The Tableside studio interior — a quiet room with small round tables

ABOUT TABLESIDE

Built around the table.
Shaped by listening.

We are a facilitation studio, not a clinic. We create the conditions for a particular kind of careful, structured talking between people who share a life.

Back to Home

OUR STORY

How Tableside came to be

Tableside started in 2019, when a small group of facilitators working in community development noticed something recurring: the conversations that households most needed to have were also the ones they most reliably avoided — not from bad faith, but from not having a place to have them.

They opened a studio in Bangsar Baru with a simple idea: some conversations go better at a table, with someone in the room whose only job is to keep the talking balanced and unhurried. Not to advise. Not to diagnose. Just to hold the space.

Since then, Tableside has worked with couples navigating big decisions, blended families building shared routines, and households going through transitions they needed to name out loud before they could move through them.

OUR MISSION

A studio for the conversations that matter

Our mission is to make structured facilitated conversation available to families and couples who want to practice talking more carefully — without the clinical framing of therapy or the authority of mediation.

We believe that households are more capable of finding their own way than they are given credit for. What they often need is a structure that slows things down, a prompt that opens a door, and a facilitator who does not take sides.

Tableside is that structure.

THE FACILITATION TEAM

The people at the table

SR

Siti Rahimah

Lead Facilitator & Co-Founder

Over a decade working in community facilitation and group dialogue practice. Siti leads the Couples Session programme and trains the studio's facilitators.

DL

David Lim

Senior Facilitator & Co-Founder

David brings a background in organisational dialogue and family systems education. He leads the Blended Family Block and Year subscription programme.

NJ

Nurul Jasmeen

Facilitator & Studio Coordinator

Nurul coordinates intake, scheduling, and participant preparation, and co-facilitates select sessions. She holds the studio's day-to-day rhythm together.

HOW WE WORK

Standards we hold every session to

The quality of a facilitated conversation depends on the conditions around it. These are the standards we maintain across every session format.

Session confidentiality

What is said in a session stays within the session. Notes shared between facilitators are kept internal and are never disclosed to third parties.

Impartial facilitation

Facilitators do not advocate for any participant, do not offer personal opinions, and do not steer the conversation toward a predetermined outcome.

Prepared sessions

Every session is shaped by the intake questionnaire. The facilitator arrives having read it and having selected prompts suited to the topics your household wants to explore.

Scope clarity

Tableside does not provide legal, psychological, financial, or medical advice. If a session reveals a need for a different kind of professional, we say so directly.

Data privacy

Intake questionnaire responses and session notes are stored securely and retained only for the duration of your engagement with Tableside. Refer to our Privacy Policy for full details.

Participant wellbeing

If the energy in a session becomes too difficult, the facilitator will call a pause. Participants can also request a break or close a session at any point.

VALUES & APPROACH

What we believe about conversation

Tableside operates from a few straightforward convictions. First: most households already have what they need to navigate difficult topics — they just need a structure that makes the navigation possible. The facilitator provides the structure; the household provides the conversation.

Second: pace matters. Conversations that move too fast tend to be the ones that leave people feeling unheard. Every Tableside format is built around a pace that creates room for each person to finish a thought before the next one starts.

Third: something to take away extends the value of the session. The printed prompt cards, written summaries, and facilitator notes that accompany each format are not add-ons — they are part of how the conversation continues at home, when the facilitator is no longer in the room.

Tableside is not a substitute for professional support when professional support is what is needed. It is a studio for the particular kind of talking that does not require a professional — only a table, some prompts, and an unhurried hour or two.

Ready to find the right format for your household?

Get in touch and we will help you choose the session that fits your situation. There is no obligation and no long intake process — just a conversation about conversations.

Get in Touch