The Child Everyone Sees
As the teacher described my eight-year-old daughter as smiley, keen to please, compliant, and always trying her best, I felt both proud and deeply sad at the same time.
I am grateful that she is seen positively within school. Yet I also know that this outward presentation does not reflect her full lived reality as a child with an internalised presentation of autism and several identified additional needs. Her distress is not overtly visible within the classroom environment, but invisibility does not mean absence.
The Hidden Cost of Masking
I know the cost of the mask she wears each day. I see the exhaustion after school, the anxiety, the emotional dysregulation, the overwhelm, and the distress that emerges only when she finally reaches the safety of home. I understand that the discrepancy between the compliant, capable child at school and the struggling child outside of school can be difficult to comprehend for those without experience of neurodivergence and masking presentations.
Knowing the Child Beneath the Mask
However, I know my daughter deeply. I am her fiercest advocate and her greatest source of safety and support. I understand both the mask she presents to the world and the anxiety that exists beneath it. I support her not only through what others can see, but through everything she works so hard to hide.
And perhaps I understand because I remember. I remember what it was to be a girl behind the mask myself. That is why I will continue to advocate for my daughter – not simply for the child the world sees, but for the child behind the mask who needs our love and support.
A Meltdown Isn’t Just a Meltdown
Loving a child with a unique set of needs has taught me a different language entirely. It is a language of nuance, of tones and textures.
Just as a mother learns the different cries of her baby – how one sound signals hunger, another being overtired, another discomfort or pain – I have learned that my child’s meltdowns are not one thing. Each sounds different, is due to a different combination of needs and requires a different way of supporting.
When Anger Is Really Dysregulation
There is the angry, upset dysregulation. The slam of a door, the retreat to a bedroom, the fierce need to be alone. I stand nearby, not intruding, but present, holding space for when the storm softens.
When the World Becomes Too Much
Then there is the complete overstimulation. The world has simply been too much – too loud, too bright, too busy. In these moments, words fall away. A blanket, a cuddle, a quiet corner. I don’t fix; I soothe. Offer a crunchy or chewy snack. I become a place of rest.
When Anxiety Takes Over
Sometimes anxiety takes the lead. It looks like hiding under the duvet, withdrawing, disappearing into small spaces. Fear wraps tightly around my child, and the world feels unsafe. I join her and I remind her that she is not alone.
The Build-Up Behind the Explosion
There are days when the overwhelm spills outward after an outing. Too many people, too many expectations, too much sensory input. Add to that an exhausted social battery, the weight of anticipation unmet, and the need to equalise, and it all erupts. These moments are layered, complex. I remind myself: this didn’t start here. My role is not to discipline the explosion but to understand the build-up.
The Quiet Forms of Dysregulation
And then there are the quieter forms of dysregulation. The kind that needs soothing, not solving. Dark evenings, heavy feelings, a nervous system that cannot settle. In these moments, I sit close and steady, a quiet presence in the same room.
When the Need for Stimulation Becomes Distress
Then there is distress due to an intense need for sensory input, excitement and dopamine, which seems to combine sensory-seeking behaviour of autism with dopamine seeking of ADHD and the intense dysregulation of PDA. Desperately shouting, “I’m bored, I’m bored.” with increasing intensity, rapidly escalating into a full meltdown.
Boredom – not the type on a holiday afternoon reading on the bed. Boredom that is discomfort, agitation, an intense need for stimulation that cannot be easily satisfied. Every suggestion of an activity is wrong. Every option falls short. The frustration builds and spills into screams, into a desperate loop that even she cannot escape. It peaks with a frantic “Help me, help me, help me, Mummy” cry. The intensity of the cry pierces my heart.
Meeting the Need, Not the Behaviour
This is not the time for me to distract her with humour, nor to step back and give her space to calm down. Empathising would only escalate the situation. A calm presence without action would agitate her further. The loving presence of a mum is not enough. Suggesting fun activities isn’t enough. This is the time when I need to help her transition out of the loop and help her find her way back. Because the “Help me, help me” cries can soon turn into “I don’t want to live anymore. The intensity is too much.”
I hug her tightly and we rock together for a long time. She needs me close whilst also needing movement in her body. We try sensory input from cold water on her face, then an ice lolly. I am here with you, and I will help you through this.
Every Meltdown Tells a Different Story
Sometimes presence, understanding and empathy are sufficiently soothing to ride out the wave of a meltdown. But in moments like these, she needs not only a calm presence but also sensory stimulation. My challenge is to recognise the nuances of her distress and the different ways each one needs to be supported.
About me
Relationships can be difficult when two people experience the world in very different ways. You might care deeply about each other but still find yourselves having the same arguments, misunderstanding what the other person meant, or feeling as though your needs just do not make sense to your partner.
This can be particularly difficult when ADHD, Autism or AuDHD is part of the relationship. Sometimes one partner is diagnosed and the other is not. Sometimes both partners are neurodivergent but in very different ways. What helps one person feel calm, connected or secure may be exactly what feels overwhelming, frustrating or confusing to the other.
As a neurodivergent counsellor myself, and someone with a neurodiverse family, I understand that these differences can affect relationships in ways that are not always recognised by more traditional relationship advice.
Over time, couples can get stuck in patterns where both people feel unheard or misunderstood. One person may feel that they are constantly asking for the same thing, while the other feels criticised or as though nothing they do is ever quite right. Small disagreements can become much bigger because they are touching on years of frustration, hurt or feeling unseen.
I offer couples counselling that takes these differences seriously without making either partner the problem.
My role is not to decide who is right or wrong, or to take sides. I want both of you to have the opportunity to explain how the relationship feels from your side, while also beginning to understand more clearly what may be happening for your partner.
Ways of Working
I am an Integrative counsellor and draw on Person-Centred Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy and CBT, adapting the way I work depending on what you need as a couple.
In sessions, we may look at the patterns that keep repeating between you, what tends to trigger conflict or withdrawal, and what is happening underneath those reactions. Sometimes the argument you are having now is not really about the washing up, being late, forgetting something or needing time alone. It can also be about feeling unimportant, rejected, controlled, criticised or not understood.
Where neurodivergence is part of the relationship, it can be helpful to look more closely at the differences between you rather than assuming that one way of communicating or doing things is the correct one.
For example, one partner may need to talk something through immediately while the other needs time to process before they can respond. One person may rely heavily on routine and predictability, while the other struggles with planning or remembering. One may need more physical or emotional closeness when they are upset, while the other needs space before they can reconnect.
Neither response is automatically wrong, but these differences can become painful when neither person understands what is happening.
We can work together to understand those patterns, communicate more clearly and find ways of meeting each other that feel realistic for both of you.
You do not need to have a formal diagnosis to come to counselling. You may already know that ADHD, Autism or AuDHD is part of your relationship; you may be questioning whether neurodivergence is relevant, or you may simply know that the usual relationship advice has never quite fitted.
I offer face-to-face couples counselling at Eastham Hall on the Wirral, in a private and peaceful setting where there is space for both of you to talk openly.
The Types of Issues I Support Neurodivergent Clients With
- Communication difficulties
- Repeated arguments or the same issues coming up again and again
- Feeling misunderstood, unheard or disconnected
- ADHD, Autism and AuDHD within relationships
- Late diagnosis and the impact this can have on a couple
- Different communication and processing styles
- Emotional dysregulation
- Rejection sensitivity
- Differences around routine, organisation and planning
- Executive functioning difficulties
- Unequal mental load
- Sensory differences
- Intimacy and emotional connection
- Parenting and family pressures
- Burnout, stress and overwhelm
- Trust and relationship repair
- Major life changes
- Understanding and communicating individual needs
Qualifications
BSc (Open)
CPCAB Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling
FIL Rainbow Baby Specialist
FIL Infertility Specialist
Additional CPD Specific to Neurodiversity
Working With Neurodivergent Couples and Relationships: A Neuro-Affirming Approach – Aspire Autism Consultancy
A Neuro-Affirming Approach to Working with Autistic Clients – Aspire Autism Consultancy
ADHD in The Therapy Room – Aspire Autism Consultancy
ADHD Coaching: What Is It and Who Is It For? – Aspire Autism Consultancy
Unseen Minds Practitioner – Aphantasia Academy
I continue to undertake professional development around ADHD, Autism, AuDHD, relationships, emotional regulation and neurodivergent wellbeing.
About me
Relationships where one or both partners are neurodivergent can be deeply rewarding, but they can also become caught in cycles of misunderstanding, frustration and disconnection. Often, both partners are trying their best, yet each experiences the relationship very differently.
I specialise in working with neurodiverse couples, including relationships where one or both partners are autistic, have ADHD, or identify as AuDHD. I have considerable experience of working with neurodiverse couples within the LGBTQ+ community, but I work with people of all sexualities.
