ADHD Awareness Month: What Do Most People Still Get Wrong About ADHD?

Adhd Awareness Month What Do Most People Still Get Wrong About Adhd

ADHD in adults is still widely misunderstood as a ‘childhood behaviour issue’ or a ‘lack of discipline’, when it’s a lifelong neurodevelopmental difference affecting attention, impulse control and emotional regulation. This article explores what ADHD Awareness Month is trying to correct, and what that means for adults starting to make sense of their own minds.

Every October, ADHD Awareness Month rolls around, and every October I notice the same gap between what many people think it is and what ADHD looks and feels like for those who live with the condition.

Most people still hold the stereotype of a fidgety child who can’t sit still in class. That&#...

Continue reading...


World Mental Health Day: Supporting Neurodivergent Employees

World Mental Health Day What Should A Manager Do When A Neurodivergent Team Member Is Struggling

Neurodivergent adults consistently report higher rates of anxiety and depression than their neurotypical peers, which makes this an area managers genuinely can’t afford to get wrong. This article explores what struggling looks like for a neurodivergent team member, and what supporting neurodivergent employees realistically involves for a manager.

World Mental Health Day exists to widen the conversation about mental health at work. This year’s theme is ‘Lived Experiences Heard,’ and it matters particularly for neurodivergent employees, whose experience of struggling often looks nothing like the standard advice managers are given.

...

Continue reading...


Making Therapy More Supportive for Neurodivergent Adults: Why Traditional Therapy Can Fall Short

Why Traditional Therapy Can Fall Short For Neurodivergent Adults

Have you ever sat in a therapy room and felt, deep down, that the approach simply wasn’t built for a brain like  yours? Perhaps you were asked to challenge your thoughts or identify your feelings in a way that your brain never  quite managed to do. Maybe you left session after session feeling more frustrated than when you arrived,  wondering if something was fundamentally wrong with you rather than with the method. 

As an Integrative Psychotherapist and Neurodiversity Coach, I work with a great many people who have spent  years in therapy without it quite landing. Often, the missing piece is not motivation or effort. It is a mismatch  be...

Continue reading...


Feeling ‘Too Much’ or ‘Not Enough’: An Existential Lens on  Neurodivergence

Neurodivergence, Authenticity and Belonging: An Existential Psychotherapy Perspective

Have you spent your life with a quiet but persistent sense that you are too much or not enough?  Too intense, too sensitive, too distracted, too much in some rooms and utterly invisible in others?  Or the opposite: not enough. Not focused enough, not socially fluent enough, not meeting the  unmarked standard that everyone else seems to reach without trying. 

These are not simply feelings of low self-esteem. For many neurodivergent people, this results from decades of being measured against a template that was never designed to include them. And  when we look at this experience through an existential lens, something interesting happens. We  stop asking what is wrong with the person and start asking what kind of world produce...

Continue reading...


Trauma or Neurodivergence? Why the Answer is Often Both 

Trauma or Neurodivergence? Why the Answer is Often Both 

Have you ever wondered whether the way you experience the world is down to something that  happened to you, or something that is simply part of how you are wired? It is a question I hear  often in my practice, and it matters far more than most people realise. The truth is that trauma and  neurodivergence can look strikingly similar on the surface. Both can leave a person feeling  overwhelmed, disconnected and chronically misunderstood, and for a significant number of  people, both are present simultaneously. 

In this article, I want to explore what trauma and neurodivergence actually look like in daily life,  where they overlap and where ...

Continue reading...


Late-Diagnosed ADHD and Autism: Why Everything Suddenly Makes Sense 

Late-Diagnosed ADHD and Autism: Why Everything Suddenly Makes Sense 

Have you spent a large part of your existence feeling like you were somehow doing life ‘wrong’? Exhausted by social situations you could not quite navigate, overwhelmed by things others seemed to find easy or secretly convinced that you were broken in some way nobody could name? 

Perhaps these feelings have led you to receive a diagnosis of either ADHD or autism. If you have recently been diagnosed, you might be experiencing something many of my clients describe as a profound shift. A diagnosis is neither the beginning nor the end, but rather a way of naming something that has always been present. 

...

Continue reading...


The Importance of Finding Your People: Friendship, Neurodivergence & Belonging

The Importance of Finding Your People: Friendship, Neurodivergence & Belonging

Friendship is one of life’s greatest sources of comfort and connection; yet, for many people diagnosed with neurodivergence, it can also be one of the most challenging areas to navigate. You may crave closeness but feel drained by socialising, or doubt whether you’re ‘doing friendship right’. You may find yourself masking, overthinking every interaction, or struggling to maintain consistency when your energy levels dip.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. As an integrative psychotherapist and neurodiversity coach,  I’ve seen how friendship can bring both healing and hurt for neurodiverg...

Continue reading...


Neurodivergent Relationships: Common Challenges and How to Navigate Them 

Neurodivergent Relationships: Common Challenges and How  to Navigate Them 

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, so there’s never a better time to talk about neurodivergence and  romantic relationships. Neurodivergent people often experience love deeply and intensely, but  romantic relationships can bring unique challenges. Whether you are dating, in a long-term  relationship or navigating a breakup, your neurodivergence can influence communication, intimacy,  emotional regulation and connection. This article explores why romantic relationships can feel harder  for neurodivergent people and how relationships can be shaped in ways that honour who you are  rather than asking you to mask or adapt endlessly. 

Have you ever found yourself wondering why relationships seem to take so much more effort...

Continue reading...


From Hibernation to Intention: Why Neurodivergent People Don’t Need New Year’s Resolutions 

From Hibernation to Intention: Why Neurodivergent People Don’t Need New Year’s Resolutions 

As the calendar flips into a new year, there is often an unspoken expectation that we should feel  renewed, motivated and ready to make changes. January is culturally framed as a reset point: a clean  slate, a chance to reinvent ourselves, a moment to commit to ambitious resolutions about  productivity, health, habits or success. This messaging is everywhere, in workplaces, social media and well-meaning conversations about “fresh starts.” 

For many people, this time of year feels very different. Instead of momentum, there may be fatigue.  Instead of clarity, there may be fog. Instead of excitement, there may be pressure, dread or quiet self-criticism for not feeling the way we are apparently supposed to feel. It can be a...

Continue reading...


New Year Survival Tips: Welcoming the New Year on Your Own Terms

New Year Survival Tips: Welcoming the New Year on Your Own Terms

New Year’s Eve is often marketed as the night of all nights.  A night of joy, celebration, and fresh starts. Loud music. Crowded rooms. Fireworks. Booze. The promise that this is the night that matters.

For many neurodivergent individuals, this night does not feel expansive or hopeful. It feels demanding. What is presented as celebration can quickly become an exercise in endurance, as sensory overload, social performance, financial pressure and disrupted routines converge in a single evening. 

In my work as a neurodiversity coach and therapist, I meet many individuals who dread New Year’s Eve ...

Continue reading...