the kind that forms when clinicians work alongside one another, not just in service of clients, but in support of each other. I saw what became possible when that community was intentional, consistent, and well held. Coworking, peer connection, and the slow building of collegial trust were not just useful — they were sustaining.
I hold an MBA in Healthcare Administration and completed my practicum in community economic development at Johns Hopkins Hospital. That background shapes how I think about this work. Clinicians are not just individual practitioners, they are contributors to the health of the communities they serve. When they are supported, connected, and resourced, the ripple effect extends well beyond the therapy room.
The Tending Circle grew from all of it.
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We are glad it resonates. You are welcome to reach out by completing the contact form on this page or by emailing us directly at info@ameliorawellness.com. Introduce yourself and share a little about your practice, and we will take it from there.
Join the Tending Circle
Reserve your spot
We are beginning with a small founding circle of 10 therapists. Founding members lock in $75/month for as long as they remain in the group. Complete the form, and I'll be in touch within 48 hours.
This is an expression of interest. We will be in touch with full details shortly.