Many of the couples I see have spent years feeling stuck in repeating patterns around communication, emotional needs, sensory differences, executive functioning, intimacy or conflict. Rather than viewing these differences as problems to fix, I help couples understand how each partner experiences the world and how those differences influence the relationship.
My work integrates Transactional Analysis psychotherapy with Imago Relationship Therapy. TA helps us understand how early attachment experiences and lifelong relational patterns influence the ways we communicate, respond to conflict and seek connection. Imago offers practical tools that help couples slow conversations down, listen more deeply and develop greater empathy for one another.
I have completed specialist training in working with neurodiverse couples and provide an affirming, non-pathologising approach that values difference rather than expecting either partner to change who they are.
Ways of Working
Every neurodiverse relationship is unique, so I tailor therapy to your individual needs. Together we explore the patterns that leave both partners feeling unheard or misunderstood, while developing new ways of communicating that honour each person’s different way of thinking, processing and relating.
Rather than deciding who is right or wrong, my role is to help you understand each other’s experiences more fully. As insight develops, couples often find greater compassion, reduced conflict and a stronger sense of connection.
Whether you’re navigating a new diagnosis, adjusting to life as a neurodiverse couple, rebuilding trust or simply wanting a healthier relationship, therapy provides a space where both partners can feel understood, respected and supported.
The Types of Issues I Support Neurodivergent Clients With
- Understanding the link between the past and the present
- Communication issues, recognising the dynamics at play, differing styles, utilising tools to aid better communication
- Learning to recognise and support each other’s individual needs
- Helping to deepen connection
- Financial issues
- Issues with trust
- Intimacy
- Working through the fallout from infidelity
- Difficulties with members of extended family
- Emotional regulation
- Life management and coaching: developing strategies and understanding
- Self-awareness
- Separation and divorce
- Parenting difficulties
Qualifications
TA 101, Manchester Institute of Psychotherapy, 2018
Diploma in Transational Analysis from an Integrative Perspective, Manchester Institute of Psychotherapy, 2018-2022
Additional CPD Specific to Neurodiversity
ADHD in the Therapy Room – A neuro-affirming approach Cert, Aspire Autism Consultancy, Nov 2025
Working with neurodiverse couples Cert, Aspire Autism Consultancy, Jan 2026
A Neuro-Affirming Approach to Working with Autistic Clients Cert, Aspire Autism Consultancy, Feb 2026
About me
Many of the people I work with have spent years feeling that they are “too much”, “not enough”, or somehow different from everyone else. Some come to therapy following a diagnosis of autism or ADHD in adulthood, while others are questioning whether neurodivergence might explain experiences they’ve carried throughout their lives.
Growing up in a world that isn’t designed for neurodivergent minds can lead to years of masking, exhaustion, anxiety, low self-worth and feeling misunderstood. Therapy offers a space where you don’t have to mask or explain yourself. Together, we can begin to understand your experiences through a neuro-affirming lens, making sense of how your nervous system, relationships and life experiences have shaped the person you are today.
My work combines Transactional Analysis psychotherapy with attachment theory, relational psychotherapy and trauma-informed practice. TA is particularly helpful in exploring the beliefs we develop about ourselves through early relationships and repeated life experiences. For many neurodivergent people, these beliefs can include feelings of being “wrong”, “too sensitive”, “too emotional”, or needing to hide parts of themselves in order to be accepted. Together, we explore these patterns with compassion, helping you move away from self-criticism and towards greater self-understanding and self-acceptance.
I work with autistic adults, ADHDers, AuDHD individuals and those exploring whether they may be neurodivergent. Alongside neurodivergence, I support clients experiencing anxiety, burnout, relationship difficulties, trauma, emotional overwhelm, perfectionism, rejection sensitivity, low self-esteem and major life transitions. I have considerable experience of working with people who identify as LGBTQ+ but I work with people of all sexualities.
Ways of Working
I believe therapy should adapt to you—not the other way around. My approach is collaborative, flexible and neuro-affirming, recognising that every person’s experience of neurodivergence is unique.
The therapeutic relationship is at the heart of our work. Together we create a space where you can explore your thoughts and emotions without judgement, develop a deeper understanding of yourself, and discover ways of living that feel more authentic and sustainable.
Whether you’re processing a recent diagnosis, recovering from burnout, struggling in relationships, or simply wanting to understand yourself better, I aim to help you build a life that works with your neurodivergence rather than against it.
The Types of Issues I Support Neurodivergent Clients With
- Wanting to explore your neurodiversity pre or post diagnosis
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Low-self esteem
- Burnout
- Emotional regulation
- Life management and coaching: developing strategies and understanding.
- Self-awareness, acceptance of who you are, self-compassion
- Bullying
- Relationship difficulties
- Separation and divorce
- Gender and identity
- Parenting
- Workplace issues
- Men’s mental health
Qualifications
TA 101, Manchester Institute of Psychotherapy, 2018
Diploma in Transational Analysis from an Integrative Perspective, Manchester Institute of Psychotherapy, 2018-2022
Additional CPD Specific to Neurodiversity
ADHD in the Therapy Room – A neuro-affirming approach Cert, Aspire Autism Consultancy, Nov 2025
Working with neurodiverse couples Cert, Aspire Autism Consultancy, Jan 2026
A Neuro-Affirming Approach to Working with Autistic Clients Cert, Aspire Autism Consultancy, Feb 2026
About me
Hi there…. I’m Annette. I am down to earth, genuine, compassionate and a curious person-centred therapist. I have a neuro-affirming informal style of practice which I believe helps anyone to be as comfortable as possible. I’m without judgement, which allows our sessions to be a place to explore ourselves without the pressure of social norms.
I’m an integrative therapist and I work using different modalities as well as being person-centred. Psycho-education is also helpful to understand our thoughts, feelings and behaviours, so I share fact-based evidence to support potential change as a resource to understanding ourselves.
I’m curious to understand how you experience yourself in your world, so we would work collaboratively.
I also have everyday neuro-spicy lived-experience in my family life, so some strategies, ideas and suggestions are drawn from my biggest toolbox, my own self!
Ways of Working
Getting some understanding about what’s going on in your life, it might help you to take a look at how the past has shaped your life, and this can help you move forwards positively.
Your phenomenological experience of life is felt, and I really do want to know about what you’ve experienced and how you feel about your unique world. It could be that you are a neurodivergent person and want to explore and understand the conditions and challenges of living in a neuro-typical world. Finally, the world could begin to make sense now that you have the pieces to your own jigsaw that were hidden in the box until now.
I am also a Relate-trained couples counselling practitioner. I work with neuro-typical, neuro-diverse or mixed neuro-types. I work with all relationships and the implicit ways that we relate within the relationship. My work is to enable couples better understanding and communication with each other in a safe and positive way…leading to greater understanding of who and what they are, what they want to become and how do that as a couple. I work together with you to discover habit-patterns and behaviours that couples find themselves unhelpfully stuck in, which sometimes can be hurtful to the relationship and the individuals. Couple-work in therapy helps to create new communication in the relationship that leads to closeness, understanding, freedom and security.
I work online and in person for individual therapy. But for couples therapy I prefer to work in person from my comfortable therapy room within Croft Myl in Halifax, West Yorkshire.
After you’ve initially got in touch, I offer a free 20-minute phone call – to see if we feel that we can work together and how that might look. My work times are Tuesday – Thursday daytime and evening, and some Saturdays. I offer weekly and fortnightly appointments. We can work short-term with solution-focused therapy or at a different pace for discovery without a time-limit
The Types of Issues I Support Neurodivergent Clients With
- Identity work – realising, or a new diagnosis of Autism, ADHD or AuDHD.
- Life history – reflective meaning-making of the past with a neurodivergent perspective.
- Explore and understand emotional wellbeing and mental health. Self-care and health.
- Life management and coaching: developing strategies and understanding.
- Feelings, becoming regulated emotionally. Recognising burnout.
- Learning your strengths.
- Becoming comfortable with who you are, self-compassion and acceptance.
- Relational skills – workplace/love-relationships/friendships.
- Intimacy, desire.
Qualifications
Relate-trained PGCert Relational Counselling, Systemic Couple Counselling.
PG Dip Counselling and Psychotherapy.
BSc (Hons) Social Sciences (Social Psychology).
Additional CPD Specific to Neurodiversity
I have 7 years of counselling experience and in the last three years my practice has progressed to focus on neurodiverse clients and couples.
I am an Accredited Member of BACP, member number: 38814, (British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy). I comply with their Code of Ethics.
I have become a member of Aspire Consultancy, which means I have completed:
- Neuro-Divergent Couples Course – Aspire Autism consultancy.
- Best Practice when Supporting Autistic Clients – Aspire Autism Consultancy.
- ADHD in The Therapy Room – Aspire Autism Consultancy.
I regularly attend Aspire Consultancy’s Monthly CPD Group focusing on Neurodiversity.
