Approach

Starting therapy can feel daunting. Sharing private thoughts and feelings — especially if you’ve experienced judgement, misunderstanding, or invalidation in the past — can bring up a lot of anxiety and uncertainty. My aim is to gently build a space where you can begin to explore and understand your authentic self, without pressure. A space where you can simply be, and share what feels possible, in your own time and in your own way.

I often describe therapy as a kind of canoeing journey. We set things up together at the start, thinking about what feels safe, what support is needed, and what boundaries help you feel steady. Then we begin moving forward, but you are in control of the pace and direction. You choose what feels important to talk about, and that might shift from week to week.

Sometimes I might gently notice something along the way on our journey, but it’s always your choice whether we pause there or just keep going. At times the journey feels calm, familiar, and steady. At other times it can feel unclear or messy, or we might find ourselves returning to the same place because that’s where something still needs space. And sometimes things feel more intense, like we’ve hit rapids or obstacles, and we work together to steady things again or look deeper.

I’m not steering the canoe. I’m alongside you in it, noticing, reflecting, supporting, and helping you make sense of what’s happening as we go. No two journeys ever look the same.

Breaking down the concept of “Normal”

I do not assume there is one “correct” way to think, communicate, behave, process, relate, or exist in the world. Instead, I aim to continually evolve my practice through ongoing learning, reflection, and engagement with the authentic lived experiences of a wide range of neurotypes and identities.

I believe our differences are inherently valuable. The suffering so many neurodivergent people experience often comes not from difference itself, but from the stigma, invalidation, exclusion, and chronic pressure to suppress or hide who we are, in order to feel accepted or safe. Over time, many of us internalise shame, disconnect from ourselves, and develop ways of surviving that can leave us exhausted, overwhelmed, or uncertain of who we truly are.

Part of my role within the therapeutic relationship is to create a validating and enabling space where people can begin to gently unpack those layers of what I often refer to as “shame dust” — the messages, expectations, and experiences we have absorbed from living in systems that have not always made room for us.

I do not work in a rigid or traditional therapeutic style, and I may not resemble people’s expectations of what a therapist “should” be. There is no blank-faced neutrality, no forcing of goals or homework, and no expectation that every experience must immediately be analysed or linked back to childhood. I am human, relational, honest, and engaged. I care deeply about authenticity within the therapeutic relationship and about creating spaces where people feel able to show up as themselves without fear of judgement or performance.

I encourage clients to move, stim, regulate, pause, create, type, share music, use imagery, talk about their monotropic interests, embrace the ‘weird’! For me, client and therapeutic safety is paramount, and it is essential that we look at what that affirming space is going to look like, as it is different for everyone.