Neurodiversity-affirming therapy
My approach to working with neurodivergent clients is grounded in understanding, acceptance and working with your brain rather than against it.
If you've spent much of your life feeling that you should be coping better, behaving differently or finding things easier than you do, it can be helpful to begin looking at your experiences through a neurodivergent lens.
Together, we can explore how your brain works, what you need to function well and which expectations or coping strategies may no longer be serving you.
My Approach
Person-Centred
Understanding and accepting you as an individual.
My role is to provide a space where you can feel listened to, understood and accepted without judgement.
This can help you develop greater self-awareness, self-acceptance and confidence in your own ability to make choices and changes.
Attachment-informed
Exploring relationships, connection, trust and emotional needs.
Our early relationships and experiences of connection, safety and trust can influence how you experience closeness, trust, boundaries, conflict and your own emotional needs.
Understanding these patterns can be particularly helpful if you find relationships difficult, struggle with boundaries, fear rejection or find it difficult to ask for what you need.
CBT
Exploring the connection between thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
Sometimes we can become caught in patterns of thinking or behaving that contribute to anxiety, low self-esteem, overwhelm or other difficulties.
CBT can help you identify these patterns and explore whether there are different ways of responding that may feel more helpful.
Psychodynamic
Understanding how past experiences may influence the present.
Our early experiences, relationships and the ways we learned to cope can sometimes shape patterns that continue into adulthood, often without us fully realising it.
Exploring these patterns can help you understand yourself more deeply and make sense of reactions or difficulties that may otherwise feel confusing.
How these approaches come together
These approaches aren't used separately or rigidly. I may draw on different elements depending on what you're experiencing and what we discover together.
The therapeutic relationship itself is important. Having a space where you feel listened to, respected and accepted can be an important part of the process.
My aim is not to fit you into a particular model of therapy. Instead, I use these different perspectives to help us understand you as a whole person — your thoughts, feelings, experiences, relationships, needs and strengths.
Understanding your neurodivergence
Understanding yourself can be an important part of feeling more comfortable in your own skin. We can explore how your neurodivergence may affect your thoughts, emotions, energy levels, communication, relationships and everyday life.
This can also involve recognising strengths as well as difficulties, and developing a greater understanding of why certain situations may feel particularly demanding for you.
My aim isn't to help you become more like everyone else. Instead, I support you to understand yourself and find ways of working with your individual needs.
Sensory needs and sensory rest
Sensory experiences can have a significant impact on how we feel and function. Sounds, lights, smells, textures, temperature, movement, crowded environments or too much information at once can sometimes become overwhelming.
Together, we can identify your individual sensory triggers and notice how your body and mind respond to them.
We can then explore ways of reducing sensory overload and creating opportunities for sensory rest — giving your nervous system time and space to recover from demands that may otherwise leave you feeling exhausted or overwhelmed.
This might involve identifying what helps you feel calmer, creating more supportive environments, recognising when you need a break, or finding ways to communicate your sensory needs to others.
Regulation
We can explore regulation in a way that recognises that neurodivergent people experience everyday demands differently.
Mental regulation — understanding thoughts, mental overload, concentration and the need for processing time.
Emotional regulation — recognising emotions, understanding what may be contributing to them and finding ways to move through difficult emotional experiences.
Physical regulation — noticing what your body needs, including movement, rest, sensory input and opportunities to recover.
Behavioural regulation — understanding how you respond when overwhelmed, how current behaviour patterns may be driving dysregulation, and exploring alternative ways of managing situations.
Together, we can develop a greater awareness of what is happening for you and explore strategies that support you to feel more balanced, comfortable and able to respond in ways that work for you.
Working with your brain, not against it
For me, neurodiversity-affirming therapy is about moving away from the idea that there is one “right” way to think, feel, communicate or experience the world.
It is about understanding your individual needs, recognising what your brain and body are telling you, and finding ways of living that feel more sustainable and authentic.
You don't need to change who you are to deserve understanding, acceptance and support.
Contact
Email me to book a Free 15-Minute Consultation, or with any questions you may have.