About me
I’ve been working as a therapist then as a psychologist for 27 years in total and for over 20 years have specialised in relationship therapy. I work with couples or people in open relationships. I have considerable experience of working with people who identify as LGBTQ+ but I work with people of all sexualities.
I enjoy working with neurodivergent and mixed neurotype relationships (whether formally diagnosed or not). My work is grounded in double empathy i.e. that all partners can develop greater understanding of different lived experience, ways of making sense of differences and what their needs are within a relationship.
My philosophy is that all relationships are different and neurodiversity brings another facet to this difference. I was diagnosed with dyspraxia as an adult and it was pivotal in helping better understand why so many things had felt hard in life, including how I related to other people. An improved understanding about neurodiversity has helped me in my own relationship and in my clinical practice.
Ways of Working
When clients first make contact, I meet with each person separately as well as meeting you together as an assessment for relationship therapy. I will ask you questions about your relationships and what brings you to seek out help. I encourage you to ask me whatever you need to so that you can feel more at ease both with me and the therapy process. Together we will discuss what is going on in your relationship and what we think would be the focus of our conversations and how sessions are structured.
It is important to me that I am ethical in all my work and part of this is being honest about whether I think my approach could be useful. Sometimes another type of support, or another person may be more appropriate and that is fine, it’s important that you have the right therapist on this journey! If we all think there is a good fit and we think relationship therapy is the right step, then we arrange ongoing sessions.
These can be in person in South Wales or online. I suggest we book 4-6 sessions and then we review if the process is useful to you and agree further sessions. I usually see clients for 3 to 4 months, but this is flexible depending on what is working for you.
Relationship therapy is often described as a chance to reset. We will work together to find shared understandings of problems, how each partner has contributed to some of the patterns / cycles you get into. We will explore what the relationship used to be and what you would like it to be in the future. We will look at where there can be changes and where there will have to be acceptance, after all relationships are made up of individuals with differences, even if we happen to share the same neurotype.
I don’t have magic wands or all the answers, relationship therapy is a collaboration between us all. I commit to bringing my authentic self to our work together including my expertise as a relationship psychologist. But you are the experts on yourselves. The collaboration will work best if you are motivated to understand yourself, your partner and your relationship. If this sounds like you, and you believe that I could be a good fit, please get in touch via my contact form below and I will provide you with any additional information you may require.
The Types of Issues I Support Neurodivergent Clients With
I work with all relationship issues that can arise in mixed neurotype relationships or where each partner has neurodivergence. Here are three examples
- Communication challenges – struggles to express, difficulty being understood, differences in styles, arguments and unresolved recurrent discussions.
- Recognising and responding to each other’s needs (e.g. for affection or support) in order to build greater connection.
- Considering opening up a monogamous relationship or navigating agreements within an open relationship
Some people come to work out if the relationship can be saved, others know they want to stay in their relationship but feel they have lost their way together and others one person is unhappy, but the partner is not clear why they feel this way. Some people have been together for many years and things have gradually become more difficult; others have only been together a short time but want to do some preventative work to stop problems growing. Basically, there are no rights or wrongs in when or why you seek relationship therapy what is more important is that you each have a sense that you want to improve your relationship.
Qualifications
Doctorate in Counselling Psychology
Intermediate Training in Systemic Family Therapy
Post Graduate Certificate in Relationship Therapy
University Advanced Diploma in Couple counselling
Gestalt Couples Counselling Certificate
PhD– Counselling & Organisational Psychology
Online Therapy Certificate
BPS Approved Supervisor Training
Diploma in Supervision
Additional CPD Specific to Neurodiversity
Working With Neurodiverse Couples and Relationships: A Neuro-Affirming Approach – Aspire Autism Consultancy
ADHD in The Therapy Room – Aspire Autism Consultancy
Relationships and Autism and Aspergers – Relate Cymru
Couples and Autism – Relate
Attendance of Aspire Consultancy’s Monthly CPD Group focusing on Neurodiversity.
About me
I am passionate about empowering, supporting and enabling neurodivergent individuals to help communicate to themselves and understand how their unique brain works. I believe that it isn’t about being “good at Art”, it is about the process of making art that heals, not the end result. As someone who is neurodivergent, I recognise that every single individual is different in their own specific way. Therefore, it is my personal duty of care to ensure that I as a therapist provide and have a therapeutic practice and modality that is adaptable, versatile, warm and welcoming. I provide a safe, contained, non-judgmental therapeutic space for self-expression, encouraging individuals to communicate both verbally and non-verbally. I have my own private Art Psychotherapy studio which I designed, created and built myself. The studio is based in an old Mill next to a park and nature reserve, located in Stalybridge just outside of Manchester.
Ways of Working
Over the past 15 years I have studied, explored and refined my artistic therapeutic practice to ensure that my clients feel safe, secure and able to express themselves freely without fear, pressure or judgement. I believe that this can act as a springboard for clients to begin to understand their emotions, which in turn enables them to develop self-confidence, build self-esteem and begin to learn how to self-regulate whilst becoming more self-aware. I do this by using a person-centred psychodynamic approach. Focusing on the individual’s strengths, challenges, traumas, triggers and goals. Whilst having my own private practice, I also have trained, worked and practiced in various settings including all levels of education from primary to secondary mainstream, specialist school, higher education, NHS mental health community settings, rehabilitation centre’s and also within the voluntary sector. I have worked within these areas for over 10 years and have also taken my work globally, delivering Art Psychotherapy in parts of Asia.
The Types of Issues I Support Neurodivergent Clients With
- Self-esteem, self awareness, self confidence.
- Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD)
- Depression
- Bereavement and Loss
- Health and Social Anxiety
- Anger
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Stress Management
- Early Intervention
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Anxiety
- Suicidal Tendencies
- Learning Difficulties
- Behavioural Difficulties
- Loneliness
- Body Dysmorphia
- Self-help
- Self-Harm
- Low Mood
- Wellbeing
- Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Eating Disorders
- Personality Disorder
- Seasonal Depression
Qualifications
I am dedicated to my profession. To see the journey that my clients embark on and to be able to be there to facilitate their life transitions gives me continuous faith in the art therapy process and the lasting effect it can have on a person’s life. This is why I am committed to delivering consistent therapy to each and every one of my clients.
Master (MA) of Art Psychotherapy.
Postgraduate Foundation Diploma in Fine Art.
Bachelor of Arts (BA) Degree in Fine Art.
HCPC – Health and Care Professions Council Accredited – Reg. No AS15814
Foundation Diploma in Art Therapy
BAAT Qualified Clinical Supervisor
Qualified Art Psychotherapist Practitioner
BAAT – British Association of Art Therapists Member
DBS approved and on the DBS update service also.
Registered member with Data Security Information Governance.
Additional CPD Specific to Neurodiversity
A Neuro-Affirming Approach to Working with Autistic Clients
ADHD in The Therapy Room – A Neuro-Affirming Approach
Safeguarding Training with Children levels one, two and three.
Safeguarding Training with Adults levels one, two and three.
Trauma Informed Safeguarding Training.
Certification in Prevent Duty Training.
ADHD and Autism developmental trauma Training.
Autism and ADHD attachment training.
About me
Hi, I’m Sarah.
I am a qualified ADHD Coach and a Professional Member of the Universal Coaching Alliance (UCA).
I offer neuro-affirming, person-centred ADHD coaching in a warm, supportive space where you can feel understood, respected and encouraged to find approaches that work for you.
I work with young people aged 16+ and adults, and I also support parents and carers with practical guidance so they can feel more confident in understanding and responding to ADHD-related needs.
My understanding of autism and ADHD is shaped by lived family experience and my own late diagnosis. I know how different each person’s experience can be, and I believe support should feel personal, affirming and genuinely helpful. A formal diagnosis is not required; I work alongside people to help them understand their challenges, recognise their strengths and find practical ways forward.
I have had the privilege of supporting autistic children, young people and adults, as well as people with ADHD and dual diagnoses, across a range of roles. What matters most to me is offering support that feels thoughtful, practical and genuinely affirming.
I have supported neurodivergent children and young people through local authority education outreach, within schools, and by advising on reasonable adjustments. I have also worked in CAMHS, supported referrals for neurodevelopmental assessments. I also have many years’ experience supporting neurodivergent adults through NHS-contracted charity work and private practice.
As an ADHD coach, I work with young people and adults. With young people, I explore strategies that can support study, organisation, socialisation, daily functioning and home life.
When working with adults, I explore challenges across home, relationships and work, and support people to develop strategies that bring more balance and improve wellbeing.
I work alongside people to help them understand how ADHD affects them and to develop practical strategies for daily life, confidence, self-advocacy and wellbeing. My hope is that people leave feeling more understood, more confident in themselves, and better equipped to manage life in ways that feel realistic and sustainable.
