Why I do this work | How I work | Who I Work With | My Background | Practicalities
Quick Snapshot
Aernout Zevenbergen is an SGfB-registered and BACP-accredited counsellor based in Nyon and Lausanne. Since 2015 he has worked in private practice with individuals, couples, and men. He also lectures at Webster University Geneva, teaching master’s level courses in foundational counselling skills. Earlier, his years as a journalist in Africa led to his book Spots of a Leopard: On Being a Man in Africa (2009), which was nominated for the Dick Scherpenzeel Prize.
Why I Do This Work
I’ve seen what happens when people live disconnected from themselves. When they swallow things down. When they fall silent.
When life overwhelms. When they keep performing or pushing through, long past the point of sense or sanity.
I’ve lived versions of it myself.
This work isn’t about fixing people. It’s about helping them come back into honest contact—with what they feel, what they want, and what they might have been avoiding. To find their footing, to find a path forwards.
This work isn’t about fixing people.
For me, counselling is about creating a space where it is possible, and safe, to drop the mask, if only for a short while.
A space where someone gets to talk, feel deeply, speak their truth—even when it’s scary—sit in silence, and try new ways of expressing and caring for themselves in more fulfilling ways.
I don’t offer a magic wand. I offer a walking stick—so you don’t have to walk the next part alone.
How I Work
Sessions with me are straightforward and grounded, getting quickly to what’s alive for you. I pay close attention not only to what you say but also to what seems left unsaid.
I don’t do scripted therapy. Each individual is unique—their circumstances, experiences, joys, and sorrows shape the work. We shape the pace and focus around what you need, not theory or agenda.
I offer clear feedback and honest reflection, and sessions balance honest conversation, reflective silence, and practical experimentation. There might be moments where I challenge you, but only after asking your permission and always with compassion, curiosity, and respect.
“I commit to exploring what feels stuck or unresolved—and what’s needed now, from you or for you.”
We work together at your pace to uncover new ways forward that fit your life and values. The goal is real change, not just insight, within a space safe enough for honesty and vulnerability.
I am an SGfB-registered psychosocial counsellor, meeting the Swiss professional association’s standards for training, ethics, and ongoing development — a framework that informs my work every day.
Sessions with me are
straightforward and grounded
Who I Work With
I welcome everyone. After all, we all go through phases that feel sticky, prickly, or outright uncomfortable. Whether invited or not, trouble knocks on everyone’s door.
I work with men, couples, and individuals who find themselves caught in old patterns, raw emotions, and tough realities, or numbed down and burnt out. On my service pages you’ll find more about Couples Counselling in Lausanne & Nyon, Counselling for Men, and Individual Counselling.
People don’t always choose for themselves to come or find it easy to stay in the process of counselling. But they do come—and they do return—because they know that something needs to give.
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No perfect story or clear question is needed to start the work. What matters is showing up.
I’ll meet you where you are.
Growth can mean stepping into unfamiliar territory — and part of my work is helping you meet that transition fully. If you’ like to prepare yourself for that part, my blog The Path of Growth explores why letting go is essential for shifts to take place. And in the post Every Visitor Brings A Gift I play a little bit more with how that could unfold.
My Background
I was born in Zambia and spent the first three years of my life in Africa. After that, we moved to the Netherlands, where I grew up in a large, creative family on the edge of the Veluwe. A forest, music, a house full of conversation and DIY. What began there continued to grow: a curiosity about what moves people, touches them, or silences them.
Decades after spending my early childhood there, I returned to Africa — this time as a correspondent. I listened, observed, asked questions. More and more often, the stories I captured touched on my own questions: about love, masculinity, loss, and connection. Gradually, my focus shifted from reporting on news to deepening my attention to how people manage the dilemmas and flows of life. Out of those years came my book Spots of a Leopard: On Being a Man in Africa (2009). The work was nominated for the Dick Scherpenzeel Prize, a Dutch journalism award.
In Nairobi, I began studying counselling psychology — as an extension of what I had already been doing for years: being with people, without pretence, experiencing life — in sadness, confusion, joy; everything that is human.
