http://www.neurodivergenttherapyspace.com/

The Neurodivergent Therapy Space, York (2026)

06/01/2026

Low demand parenting reduces pressure on nervous systems so children can feel safe enough to regulate, connect, and learn.

When demands are high, a child’s body stays in survival mode, making connection and learning impossible.

Safety and connection are the foundations for development.

Without them, the brain prioritises protection over curiosity. By lowering unnecessary demands, we reduce threat, strengthen trust, and create the conditions where learning, cooperation, and growth can actually happen.

This is especially important for autistic and ADHD children. Their nervous systems often process the world as louder, faster, and more demanding, meaning everyday expectations can already feel overwhelming.

When pressure is reduced, their capacity increases.

From that place of safety and connection, they are better able to communicate needs, build skills, and engage with learning in ways that actually work for their brains.

And most importantly, they learn what safety and connection feels like.

05/01/2026

If therapy doesn’t feel safe, it isn’t doing its job!

31/12/2025

New year. Same me.
And honestly… I like her.

There’s no pressure here to reinvent yourself, optimise your life, or pretend everything is within your control.

For so many of us especially autistic and ADHD people our mental health is deeply shaped by our environment not just our mindset. You cannot positive think your way out of overwhelm burnout or unsafe systems.

What can help when possible is strengthening boundaries, listening to your body, reducing burnout where you can and offering yourself compassion when things feel hard.

If people are celebrating big achievements right now that is genuinely lovely.

And if your achievement was simply getting through the year that counts too.

You do not need to become someone new to be worthy of rest, care or pride.

You are allowed to enter this year exactly as you are 🤍

19/12/2025

Christmas brings out so many unspoken rules that make absolutely no sense to my autistic/ADHD brain.

Urgency that appears out of nowhere.
More plans added to already full days.
Buying food no one actually eats.
Opening presents like it’s a performance.
And the expectation to prioritise other people’s comfort over your own capacity.

We live in a society that conditions us to please others. So if your natural way of being is literal, honest, and direct, Christmas can become an intense period of masking just to avoid upsetting anyone.

That level of effort is exhausting.

None of this is about being ungrateful.

It’s about nervous systems, capacity, and honesty. Clear plans, fewer demands, wish lists, and doing things differently isn’t selfish, it’s honouring your own needs above other people’s expectations…

which is 100% ok, regardless of how others around you feel about it!

11/12/2025

PDA isn’t defiance.

It’s an overwhelmed nervous system trying to protect itself from pressure, expectations or loss of autonomy.

And in relationships this can show up as shutdowns, avoiding conversations, getting irritated by “small” requests, or feeling instantly overwhelmed when something feels like a demand even if you want to do it.

Working with PDA means reducing pressure, increasing safety and staying connected without triggering that “I can’t do this” response.

Here are 5 ways to support yourself or your partner/child if PDA shows up in your relationship:

🌿 Make things feel optional not demanded
🌿 Avoid sudden instructions or pressure
🌿 Collaborate instead of directing
🌿 Keep emotional intensity low
🌿 Support the nervous system

And remember, Your nervous system is responding to threat not logic and with the right support connection becomes so much easier.

09/12/2025

Masking is one of the most misunderstood experiences for autistic and ADHD people.

On the outside it can look like coping, managing, being sociable, being “fine”. But inside, the nervous system is working overtime.

Imagine a duck on top of the water and their feet frantically paddling underneath.

Masking is a survival strategy many of us learned early in life. It helped us stay safe, avoid judgement, fit into environments that weren’t designed for our brains and protect ourselves from misunderstanding. But masking comes with a cost!

When you spend years forcing eye contact, copying social cues, hiding sensory overload, softening who you are, suppressing stims, being agreeable when you want to say no or acting “together” when you feel overwhelmed… your body keeps the score.

The long-term impact can look like chronic stress, burnout, emotional exhaustion, shutdowns, identity confusion and a deep sense of loneliness inside yourself.