I also support communication at work, including discussing support needs and recommendations in the workplace. I can also help parents and young people explain a young person’s needs in education and communicate recommendations for support.
I also provide information about the neurodevelopmental assessment process, helping people feel more informed, reassured and supported throughout.
Ways of Working
I offer face-to-face sessions in Shelley and Honley, Huddersfield, as well as online and telephone sessions.
I work with young people (16+), and adults
Fortnightly sessions are available for adults.
The Types of Issues I Support Neurodivergent Clients With
- Acceptance of neurodivergence and identity – A space to explore identity, self-understanding, and what being neurodivergent means for you.
- Alexithymia – Support with recognising, naming, and making sense of emotions.
- Anxiety – Support with health anxiety, social anxiety, separation anxiety, and the impact anxiety can have on daily life.
- Bullying – Help with the emotional impact of bullying and finding ways to rebuild safety and confidence.
- Burnout – Support for children, young people, or parents experiencing exhaustion, shutdown, or reduced capacity.
- Emotional regulation – Support with understanding, expressing, and managing intense or overwhelming emotions.
- Executive functioning difficulties – Help with organisation, planning, time management, focus, and completing everyday tasks.
- General life experiences – A space to explore everyday challenges, life changes, and experiences affecting wellbeing.
- Interoception difficulties – Help with noticing and understanding internal body signals such as hunger, thirst, pain, or tiredness.
- Loss and grief – Support with bereavement, change, and the many forms of grief that can affect emotional wellbeing.
- Low mood – Support with sadness, lack of motivation, and feeling emotionally flat or drained.
- Low self-esteem and self-worth – Help with self-criticism, confidence, and building a kinder relationship with yourself.
- Masking – Support with the pressure to hide or suppress neurodivergent traits and the impact this can have on wellbeing.
- Overwhelm – Help with managing stress, overload, and the build-up of demands that can feel too much.
- Parental support – Support for parents and carers in understanding, responding to, and advocating for a neurodivergent child.
- Play therapy – Therapeutic support through play to help children express their feelings, process experiences, and feel understood.
- Relationship and attachment difficulties – Support with building, understanding, and maintaining safe and healthy relationships.
- School difficulties – Help with school-related stress, attendance, learning demands, and accessing the right support.
- Sensory sensitivities – Support with managing sensitivity to sound, light, touch, smell, taste, or busy environments.
- Social communication difficulties – Support with understanding communication styles, building connection, and navigating social situations.
- Support with communication at work – Help with communicating support needs and recommendations in the workplace or work placement.
- Support with communication in education – Help with explaining a child or young person’s needs and communicating recommendations for support in education.
- Trauma – A supportive space to process traumatic experiences safely and at a pace that feels manageable.
- Work difficulties – Support with workplace stress, communication, adjustments, and coping with demands at work.
Qualifications
BSC Hons Degree Psychology
Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling
Diploma Counselling Children and Adolescents
Diploma NNEB Nursery Nursing
Certificate in Counselling Skills
Certificate in Telephone and Online Counselling
Certificate in understanding Autism
Certificate in understanding Mental Health
Practitioner Certificate in Cognitive Behaviour Training
Certificate in ADHD Coaching
Additional CPD Specific to Neurodiversity
An insight into the world of Autistic spectrum condition
Counselling Clients on the Autistic Spectrum
What you need to know about Autism
Neurodiversity Affirming Play Therapy
Autplay Therapy
ADHD in the Therapy Room- a Neuro Affirming approach
Ongoing Training- ADHD Beyond Medication
About me
Hi, I’m Sarah.
I’m an accredited therapeutic counsellor with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), a qualified ADHD Coach, and a Professional Member of the Universal Coaching Alliance (UCA).
My approach is person-centred and neuro-affirming, and it matters deeply to me that people feel understood, respected and supported.
I work with children aged 5+, young people and adults, and I also support parents and carers with therapeutic guidance and practical strategies.
My understanding of autism and ADHD is shaped by family experience and my own late diagnosis. This has given me a deep appreciation that everyone experiences the world differently, so I offer support that is individual, affirming and genuinely helpful. A formal diagnosis is not needed to work with me; my focus is on helping people understand their difficulties while building on their strengths.
I offer a collaborative and supportive space where people can process thoughts and feelings, build communication, social connection and self-advocacy, and grow in confidence while finding practical ways to make daily life feel more manageable.
I have had the privilege of supporting autistic children, young people and adults, as well as people with ADHD and dual diagnoses, in both therapeutic and non-therapeutic roles.
I have supported neurodivergent children and young people in educational outreach services, CAMHS, and as a school counsellor in Leeds and Kirklees. My early years, early education and AutPlay training also allow me to offer play- and sensory-based therapy in ways that feel safe and engaging.
I also have many years of experience supporting neurodivergent adults through NHS-contracted charity work and private practice.
I can also offer guidance and support through the neurodevelopmental assessment process.
My ADHD coach training allows me to offer therapeutic coaching, this is a combination of counselling and coaching, this gives a space to process emotions while developing practical strategies for the challenges you are facing.
I also support communication at work, including discussing support needs and recommendations in the workplace or during a work placement. I can also help parents and young people communicate a young person’s needs in education and share recommendations for support. I am passionate about helping people access the adjustments they need to thrive and reach their potential.
Ways of Working
I offer face-to-face sessions in Shelley and Honley, Huddersfield, as well as online and telephone sessions.
I work with children aged 5 and above- I am trained in AutPlay therapy. I also work with young people, and adults
Please note that sessions for children under 12 must take place in person at my Honley office.
Fortnightly sessions are available for adults.
The Types of Issues I Support Neurodivergent Clients With
- Acceptance of neurodivergence and identity – A space to explore identity, self-understanding, and what being neurodivergent means for you.
- Alexithymia – Support with recognising, naming, and making sense of emotions.
- Anxiety – Support with health anxiety, social anxiety, separation anxiety, and the impact anxiety can have on daily life.
- Bullying – Help with the emotional impact of bullying and finding ways to rebuild safety and confidence.
- Burnout – Support for children, young people, or parents experiencing exhaustion, shutdown, or reduced capacity.
- Emotional regulation – Support with understanding, expressing, and managing intense or overwhelming emotions.
- Executive functioning difficulties – Help with organisation, planning, time management, focus, and completing everyday tasks.
- General life experiences – A space to explore everyday challenges, life changes, and experiences affecting wellbeing.
- Interoception difficulties – Help with noticing and understanding internal body signals such as hunger, thirst, pain, or tiredness.
- Loss and grief – Support with bereavement, change, and the many forms of grief that can affect emotional wellbeing.
- Low mood – Support with sadness, lack of motivation, and feeling emotionally flat or drained.
- Low self-esteem and self-worth – Help with self-criticism, confidence, and building a kinder relationship with yourself.
- Masking – Support with the pressure to hide or suppress neurodivergent traits and the impact this can have on wellbeing.
- Overwhelm – Help with managing stress, overload, and the build-up of demands that can feel too much.
- Parental support – Support for parents and carers in understanding, responding to, and advocating for a neurodivergent child.
- Play therapy – Therapeutic support through play to help children express their feelings, process experiences, and feel understood.
- Relationship and attachment difficulties – Support with building, understanding, and maintaining safe and healthy relationships.
- School difficulties – Help with school-related stress, attendance, learning demands, and accessing the right support.
- Sensory sensitivities – Support with managing sensitivity to sound, light, touch, smell, taste, or busy environments.
- Social communication difficulties – Support with understanding communication styles, building connection, and navigating social situations.
- Support with communication at work – Help with communicating support needs and recommendations in the workplace or work placement.
- Support with communication in education – Help with explaining a child or young person’s needs and communicating recommendations for support in education.
- Trauma – A supportive space to process traumatic experiences safely and at a pace that feels manageable.
- Work difficulties – Support with workplace stress, communication, adjustments, and coping with demands at work.
Qualifications
BSC Hons Degree Psychology
Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling
Diploma Counselling Children and Adolescents
Diploma NNEB Nursery Nursing
Certificate in Counselling Skills
Certificate in Telephone and Online Counselling
Certificate in understanding Autism
Certificate in understanding Mental Health
Practitioner Certificate in Cognitive Behaviour Training
Certificate in ADHD Coaching
Additional CPD Specific to Neurodiversity
An insight into the world of Autistic spectrum condition
Counselling Clients on the Autistic Spectrum
What you need to know about Autism
Neurodiversity Affirming Play Therapy
Autplay Therapy
ADHD in the Therapy Room- a Neuro Affirming approach
Ongoing Training- ADHD Beyond Medication
About me
Each therapeutic journey is a personal and unique process and there are many reasons why you may choose to enter into therapy. Perhaps you experience feeling stuck in some way; you may recognise that you recycle familiar patterns which limit your experience. You may have difficult thoughts, feelings, and sensations in the body that may feel new or familiar. You may engage in behaviours that are unhelpful to yourself and others. Perhaps you have tried to fix this situation but have found yourself unable to break free of your script.
