I came to counselling as a mature student - a period of transition that led to discovering my own neurodivergence.
For most of my life, I felt I was missing a rule book, as though if I could just find the missing information, things would get easier. Recognising my ND traits finally explained feelings and experiences I had never understood and made self acceptance possible.
Many people discover their neurodivergence later in life, often during big transitions when familiar coping strategies are challenged. I’m passionate about supporting people through the complex emotions that can accompany a laterlife diagnosis - the grief of missed opportunities and the realisation of how much effort has gone into appearing ‘normal’. You may recognise your ability to seem capable and competent when in reality you’re working twice as hard just to keep up.
I understand the exhaustion of that hidden labour, its cost, and how recognising it can help you begin to release the pressure to keep pushing so hard.
Many ND traits can resemble trauma responses and many people experience trauma precisely because their neurodivergence went unrecognised for so long. My somatic-based trauma training highlighted how trauma and ND often weave together.
Whether you’re coping with autistic traits, ADHDstyle patterns, trauma experiences or any combination of these, I’m interested in how they influence and shape identity, relationships, learning, and self confidence and how they can be understood with compassion rather than criticism.
Trying to live a life that doesn’t quite match the one you imagined can create a sense of despondency and when combined with neurodivergence can deepen feelings of loneliness or being an outsider. Perhaps you missed milestones your peers took for granted, or you’ve always felt slightly out of step with those around you.
Having grown up, lived and worked abroad, I understand the experience of navigating different cultures and life paths and how that can deepen the sense of being on the outside looking in.
I aim to offer a space where these experiences can be explored gently and without judgement - a place to make sense of what happened, to recognise your strengths, and to find ways of being in the world that feel more natural and less effortful.
I look after my own mental health by spending time walking and training my dog, pottering in my garden and always having a book (or three) on the go!
