Individuals

Flexibility in every aspect of the way I serve the individuals I am honoured to work with is the most distinctive - indeed, *distinguishing* - feature of my work with clients.

Before I had to retire from the NHS on ill-health grounds in 2018, I had seen countless people who were failed by the available services. The strongest ones disengaged and went to look for help elsewhere. The ones most sensitive to the institutionalised gaslighting, pervasive in some corners of the NHS, came to believe they were indeed the problem; then failed to respond to the traditional treatment, and many got sicker. Most NDs were between these two extremes; they never got better or worse, languishing in the MH services for years.

In private practice, I observed that a dogmatic persistence with one method, which may not be suitable for the particular individual, is one of the most common reasons for a client’s disengagement. I learnt that ND clients require the therapist to be particularly flexible - perhaps, to compensate for the client's anxiety. Correspondingly, I have been working using a combination of approaches and ideas. Although to me, personally, the ideas of Carl Jung and the existential philosophy of Irvin Yalom make the most sense, I am neither a Jungian analyst, nor an existential therapist. In general, I find that Autistic/ADHD/AûDHD clients respond best to a mixed approach, which offers a combination of intellectual exploration of neurodiversity and neurodivergence, plus support with emotional management, based on an individualised balance of methods of CBT, ACT, TA & Somatic approach (to increase the client's sense of embodiment and improving their interoceptive sensibility).

Regardless of the particular combination of methods and ideas used, all my client work is rooted in unconditional positive regard for the client who honours me by choosing me as a vehicle to enact change in their life."