My ways of working integrate 10+ years of experience as a therapist, professional training in Transactional Analysis, ecological therapy, body and movement practice, trauma work, and neuro-affirming approaches to working with neurodiverse people. I bring almost 20 years’ experience working with neurodiverse adults in health and social care settings. I also bring ongoing learning from my own life – including being a parent to a neurodivergent child – and a long established meditation and body practice.
As a therapist I support you to become more aware of your own story and attuned to how this works through you. I draw upon the human-human relationship and body and movement (somatic) based practice. I recognise that we are all embedded in complex family, social, environmental, and economic systems and that these systems inform our lived experience. This feels especially true for the neurodiverse community who often struggle as they interface with a system built by the neurotypical world. I draw on this awareness to help you move towards a place where your experience of being in the world feels more comfortable, connected and satisfying.
My work also includes facilitating outdoor therapy groups in the Peak District and working with couples.
Ways of Working
I understand the need for a flexible and responsive approach to the therapeutic relationship and that sometimes we may need different things from our therapist. Sometimes we may need a sounding board, someone to help us explore aspects of our everyday lives that feel tricky or confusing, someone to help us filter out the noise and make the keystone changes that can allow us to be freer. This may include practical tools to help stabilise, ground and regulate our systems, manage our time and establish routines so that we can better navigate the world.
It may also include psycho-education to help us better understand our neurodiversity, body/mind, brain and nervous system. These do not all fit the traditional realms of psychotherapy and yet sometimes they are needed. Ultimately, our story – the autobiographical story that we will make sense of together, the felt story that often needs to be fully known to us – will guide your therapy journey.
I see the therapeutic process as a form of dance. We pay careful attention to repeated patterns – where we position ourselves in relation to another, where we are blocked, stilted, off balance, shut down, lost, overwhelmed. And, in our best moments – where we feel joy, flow, connection, a sense of aliveness.
In our work together I will listen, notice and respond, gently nudge when it is needed, and together we will deepen the exploration and begin to know more about your lived experience. In this way, therapy becomes a dance where we can explore old movements and discover new ones. Through this, you can naturally become freer and more fluid in your life. A loosening can begin to happen and new possibilities emerge.
In my experience, change often unfolds naturally as you become more aware of your own story and attuned to how this works through you. You may notice that you begin to make kinder, healthier choices, that you relate to others more easily, and feel capable of living a freer, richer, more fulfilling life.
My work with couples is informed by many years of experience of holding group spaces in a way that can support difficult conversations where everyone in that space is heard. I believe each relationship has its signature that captures the story of two unique people that combine in a particular way. Part of the work is a process of unpacking that signature together so that each perspective is heard and the couple develops a new understanding of the relationship. As part of this a deeper empathy and kindness emerges.
The Types of Issues I Support Neurodivergent Clients With
I have worked with such a wide range of people over the years that what I have included below is not an exhaustive list, so please do get in touch if you don’t see what you’re looking for.
- Anxiety – panic attacks, persistent stress
- Depression – low mood, self-esteem issues/negative self-beliefs, self-harm, suicidal ideation
- Trauma – PTSD, CPTSD, attachment issues, shut-down, dissociation, shame, and trauma recovery.
- Emotional Awareness – Understanding your emotions and finding ways to respond to them that feel more manageable.
- Somatic/dysregulation issues – working with trauma and emotional responses (such as anger, scare, sad) in the body to support stabilisation, grounding, regulation and processing of experience to support healing and reduce overwhelm and meltdowns
- Relationship difficulties – conflict, confusion, breakdown, divorce, or family issues. Relationship issues in which one or more people are neurodiverse.
- Identity and Unmasking – exploring identity issues, alienation, belonging, who am I? Understanding past experiences through a neurodiverse lens.
- Burnout and Overwhelm – Helping you understand and recover from emotional, physical, or sensory overload. Coping with sensory differences.
- Change and Loss – Support with transitions, identity shifts or grief of different kinds
- Parenting – Parenting or supporting a neurodivergent loved one.
- Pre and Post-Diagnostic Support – curious, self-identifying, diagnosed.
Qualifications
4 years post-graduate study in Transactional Analysis psychotherapy
Certificate in Therapeutic Counselling
Certificate in Integrative Embodied Psychotherapy
Certificate in Taking Therapy Outside
Certificate in Elemental Body workshop
Three different trainings over three years in Psychomotor Psychotherapy with Relational Trauma therapy (Merette Brantbjerg)
Participant in Natural Reflections group (2 years) – a collective of eco-therapists exploring ecological therapy with Hayley Marshall
Movement Skills and Body Awareness Training with Sandra Reeve
Reality of working with Trauma
Working with Couples with Peter Philipson (Gestalt psychotherapy)
Effective Couples Counselling
I am a registered member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (MBACP), and work within the Ethical Framework of the BACP.5
Additional CPD Specific to Neurodiversity
Neuro-Affirming Approach to Working with Autistic Clients – Aspire Autism Consultancy
ADHD in The Therapy Room – Aspire Autism Consultancy
Advanced professional Diploma (Level 5) in Positive Behaviour Support
I have worked directly with neurodiverse people and teams supporting neurodiverse people in crisis for almost 20 years. For 12+ of these years I have provided training to teams on understanding Autism, co-created support plans and strategies to support neurodiverse people to manage some of the challenges they face, understand their unmet needs, recognise strengths, and support wider wellbeing. For several years I have co-led a referral process that responds to neurodiverse people in crisis.
About me
I am an AuDHD person-centred counsellor supporting autistic and ADHD adults, particularly those who are late-diagnosed, self-identifying, or exploring whether they may be neurodivergent.
Many of the people I work with have spent years masking, feeling misunderstood, or trying to adapt to environments that were not designed for neurodivergent minds. I offer a supportive, non-judgemental space where you can begin unmasking safely, exploring your neurodivergent identity, and making sense of your experiences at your own pace.
Ways of Working
My approach is person-centred and trauma-informed, meaning therapy is led by you and focused on what feels most important in your life. Alongside neurodivergence, I support clients with neurodivergent burnout, childhood trauma, domestic abuse, workplace challenges, and life transitions such as menopause, which can affect neurodivergent people in unique ways.
As someone who is AuDHD myself, I bring both lived understanding and professional training to my work.
The Types of Issues I Support Neurodivergent Clients With
- Exploring whether a clinical autism or ADHD assessment feels right for you
- Late autism or ADHD diagnosis
- Exploring neurodivergence / self-identification
- Masking and unmasking
- Neurodivergent burnout and overwhelm
- Identity and self-understanding
- Sensory overwhelm and emotional regulation
- Anxiety and low self-worth related to feeling “different”
- Workplace stress and neurodivergence at work
- Recovering from autistic or ADHD burnout
- Childhood trauma and complex life experiences
- Domestic abuse and relational trauma
- Navigating menopause as a neurodivergent person
- Feeling misunderstood or isolated
- Building self-acceptance and living more authentically
Qualifications
Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling
IARTT – The Rewind Technique for Trauma and PTSD
Suicide First Aid
Mental Health First Aid
Level 3 Certificate in Safeguarding Adults
ILEX Level 3 Certificate in Employment Law
CIPD Level 3 Associate Certificate in Human Resources
Additional CPD Specific to Neurodiversity
Understanding Autism and ADHD – University of Derby
Integrating Coaching into your Counselling Practice – BACP
Counselling those affected by Autism and ADHD – BACP
Understanding and Managing ADHD and Anxiety Disorder – MindBody Breakthrough
Transforming Anxiety in Autism – MindBody Breakthrough
Best Practice when Supporting Autistic Clients – Aspire Autism Consultancy
ADHD in The Therapy Room – Aspire Autism Consultancy
About me
I have been in Leeds since 2012 but I’ve also had the opportunity to travel, spending time in Leicester, London and Nottingham. I have also lived abroad, an experience which has given me the opportunity to meet people from different backgrounds and cultures.
I initially started my career studying Computer science at University before switching to Physiotherapy. It was during that course that I was diagnosed with depression. I took some time out and talked through my problems in counselling. One of the problems I encountered was realising that I was always doing things to please others and not looking after myself. This caused a lot of underlying stress & anxiety which I was unaware of. Counselling helped me a great deal, enabling me to understand where these difficulties had come from but importantly what I could do to address how I was feeling.
This led me to understanding myself better and ultimately to a career in counselling. My experiences have greatly shaped my private practice and how I work. I initially had a special interest in Anxiety, Stress and Depression but in the more recent past this has shifted to providing a neuro-affirming practice. I have a family member who is Autistic and this personal journey alongside an increasing number of clients wanting help to understand what it means to be neurodivergent, has led me to want to specialise in this area.