Since 2015, I’ve been working in private practice, where the dynamics of relationships — between lovers, within families, within ourselves — are central. In that theme, everything comes together: communication, boundaries, vulnerability, intimacy in all its forms, love, openness.
And also shame, anger, loneliness, longing, grief. Not just as abstract concepts, but as experiences I’ve had to learn to navigate myself.
In recent years, my curiosity about the intricacies of being human has also led into the classroom: since 2023 I have lectured at Webster University Geneva, teaching master’s level courses in foundational counselling skills.
What drives me — in every session, every lecture, every encounter, every silence — is exactly this: learning to be human, no matter what — honest, present, relational and receptive.
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I am a counsellor, friend, university lecturer, father, neighbour, son and brother — roles that keep me deeply rooted in life.
My mountain bike is my temple, often taking me into the Jura or the Alps.
I was born in Zambia and grew up in the Netherlands, and later returned to Africa as a journalist. Listening to people’s stories — about love, masculinity, loss, and connection — gradually pulled me from reporting news into exploring the deeper questions of life.
Since 2015, I’ve worked in private practice, and more recently I also lecture at Webster University Geneva. At the heart of it all is one thread: learning to be human, honest and present.
Decades after spending my early childhood there, I returned to Africa — this time as a correspondent. I listened, observed, asked questions. More and more often, the stories I captured touched on my own questions: about love, masculinity, loss, and connection. Gradually, my focus shifted from reporting on news to deepening my attention to how people manage the dilemmas and flows of life. Out of those years came my book Spots of a Leopard: On Being a Man in Africa (2009). The work was nominated for the Dick Scherpenzeel Prize, a Dutch journalism award.
In Nairobi, I began studying counselling psychology — as an extension of what I had already been doing for years: being with people, without pretence, experiencing life — in sadness, confusion, joy; everything that is human.
Since 2015, I’ve been working in private practice, where the dynamics of relationships — between lovers, within families, within ourselves — are central. In that theme, everything comes together: communication, boundaries, vulnerability, intimacy in all its forms, love, openness.
And also shame, anger, loneliness, longing, grief. Not just as abstract concepts, but as experiences I’ve had to learn to navigate myself.
In recent years, my curiosity about the intricacies of being human has also led into the classroom: since 2023 I have lectured at Webster University Geneva, teaching master’s level courses in foundational counselling skills.
What drives me — in every session, every lecture, every encounter, every silence — is exactly this: learning to be human, no matter what — honest, present, relational and receptive.
🍃
I am a counsellor, friend, university lecturer, father, neighbour, son and brother — roles that keep me deeply rooted in life.
My mountain bike is my temple, often taking me into the Jura or the Alps.
You can connect with me on
LinkedIn
Practicalities
Session Length:
60- and 90-minute sessions are available for individuals. All couples sessions last 90 minutes.
Location:
I offer in-person counselling in Nyon and Lausanne, Switzerland, and online via secure video calls.
Languages:
I offer English-speaking Therapy in Switzerland, as well as sessions in Dutch.
Fees & Payment:
For current fees and payment details, please see my practicalities page.
Booking & Cancellation:
Appointments can be booked online via the booking page. Please give at least 24 hours’ notice for cancellations or rescheduling.
Accreditation: Registered with the SGfB (Swiss Professional Association for Counselling) as a psychosocial counsellor and the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).
Sessions in Nyon, Lausanne, or online. Available in English and Dutch. Tap below for full details.
Session Length:
60- and 90-minute sessions are available for individuals. All couples sessions last 90 minutes.
Location:
I offer in-person counselling in Nyon and Lausanne, Switzerland, and online via secure video calls.
Languages:
Sessions are conducted in English or Dutch.
Fees & Payment:
For current fees and payment details, please see my practicalities page.
Booking & Cancellation:
Appointments can be booked online via the booking page.
Please give at least 24 hours’ notice for cancellations or rescheduling.
Accreditation:
Registered with the SGfB (Swiss Professional Association for Counselling) as a psychosocial counsellor and the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).
If you’d like to know more about my work, explore the pages on Couples Counselling, , Individual Counselling, or Counselling for Men
The human soul doesn’t want to be advised or fixed or saved.
It simply wants to be witnessed — exactly as it is.
– Parker J. Palmer
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