THERAPEUTIC APPROACH
Neurodivergent Affirming Counselling
WHAT IT IS
What is Neurodivergent Affirming Counselling?
“Neuro” refers to the nervous system, and “diversity” refers to variation or difference. Neurodiversitydescribes the natural variation in how the nervous system functions and processes information, including ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and other ways of thinking and experiencing the world.
Neurodivergent-affirming counselling offers a space that affirms these differences, challenges traditional deficit-based views of neurodivergence, and recognizes neurodivergence as an inherent and meaningful aspect of identity, rather than something to be pathologized or corrected.
What Neurodivergent-Affirming Counselling Can Look Like
Neurodivergent-affirming counselling is collaborative, flexible, and tailored to your needs, preferences, and ways of processing. This may include:
❋ Affirming identity and reducing shame
Exploring and validating your neurodivergent identity, while addressing internalized ableism and reframing deficit-based narratives.
❋ Addressing ableism and context
Understanding experiences within broader social, cultural, and systemic contexts, including the impact of external expectations.
❋ Nervous system and sensory awareness
Developing awareness of sensory needs, patterns of overwhelm, and strategies that support regulation and functioning.
❋ Self-advocacy, boundaries, and safety
Building skills to identify needs, set boundaries, and navigate relationships and environments more safely.
❋ Flexible communication & relational safety
Adapting communication styles, allowing processing time, and supporting alternative forms of expression in a psychologically safe space.
❋ Emotional awareness and processing
Supporting understanding of emotions, including differences in interoception and alexithymia, in ways that resonate with your experience.
❋ Masking, burnout, and authenticity
Exploring the impact of masking, including while supporting safer and more sustainable ways of being.
❋ Collaborative and individualized approach
Therapy is guided by your goals, with flexibility in approaches and techniques that align with neurodivergent ways of processing.
❋ Intersectional and culturally responsive care
Considering how neurodivergence intersects with identities such as race, culture, gender, and sexuality.
Take the next step
Use your free consultation to ask questions, get a feel for the approach, and explore which therapy style may best support your needs
Related areas
ADHD Counselling
Autism Counselling
AuDHD Counselling