Ways of Working
What does it mean to work with me in a neuro-affirming way? It means I recognise that your experience of anxiety, especially if you have Autism or ADHD, is often tied to how you’ve had to navigate the world. Rather than starting with a goal to “fix” or change how you are in the world, we simply begin by looking at what is happening for you. Whether you have a diagnosis or are just starting to wonder if your brain works differently, our work is about curious exploration—finding out what serves you, what feels heavy, and what you need to feel more at ease in your own life.
The Types of Issues I Support Neurodivergent Clients With
Anger
Anxiety, stress, depression
Bereavement
Intrusive thoughts
Masking, overwhelm and burnout
Organisation, motivation and time management difficulties
Rejection sensitivity
Relationship and social communication difficulties
Self-esteem
Self-harm and suicidal ideation
Separation, loss of relationship, divorce
Qualifications
Chrysalis, Accredited Professional Training
Diploma in Counselling & Psychotherapy – Distinction
Diploma in Hypnotherapy – Distinction
Leeds Beckett University
Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling
CERT HE Interpersonal & Counselling Skills
Additional CPD Specific to Neurodiversity
Neuro-Affirming Approach to Working with Autistic Clients – Aspire Autism Consultancy
ADHD in The Therapy Room – Aspire Autism Consultancy
About me
I am a qualified Transactional Analysis (TA) Counsellor based near Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire. I’ve always been deeply curious about people—how their family systems, cultural backgrounds, and personal experiences shape who they are and how they relate to others. This lifelong interest eventually led me to discover Transactional Analysis, a powerful model for understanding human behaviour and communication. Inspired by its potential for positive change, I retrained as a TA Counsellor and now run my own private practice.
I work with both individuals and couples, supporting them through a wide range of emotional and mental health challenges. My counselling style is warm, collaborative, and rooted in the belief that everyone has the capacity for growth and change.
As someone with neurodiverse family members, I have both personal insight and professional understanding of the unique challenges neurodivergent individuals face in daily life. I know that each person’s experience is different, and I’m committed to offering an inclusive, supportive space for neurodivergent clients and those who support them.
Ways of Working
I work relationally, using Transactional Analysis (TA) to help people make sense of what’s happening in their lives—why certain patterns keep repeating, and what changes might lead to more satisfying outcomes. TA is one of the most accessible and practical forms of psychology, and I use it to support clients in developing greater self-awareness and understanding.
I truly believe that with insight into who we are today—shaped by our past experiences and relationships—we gain the ability to make different choices. That awareness opens the door to transformation, not only in how we feel, but also in how we relate to others.
A key part of my work involves psychoeducation—sharing TA concepts in a way that’s easy to understand and apply. I want clients to leave each session with something tangible: a deeper sense of well-being, and tools they can use to reinforce their learning and support real change in their everyday lives.
The counselling relationship is unique and deeply personal. To ensure we’re the right fit, I offer a free 20-minute introductory session, giving us both the chance to meet, explore what you’re looking for, and see how we might work together.
The Types of Issues I Support Neurodivergent Clients With
- Burnout
- Bullying
- Confidence and self-esteem
- Coping strategies
- Depression and low mood
- Difficulties within the workplace
- Emotional regulation
- Exploring neurodiversity issues
- OCD
- Relationships with family and partners
- Self-awareness
Qualifications
Diploma in Transactional Analysis Counselling (TA Works)
Certificate in Organisational and Educational Transactional Analysis (Groups and Teams in the System) (TA Works)
Certificate in Working with Couples (The Berne Institute)
In training to become a Certified Transactional Analyst (C)
Additional CPD Specific to Neurodiversity
Best Practice when Supporting Autistic Clients – Aspire Autism Consultancy
ADHD in The Therapy Room – Aspire Autism Consultancy
Working With Neurodivergent Couples and Relationships – Aspire Autism Consultancy
Topics include:
Inertia and Burnout
Anxiety
Post Traumatic Stress
Disordered Eating
Gender & Identity
Co-associated conditions
About me
Hi, I’m Maria. I offer a kind of counselling called psychosynthesis.
That might sound like a mouthful, but what it really means is working together in a way that sees your whole self – not just the parts that are struggling, but the creative, sensitive, curious, and capable parts too.
It’s not about “fixing” you; it’s about helping you understand and support yourself more fully, in a world that often doesn’t.
As a late-diagnosed mum (I was diagnosed during my training!), my focus is on helping neurodivergent parents get to know and love themselves better. Whether you’ve been officially diagnosed or suspect you may be neurodivergent, it’s completely normal to experience a bit of an identity crisis somewhere along the way. (Or at least an identity wobble.)
Who am I really? What does this change, if anything? How do I start to “unmask” – and do I even want to? (And all of this, while keeping small humans alive.)
Parenting is hard enough. Taking time to focus on ourselves, who we are, and what we want and need can stir up more than a bit of guilt and shame. (Especially if we’re comparing ourselves to other parents!)
But what if it doesn’t have to be that way?
That’s just some of what we can explore in our work together.
Ways of Working
In short: I tailor my approach to you.
You might describe our sessions as an anchor point.
A support for feeling more grounded in your body and in your life.
Slowly and gently easing into the possibility: “Maybe it is okay to be me.”
So much of this is about feeling safe and not judged.
My aim through this work is to help you get to know and love yourself better…
…even if the idea of “loving yourself” currently feels like a dot on the horizon.
The Types of Issues I Support Neurodivergent Clients With
Themes I work with – either specific to your role as a parent, or more generally, within the context of your life as a neurodivergent adult, who is also a parent.
(It would be impossible for me to list everything, so please do get in touch if you don’t see what you’re looking for.)
- Anxiety and Depression – Whether linked to parenting, the postnatal period, or part of your day-to-day life.
- Boundaries and Self-Advocacy – Learning to recognise your own needs, set healthy boundaries, and speak up for yourself more easily.
- Burnout and Overwhelm – Helping you understand and recover from emotional, physical, or sensory exhaustion.
- Change and Loss – Support with transitions, identity shifts or grief – even the quiet, invisible kinds.
- Emotional Awareness and Regulation – Understanding your emotions (even when they’re hard to name) and finding ways to respond to them that feel more manageable.
- Executive Function – Exploring how your brain works best when it comes to time, tasks, motivation and daily demands.
- Identity and Unmasking – Asking big questions like: Who am I really? Who am I beyond being a parent? What do I want and need?
- Isolation – That feeling of not belonging, of being unseen or unlovable – and finding new ways to connect.
- Menstrual Cycle Challenges – Support with PMS, PMDD, perimenopause, and the emotional and sensory changes that can come with hormonal shifts.
- Parenting – Supporting you through the intensity of parenting as a neurodivergent adult, especially when old wounds or triggers show up.
- Postnatal Trauma – Making sense of difficult or frightening experiences during birth or postpartum, and finding ways to feel more empowered again.
- Pre and Post-Diagnostic Support – Exploring your suspicions of being autistic or ADHD, or processing what it means for you after a formal diagnosis.
- Psychoeducation – Learning more about how your neurodivergent brain works — and how that can be a source of insight and strength.
- Purpose – Feeling unsure about what really matters to you or where you’re headed — and finding more meaning or direction.
- Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria (RSD) – Feeling painfully hurt or rejected by small things — perhaps even from your own child — and learning how to navigate those intense emotional reactions.
- Self-Care – Not just the “nice extras”, but building sustainable, real-world ways to tend to your needs.
- Sense of Safety – Exploring how to feel safer in your body, your relationships, and the world around you.
- Sensory Overload – Coping with strong reactions to sounds, lights, textures, smells, and more.
- Shame and Low Self Esteem – That painful feeling of not being “good enough” — as a parent, or as a person — and slowly uncovering the possibility that you are worthy.
- Spirituality – Space to explore spiritual shifts, questions or crises – and how these might be part of your healing.
- Trauma – Working through specific traumatic events or the long-term effects of ongoing stress, invalidation, or not being supported.
Qualifications
Registered Member (MBACP) – British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
Postgraduate Diploma in Psychosynthesis Counselling – The Psychosynthesis Trust
Certificate in Psychosynthesis Foundations – The Psychosynthesis Trust
Essentials of Psychosynthesis – The Psychosynthesis Trust
Level 2 Peer Mentoring – Adult Learning Wales
Additional CPD Specific to Neurodiversity
A Neuro-Affirming Approach to Working with Autistic Clients – Aspire Autism Consultancy
ADHD in The Therapy Room – A Neuro-Affirming Approach – Aspire Autism Consultancy
Autistic Experiences of Pregnancy, Childbirth & Early Parenting – SWAN (Scotland-based neurodiversity network)
About me
I believe that counselling can be a transformative tool for personal growth, helping individuals improve their day-to-day well-being, overcome internal limitations, gain clarity in communication, and enhance their relationships with themselves and others.
