About me

My specialism is Neurodiversity (ADHD and Autism) and I work with children (10+), adolescents and adults. My psychotherapy business was set up in September 2016 and before this I was a primary teacher.  The years as a class teacher, working with primary aged neurodiverse children, gave me a lot of experience in spotting traits and supporting parents when considering an assessment.  As a parent of a child with ADHD too, this gave me both professional and personal experience.  Over the years, I have, and I still do run workshops for parents with neurodivergent children and deliver workshops to school teachers on various subjects around neurodiversity and mental health.  I also supervise other psychotherapists, school counsellors and student counsellors/mentors.

Ways of Working

I have had specific training over the years within this specialism and attend regular monthly individual and group neurodiverse focused supervision, to support my ongoing training and development. I work interactively, which means I use various styles of therapy to support my clients and work in a holistic way.  I was trained in Psychodynamic theory and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy but over the years I have attended courses in other modalities and I have integrated these into my practice.

My sessions are via Zoom and I am based in West Yorkshire, however I have clients all over the UK and Europe (my insurance covers this).  I started Zoom sessions in April 2020 due to COVID and found my clients really like this way of working.  They can find somewhere private and comfortable to have their session and can interact with me however they prefer.  There is no travel time or costs implications on top of the session either.  Some clients want sessions with parents to begin with if it they wish, with or without camera on, a telephone.

The Types of Issues I Support Neurodivergent Clients With 

Clients come to me with a variety of issues and I find no one person is the same, everyone is different.  However, the typical issues people come to see me about are:

• Pre-diagnostic support
• Post diagnostic support
• PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance}
• Anxiety and depression
• Self-esteem and building confidence
• Anger and meltdowns
• Post traumatic Stress/Trauma
• Recovering from Narcissistic and other forms of abuse
• OCD and Phobias
• Support of family members and parenting a neurodivergent child

Qualifications

• BA Hons (QTS) in Primary Education Specialising in Creative Arts, 2.2, December 2006
• Diploma in Effective Psychotherapy with CBT level 5 October 2016
• Post Graduate in Clinical Supervision, University of Derby   November 2021

Additional CPD Specific to Neurodiversity

I attend regular CPD every month and have a specialist supervisor for my own work.  I also have 3 separate group supervision to help me in my practice.

Gender Identity and Autism delivered by Hands on Autism

National Autistic Society Autism and mental health conference

Online safeguarding/child protection and prevent training course

TES SEN Show webinars

Understanding and Supporting individuals with an autism spectrum condition

Courses presented by Living Autism and AWARE

Seminars at NAS Conference for Professionals:

Seminars at ADHD Foundation Conference

Seminars at TES SEN Show

Seminars at The Autism Show 

Understanding Autism Level 2 (The Skills Network, online course)

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities diploma from the Centre of Excellence

Autism Awareness diploma from Centre of Excellence