Not Like the Others Counselling

I can work with you online or in-person at my office in St Neots. For online clients I use Zoom. You will be sent the link in advance and all you need to do is click on it, from most devices. As long as they are secure and the client is happy, I am flexible.

Sessions for individuals are usually weekly and 50 minutes long. Weekly sessions are the most effective way to work (see below for details). Clients typically work with me from 6 weeks to years, depending on their needs and budget.

When clients are on a budget, but require long-term counselling, I have found it most effective to do a 6-weeks-on, 6+ weeks off pattern. It overcomes the disadvantages of fortnightly or monthly sessions (see later in FAQ) whilst making counselling affordable.

Sessions for couples are also weekly and are 90 minutes long.

Counselling is a kind of talking therapy which helps you talk through your emotional issues. My approach is adapted to support neurodivergent people (mostly autistic and/or ADHD), so I may, for example, be more chatty than many counsellors and give you more structure, if that’s what you require. But my training is in listening to you and helping you figure out what you’re going through.

Although my focus is on neurodivergent people (eg. autistic and ADHD), I am trained to work with all kinds of clients, with all kinds of issues. Just because you’re autistic doesn’t mean that’s all you are. For example, you may have issues with bereavement, work stress, exam stress, childhood trauma, anxiety & panic, depression and low self-esteem etc.

Of the neurodiversity-adjacent issues I work with, I includes chronic illness, which is much more common in neurodivergent people. Learning how to live well, despite chronic pain, or frequent visits to the hospital (and the social exclusion that brings) can be a real challenge. But is possible. Examples of conditions I have experience of working with include ME/CFS, epilepsy, autoimmune conditions, hypermobility conditions and cancers. I have lived experience of many of these conditions.

Being other than straight and/or cisgender is more common in the neurodivergent community. I am gay myself and often work with LGBTQ+ people, helping them explore their gender or sexuality. I have lived experience, additional training and experience in working affirmatively with people experiencing gender dysphoria and gender expansiveness. I have worked with trans-identifying, non-binary and gender fluid individuals.

I work with teenagers from 16+. If you are looking for counselling for a child I can recommend colleagues who specialise in younger people.

I also occasionally work with couples. In my couples work, it is not uncommon for both partners to be neurodivergent, but in different ways, even if both the couple are autistic or both the couple are ADHD. So building understanding and acceptance in the relationship is often key.

Sadly, the answer is yes, it can be.

For clients with severe mental health problems, such as severe OCD and/or psychosis, counselling could potentially exacerbate disordered thinking. For example, if someone had a severe OCD about germs, talking about germs could actually trigger them more than help.

However, as a qualified counsellor, my training helps me identify if a client’s distress is outside my ability to help. In such situations, I will support the client in finding the help they need. For example, referring them on to the appropriate psychiatrist or clinic.

Counselling can be harmful if it is coerced. Examples of this would be clients with intellectual disabilities and or other neurodivergences who have been badgered into counselling because their carers don’t like their behaviour; and young people who’s parents don’t like how they’re developing. In such cases, I do what I can to explain the need for informed consent to the carers or parents.

And finally, counselling with the aim of changing a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation, is unethical, harmful and immoral. Conversion Therapy (with or without ‘consent’) is completely against the constitution of the National Counselling & Psychotherapy Society, of which I am a member.