With compassion, empathy, and understanding, I support adults facing challenges such as depression, low mood, anxiety, physical illness, grief and loss, and relationship issues. I have a deep interest in understanding both the internal and external experiences of people, grounding my work in Transactional Analysis (TA) therapy. This approach helps clients stay present-focused while exploring the impact of past events and future concerns, fostering positive change and transformation.
I am committed to a neuro-affirming approach that respects and embraces neurodiversity in all its forms. I offer a protected, inclusive space where clients can explore their experiences without fear of judgement or pressure to conform to societal norms.
Ways of Working
I am a Transactional Analysis (TA) trained counsellor and use TA theory and concepts in my work. TA counselling focuses on building and strengthening the Adult Ego State, our ‘here and now’ reality. I work collaboratively with clients to understand what is impacting them in the present, which may stem from past events or concerns about the future.
My intention is to empower clients to develop their autonomy and sense of self, to view themselves and their world differently and to facilitate positive change and transformation in their lives.
I am committed to continuous professional development and I regularly attend CPD training and supervision to ensure I offer the best support to my clients.
The Types of Issues I Support Neurodivergent Clients With
- Support when waiting for or having received a neurodivergence diagnosis
- Masking & exhaustion/burnout
- Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria
- Emotional dysregulation
- Depression and low mood
- Anxiety
- Low self-esteem
- Grief & loss
- Relationship issues
- Relationship with food and body
- Supporting Couples who are in neurodiverse and neurodivergent relationships
Qualifications
Foundation and Diploma Transactional Analysis Counselling – TA Works
Certificate in working with Couples – Berne Institute
Certificate in working therapeutically with clients outdoors – The Centre of Natural Reflection, Derbyshire
Additional CPD Specific to Neurodiversity
A Neuro-Affirming Approach to Working with Autistic Clients – Aspire Autism Consultancy
ADHD in The Therapy Room – Aspire Autism Consultancy
Working with Neurodivergent Couples and Relationships: A Neuro-Affirming Approach – Aspire Autism Consultancy
Attendance of Aspire Consultancy’s Monthly CPD Group focusing on Neurodiversity.
About me
As a Neurodivergent counsellor, obtaining a late diagnosis of ADHD in 2012, and with a neurodiverse family, I understand the importance of finding the right support. My passion for counselling was born from the desire to be the support I wished I had received when I was first diagnosed, a counsellor with more than just a textbook understanding of neurodivergence, who would be able to see beyond the stereotypes and work with the client to find ways to navigate life with a diagnosis, not in spite of it.
Ways of Working
I am an Integrative counsellor, blending three theories, Person-Centred, Psychodynamic and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, to find the best balance for each individual. Whilst that may sound complicated, it means is that I am here to listen and really hear what you are saying without any judgement. We might look at what has happened in the past, or at tools to help manage the future, but each session is led by you.
I offer face-to-face counselling at Eastham Hall on the Wirral Peninsula. It is a lovely, peaceful setting and a safe space to explore what is happening for you, and what a diagnosis means for you, whether you suspect you may be neurodivergent, you are exploring diagnosis or have already received your diagnosis.
The Types of Issues I Support Neurodivergent Clients With
- Identity Exploration
- Anxiety and Depression
- Bereavement
- Fertility
- Life Changes
- Rejection Sensitivity
- Stress and Burnout
- Anger
- Limerence
- Aphantasia
- Relationship Difficulties
Qualifications
BSc (Open)
CPCAB Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling
FIL Rainbow Baby Specialist
FIL Infertility Specialist
Additional CPD Specific to Neurodiversity
A Neuro-Affirming Approach to Working with Autistic Clients Aspire Autism Consultancy
Working With Neurodivergent Couples and Relationships-A Neuro-Affirming Approach-Aspire Autism Consultancy
ADHD in The Therapy Room – Aspire Autism Consultancy
ADHD Coaching – What is it and Who is it for? – Aspire Autism Consultancy
I am currently undertaking Aphantasia Therapist Training.
I also regularly attend online webinars held by ADDITUDE – The Grove, and attend the online ADHD Women’s Palooza each year.
About me
It’s really important to find the right counsellor that you can connect with so that you can freely express yourself and get the most from therapy. I can offer counselling sessions in either English or Polish.
Having spent over a decade working with and coaching people who are marginalised by the social system, facing inequalities, discrimination and exclusion, I was fortunate to witness that providing a trustful, caring, and tailored support that responds to someone’s needs and expectations, can lead to remarkable outcomes. One of the main reasons neurodivergent individuals seek psychotherapy is often to address challenges that arise from navigating a neurotypical world, which can lead to heightened stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout due to social pressures, stigma, and a lack of understanding and accommodation.
As a neurotypical person my interest and dedication for working with neurodivergent individuals started from my personal feeling of frustration and shame that in the 21st century there are still a lot of stereotypes and misunderstanding within the neurotypical population about this natural variation in human neurology. Moreover, as a professional, recognition that the access to high quality neuro-affirming support that can offer life changing outcomes is extremely limited, empowers me to try and create a positive opportunity for people who need it. I strongly believe in the individual’s organic capacity for personal growth, when provided with appropriate, supportive and understanding therapeutic relationships.
The Types of Issues I Support Neurodivergent Clients With
Understanding Yourself and Your Neurotype:
- Finally making sense of why you are the way you are. Many neurodivergent people grow up feeling “different” or “wrong” without knowing why. We can work through understanding your diagnosis (or self-diagnosis) – what it means for you, your strengths, and your challenges.
- De-masking and authenticity: Learning to unmask and be your true self, rather than constantly trying to fit in or ‘perform’ neurotypicality, which can be incredibly exhausting. This often involves exploring the cost of masking on your mental and physical health.
- Building self-acceptance and self-compassion: Moving away from self-criticism or shame about your neurodivergence, and learning to treat yourself with kindness and understanding.
Managing Overwhelm and Burnout:
- Sensory overload: Developing strategies to identify sensory triggers and manage intense sensory experiences, whether that’s noise, light, textures, or smells.
- Autistic burnout or ADHD burnout: This is a very real and often debilitating experience. We can explore what leads to your burnout (e.g., masking, over-scheduling, sensory demands) and develop sustainable strategies to recover and prevent it.
- Emotional dysregulation: For example, intense emotions, meltdowns, or shutdowns. We can work on understanding the triggers for these, developing healthier coping mechanisms, and improving emotional regulation skills.
Navigating Relationships and Social Interactions:
- Communication differences: Understanding your own communication style and how it might differ from neurotypical expectations, and learning strategies for clearer, more effective communication – whether that’s with family, friends, or colleagues.
- Social anxiety and misunderstandings: Processing past social difficulties, reducing anxiety around social situations, and developing ways to connect with others authentically. This isn’t about changing who you are, but finding ways to navigate social interactions that feel comfortable and genuine for you.
- Boundaries: Learning to set clear and healthy boundaries in relationships to protect your energy and needs.
- Neurodiverse relationships: If you’re in a neurodiverse relationship (e.g., one partner is neurotypical, the other neurodivergent), we can explore communication patterns and mutual understanding.
Addressing Co-occurring Mental Health Concerns:
- We can work on:
- Anxiety: Managing intense worry, social anxiety, performance anxiety.
- Depression: Addressing feelings of sadness, low motivation, or hopelessness.
- Trauma: Processing experiences of invalidation, bullying, or systemic ableism.
Life Transitions and Daily Living:
- Identity exploration: Whether it’s gender identity, sexuality, or simply understanding who you are outside of neurotypical expectations.
- Coping with change: Neurodivergent individuals often find transitions challenging. We can work on strategies to manage big life changes (e.g., moving, starting a new job, relationship changes).
- Advocacy: Learning to advocate for your needs in educational settings, the workplace, or with healthcare providers.
Ways of Working
My way of working is about building a unique neuroaffirming therapeutic approach that truly fits you, honours your neurodivergence, and helps you achieve what you want from our time together. My goal is to create a therapeutic relationship and environment where you feel genuinely safe, understood, and comfortable enough to be your authentic self. This allows us to focus on what you want to work on, in a way that respects your neurotype and truly supports your wellbeing. Whether that might be communication style, sensory requirements, structure and predictability for our sessions, or managing energy and overwhelm, my adjustments aren’t concessions; they are fundamental to creating an effective therapeutic space for you.
I adapt my theoretical approach to your needs and expectations – drawing upon my core psychodynamic model, but also using person-centred and compassion focused therapies. What it means is that I use my deep understanding of how your past experiences shape you (psychodynamic) to help us explore the roots of your feelings,thoughts and behaviour, especially considering how autism and/or ADHD might have shaped those experiences. But, I always do this while listening closely to you and respecting your unique way of being (person-centred), because you are the expert on yourself. And throughout our work, we actively work on developing kindness and understanding towards yourself (compassion-focused), helping you navigate challenges with more warmth and less self-criticism.
