I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.

C.G. Jung

The Formal Stuff..

Graduated with a BA (hons) degree in Person-Centred Counselling and the Psychotherapeutic Relationship from the University of Warwick (Level 6 equiv.). I am a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) with further Accredited status and fully insured. I have a knowledge and truth-hungry monotropic mind and have continued my training and learning in areas of psychotherapy, nutrition, and neuroscience. Some of which include: Somatic Trauma Therapy, Neurodivergent Trauma (Trauma Geek), Neuroplasticity & Trauma, Nutrition, Gut and Nervous system health through a Neurodivergent lens, and various Nervous System Theories, including many within polyvagal theory with the Polyvagal Institute.

I describe myself has a holistic relational therapist in that I do not believe minds are separate from bodies or that our whole beings are separate from our external worlds and the people and systems within them. Everything is connected and interconnected, so I am interested in the whole person and the world that surrounds them.

My practice has taken me across private and public sectors, working with an array of intersectionalities, neurotypes, and complex trauma. As well as my private practice, I also Head up the Counselling Service at Autistic Parents UK (https://www.autisticparentsuk.org). I specialise in working with neurodivergent adults and parents. I have a deep and continued interest in working with neurodivergent parents whose children have experienced school trauma and burnout, and the impact this can bring more broadly.

I have developed and presented lectures, webinars, and writings for trainee therapists, wellbeing practitioners, and mental health professionals at the Universities, Charities, and Counselling Training Providers.

A Divergent Approach

I am multiply neurodivergent (Autistic, ADHD, Synaesthetic, Hyperphantasic) and I am a parent to two wonderous neurodivergent children that I also home-educate after a brief stint in the education system. Being neurodivergent in a neuronormative society, certainly has its challenges. Yet, I also believe, it has strengthened my offering as a therapist and psychoeducator to all neurotypes. I don’t presume or expect a set way of being, communicating, behaving, or a set journey or goal of ‘happiness’. I strive to constantly learn and evolve my practice and approach, and learn from authentic lived experience, of all neurotypes.

We all have wondrous differences; the challenges come when we are stigmatised for these differences and, furthermore, unconsciously develop ways to push down and hide these differences, pulling us from our authentic selves. That is where the trauma lies for so many neurodivergent folk. We experience a lot of not being heard, not being understood, not being included, and not being genuinely accepted or supported.

I see my role in the therapeutic relationship as creating a validating, enabling space, to help you discover, explore, and shake off the layers of ‘shame dust’ that we are so often forced to breath in. Therapeutic work can involve understanding your unique neurodivergent nervous system, knowing what triggers and what nourishes. It can be understanding the complex shame you have experienced or working through a particular part of your life that feels stuck. It can bring awareness to patterns of behaviour and shine some light towards an acceptance of self. It can also just be a safer place to offload and rant to someone who might ‘just get it’. It should always be genuinely and authentically validating people’s experiences and ways of being.

I might not act or sound like a ‘typical’ therapist. No couch, no just repeating what you say in a slightly different way or immediately relating everything to childhood here! I swear, I voice injustice, I don’t set goals or homework, I am very open, and I write about my own shame dust in my blog in the hope it might help others. I encourage clients to move, stim, and regulate in session if they need to. I feel it is important for me, as the therapist or educator, to be genuinely authentic. To be absolutely real, to be fully present, to be transparent, and allow my clients to freely explore whatever they need to, and in ways that they need to. Client safety is paramount, which for me, also means allowing autonomy in sessions. Which might not be using mouth words, it might be sharing music, art, making up words for emotions, typing. Whatever works best.

The informal stuff..

I am a late-discovered neurodivergent cis female, and it has taken some time, research, and validating therapy to uncover and ‘unlayer’ the real me. Awareness is one thing, but genuine acceptance of your authentic self is quite another! I found great solace in the autistic community, my work with Autistic Parents UK (APUK), and the understanding I gained through working with, reading, and listening to authentic lived experience neurodivergent professionals, bloggers, writers, speakers, and researchers. I adore delving into neurodivergent led research.

Outside of my work, I home-educate my two children, a journey which has further opened the doors of ‘divergent to the norm’. Woodlands or the sea are my happy place. I love being absorbed in music, either listening or playing. Music of all genres has always, and continues to be, a great healer and regulator for me. I am totally open to clients sharing music with me in sessions, as it can give this extra layer of connection in understanding someone’s experiences or feelings.

I want you to know that I am in no way a finished article and would never call myself an expert. I find ‘experts’ are rather constrictive and have closed the doors to further learning.

I am constantly learning, constantly curious, my monotropic mind won’t let me be any other way. My hope with any meeting is for us to openly explore and experience genuine authenticity, genuine empathy, genuine validation, and appreciation for all ways of being.

Picture of me, a white female with brown and grey strands hair, with a long fringe. l am wearing my yellow raincoat. In the background it is a typical grey cloudy day with a collection of brown and black cows from a nearby farm. Being outdoors and walking is often a daily need of mine. I enjoy looking for funghi, trees, plants as well as bird spotting and listening. A nature geek and proud!

“Neurodiversity is about all of us — neurotypical and neurodivergent. Neuromajority and neurominority. Those who experience the world in ways that are more similar to those around them, and those who have less similar experiences. And just like with biodiversity signalling rich healthy environments, different ways of being enrich us all, gives us access to different ways of understanding the world and ourselves”

(Sonny Hallett).