Royal recognition

London based consultant clinical psychologist Dr Zenobia Nadirshaw was conferred the MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) by Prince William at Buckingham Palace on June 12, 2019 in recognition of her 44 years of service to people with learning/intellectual disabilities and for people with mental health problems.
On receiving the honor, Nadirshaw thanked Prince William for the way he and his brother Prince Harry had raised the profile of mental health in England. She further informed him that one in four persons suffers from anxiety and depression in England and in the Royal borough of Kensington and Chelsea where she worked and where he lives she shared with Parsiana. In her various professional roles as a manager, clinician, academic, she has made a significant impact on psychological service delivery for Black and minority ethnic communities who currently total 14% of the British population. She has also been given credit for implementing different training approaches for health professionals, challenging the long-standing, standardized ones.
"A total of 1,148 people have received an award in the New Year’s Honours List 2019,” noted a communiqué from Malcolm Deboo, president of the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe, congratulating their life member on the latest honor.
 
 
 
 
 Dr Zenobia Nadirshaw; right: MBE medal Photo: Wikipedia
 

Dedicating the MBE to the memory of her parents Rustom and Mehroo Gotla, she appreciated how they sensitized her to the values of freedom and equality for vulnerable people. They gave her the confidence to pursue her chosen path and to "keep on walking with good thoughts, words and deeds as my constant companions in life. They taught me about inner beauty, compassion, and how charity and kindness emerges in one’s work if one is dedicated and committed to doing right for people and the communities they belong to… The support provided by them and sisters Zarine Munshi, Shernaz Gardner, Behroze Bhasin was overwhelming. I am also very grateful to my husband Zubin for his constant support and encouragement over the last 40 years,” she conveyed in her email responses to Parsiana. 
Bombay born Nadirshaw has been living in London for the past 45 years. After retiring from the National Health Service she has chaired several health and social service groups/committees. She has also been given credit for directing and leading substantial organizational change at local and national levels within the London boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea and also in the British Psychological Society (BPS) and Division of Clinical Psychology.
Well known in academia, she continues to serve as external examiner for three universities, is a lecturer, supervisor and mentor for psychologists, and seeks to raise awareness of the discrimination in the health, education, social services and housing departments. Her treatise, Clinical Psychology, Race and Culture: A Training Manual had won the British Medical Association Book of the Year Award.
In her opinion, the Parsi community needs to unite "as one main Zoroastrian community with inclusion principles for all who share the basic tenets of the religion and who live by the faith of Prophet Zarathushtra… Do as much as one can for the community.”