Qualifications
BA Sociology
CPCAB Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling
Additional CPD Specific to Neurodiversity
Best Practice when Supporting Autistic Clients – Aspire Autism Consultancy
ADHD in The Therapy Room – Aspire Autism Consultancy
About the Author
Laura Wells (she/her) is a certified Brainspotting therapist and relational counsellor specialising in complex trauma and working with neurodivergent and LGBTQ+ adults. She offers therapy online and in person in Salisbury through The Diversity Therapist, supporting individuals to explore their inner worlds with compassion, agency, and respect for difference.
When the world becomes too much, some of us don’t run — we vanish.
Dissociation isn’t detachment; it’s the body’s oldest form of love, the nervous system’s way of saying, “Let me keep you safe.”
This essay explores that hidden wisdom — and how returning to ourselves begins not with force, but with gentleness.
The Instinct to Vanish
If I can’t leave the danger, I’ll leave myself instead.
There’s a place inside many of us that feels like home — sourced from instinct — an inner cave, dimly lit, quiet, restrictive,
yet familiar.
When reality becomes inescapable, the mind pulls away, retreating to a place of safety.
When connection feels cutting and empty, when the absence of unmet needs deafens, touch burns instead of soothes, light blinds, sound assaults,
and the disowned feelings of others seep in, violating the deepest core of you.
The Body That Feels Too Much
For many neurodivergent people, this isn’t just metaphor — the world itself can be too loud, too bright, too fast. The body registers life at full volume.
Sensory systems built to perceive detail and nuance can, under strain, become flooded.
What others call “over reactivity” is often simply unfiltered aliveness — and when it overwhelms, dissociation can become a natural way to soften the edges of the world.
To outsiders, it might look like coldness or attention seeking — but to the one inside, dissociation is a remarkable act of protection.
It is the nervous system’s way of enduring the unbearable, of keeping the self intact when everything else falls away.
The Earliest Lessons in Safety
Even in the earliest stages of life, the body knows how to protect itself.
Before words, even before birth, stress and overwhelm leave traces in the developing nervous system.
Research shows that the fetal and infant stress response can already adapt to threat —heart rate slows, energy folds inward, movement stills.
And beneath that stillness, the body hums with electricity. The tiny hairs at the nape rise as if pulled by invisible strings, and a charge gathers in the gut, surging upward through the spine.
The head fills with pressure — a crowded, dizzying pulse where the body meets its own feared counterpart.
Even in a being too small to name fear, the nervous system already knows the choreography: contract, contain, disappear.
This early shutdown is not failure, but instinct —
the body’s quiet wisdom saying, “If I can’t get help, I’ll conserve myself.”
Adaptation, Not Defect
For those born with heightened sensory wiring — as many neurodivergent people are —
this protective instinct can remain close to the surface.
The nervous system stays alert, scanning for too much light, sound, motion, or demand.
In this context, withdrawal and disconnection are not malfunctions but adaptations —rhythmic retreats that help the self-endure a world that rarely slows down enough to meet it.
In infancy, when cries for attuned care go unanswered or the world becomes too much, a baby may stop moving, stop meeting the caregiver’s gaze, stop seeking.
It looks like behavioural stillness, but it’s the smallest person’s way of surviving the largest feelings.
What begins as a biological reflex becomes, over time, a way of being —the nervous system’s language for no more. In that muffled darkness, where time distorts and pain hovers just beyond reach, not feeling becomes — for a moment — the only way to keep existing.
Control After Loss of Agency
Over time, the curling and caving in become not only instinctive but also a way to reclaim agency.
If I can hold my suffering close, then I am not purely harm’s victim —here, at least, I control the terms of my hurt.
What began as necessity becomes a well-worn strategy for surviving the environment.
Every corner of the world, every relationship, every daily demand can become a trigger, stirring implicit sensory memories of the too much,
the loss, and the unmet longings — a complex grief too often recognised only as symptoms, or bad behaviour.
In neurodivergent lives, this can also include the exhaustion of constant sensory negotiation —
the masking, camouflaging, over-compensating, the endless calibrations to fit into spaces that were never designed with one’s sensitivities in mind.
The grief of difference, and perpetual misunderstanding too, lives in the body.
The Familiar Cave
Inside the cave, at the back and along the edges, there may echo the sounds of the unheard through the ages—
from the ringing of stifled cries, the intrusive chatter of silenced protests, the swell of unmet embraces; the constant ache of tension, a closing in—
their circling a known companion. Yet the cave within does not betray or surprise. It is consistent. Predictable.
Where love once carried danger, suffering at least plays by its rules. To lean into pain can feel safer than leaning into connection—whether with our own body, another, or even the natural world.
Over time, this relationship with suffering can turn into an identity. We begin to belong to our wounds.
The wounded and protective parts of the self-start to move in rhythm — a sequence of defence and ache, looping through familiar cycles, unaware of a self in the present that could hold them, hear them and compassionately mediate, negotiate and understand.
These patterns begin to dictate our choices, whispering that healing or change is not meant for us —
that torment is a safer guest than despair or emptiness. The world beyond that cave — connection without hypervigilance, presence without performance —feels foreign.
For some, even hope and joy can be triggering, because they ask us to risk disappointment again.
Loyalty to Pain
Yet this self-bonding with pain isn’t weakness. It’s the body’s most loyal attempt to protect us.
The nervous system doesn’t distinguish between emotional and physical danger;
it only knows that when the edges are violated, disconnection feels like safety.
So we curl inward, wrapping ourselves in familiar hurt, mistaking endurance for peace.
And when that disconnection extends inward — toward the body’s own sensations —
survival demands another cost.
The numbness that shields us from pain also dulls our awareness of emotional and physical hungers,
and our divine right to feel at peace.
Interoception — the sense of what happens inside the body — can grow quiet. For many, especially those whose sensory systems are tuned to register extremes,
this muted inner awareness becomes a way to cope.
Over time, with compassion and grounded presence, this connection can be relearned —
the body’s cues not as symptoms to manage, but as a beautiful, rich language waiting to be understood.
Lighting Lamps in the Cave
Real healing begins not by ripping away the armour, but by gently acknowledging why it exists.
The retreat was never failure — it was wisdom born of necessity. The goal is not to discard the cave, but to light small lamps within it.
To breathe there. To notice when you’ve retreated and remind yourself that you have autonomy —
that you can ask for what you need: considerations, accommodations, boundaries, pauses, and even no-thank-yous.
To remember that the same instincts that taught us to hide
can also teach us to stay present, once safety returns.
There is a quiet difference between noticing when things begin to feel too much and reclaiming agency —
and slipping into the old rhythm of retreat and endurance. One is an act of care; the other, of disappearance.
Knowing this difference takes practice. It begins with pausing long enough to ask:
where am I, and did I choose this for myself? If I could choose rest rather than vanishing, what might that feel like?
The same pause that once signalled collapse can, over time, become a doorway back to choice —
a moment where self-protection transforms into self-presence.
When Protection Becomes Isolation
But over time, disconnection asks for its own reckoning. What once softened pain can begin to sharpen it in other ways.
The more we withdraw from the body, the heavier its silence grows —
numbing gives way to ache, tension and fatigue.
Needs and longings do not disappear in absence; they linger, unanswered, pressing at the edges of awareness.
The very act of survival that once kept us safe can start to keep us apart —
from nourishment, from feeling, from the possibility of being met.
Protection continues doing its job, just in the wrong context.
For when we retreat to the back — literally and metaphorically — no one, not even ourselves, has our back.
We lose connection with the fullness of our spine, and the further we retreat, the bigger the cave becomes,
first in our head, then our body, until even our home becomes a place to hide rather than reside.
Healing as Coherence
For some, healing doesn’t mean silence in the nervous system or full sensory ease.
The goal is not to erase the wiring, but to work with it —to create gentler environments, slower rhythms, and sensory refuges that honour the body’s original design.
Disconnection may still visit, not as pathology, but as a familiar language of regulation in a world that often speaks too loudly.
Self-soothing through pain is a story of survival that longs to become a story of renewal.
When we can notice the patterns — the quiet curling in, the comfort in discomfort —we can begin to ask a softer question:
What if I could feel without pain?
What if I could connect with agency?
What if I did not have to keep pushing through and endure?
Maybe healing begins here — in these small, tender what-ifs,
where the body starts to trust that aliveness doesn’t mean danger, and where the self, once hidden,
learns to return — not as defence, but as home.
And for those whose senses will always live near the surface whose systems feel the world in high-definition home might never be silence, but coherence.
Healing, then, is not about becoming less sensitive,
but about being less alone in that sensitivity
If this resonates with you whether only in part and you are curious, please get in touch.
OUR NEURO-AFFIRMING TRAINING
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