Masking also increases the risk of chronic anxiety and depression.
Because masking means disconnecting from your authentic self.
It means overriding your wants, needs and preferences so you can fit the mould.

It means being in a constant state of internal conflict, even while you appear calm.

This is why unmasking matters. Not in a sudden, dramatic way, but in small, gentle, safe steps and recognising when it isn’t safe to unmask and what accommodations can we implement around this to ensure your nervous system can come back to baseline when it is safe to do so!

It is the slow process of reconnecting with who you are underneath the performance. It is softening the parts of you that have worked so hard to stay acceptable. It is allowing your real needs to have a voice again.

Therapy is not just about processing trauma.

It is also about understanding your nervous system, exploring your identity, reducing overwhelm and helping you come home to yourself.

What parts of you do you feel you can unmask and what parts of you aren’t even sure whether it’s a mask or not?

04/12/2025

If tasks feel like wading through wet cement, there is a reason for it.

It is not a character flaw and it is not a lack of motivation.
It is your executive functioning bandwidth reaching capacity.

Autistic and ADHD brains use more cognitive energy to shift attention, process information, regulate emotions and organise tasks into steps.

By the time you get to the “doing” part, your system is already working overtime. This is why simple tasks can feel heavy, slow or completely inaccessible.

So many neurodivergent people carry shame around this, thinking they should be able to “just get on with it” like everyone else. But when you understand the neurobiology behind it, everything starts to make more sense.

This is why neuroaffirming therapy matters.

It is not just about processing trauma.

It is about understanding your brain, reducing overwhelm and building gentle systems that make daily life feel more manageable.

Small shifts. Less friction. More compassion.

03/12/2025

So many autistic and ADHD people apologise the second they try to meet their own needs.

“Sorry, I need a break.”
“Sorry, I can’t stay that long.”
“Sorry, this is too much for me.”
“Sorry, I just need things to be a bit calmer.”

And the truth is, apologising every time you try to support your nervous system sends a quiet message to your brain that your needs are inconvenient, embarrassing or something you should hide.

Over time it chips away at your self trust.

It reinforces masking.

It teaches your body that comfort and safety come second to pleasing other people.

And eventually you stop asking for what you need at all, even when your whole system is screaming for it.

But your needs are not the problem.
Your overwhelm is not the problem.
Your sensory limits are not the problem.

The problem is that you learned somewhere along the way that your comfort should never come before others, and that is simply not true.

When you advocate for yourself, you aren’t being rude or dramatic.

You’re supporting your nervous system. You’re preventing shutdowns and burnout. You’re choosing regulation instead of survival mode.

You do not need to apologise for taking care of yourself.
Your needs are valid.
Your boundaries are valid.

And you deserve relationships and environments where you don’t have to shrink yourself to be accepted. And that includes Christmas holidays!

You don’t have to see everyone, just because others expect or want you to.

You don’t have to decorate your whole house.

You don’t have to do elf on a shelf

You don’t have to have a million presents under the tree.

You don’t have to attend every social event.

Tune into yourself and try holding those boundaries, use it as a test to see what it feels like. Half the time, most people are totally accepting of them. And the ones who aren’t… well that’s kind of a them problem isn’t it ❤️‍🩹

02/12/2025

If your mind has been racing, overthinking or jumping between ten tabs today, these might help you come back into your body and into the present moment.

Save these for later, especially on days when your nervous system feels a bit too loud.

1. What does my body need right now?

Not in an hour, not tomorrow, right now. A drink of water, a stretch, a breath, quiet, movement, warmth?

2. What is one thing I can soften?

My shoulders, my jaw, my pace, the pressure I’m putting on myself. Soften one thing in your body.

3. What can I focus on for the next two minutes?

Just two minutes. A single task, your breath, the feeling of your feet on the ground. Two minutes is enough to interrupt the overwhelm and bring your brain back online.

Busy brains are not “too much.” They just need anchors, pauses and gentle space to land.

30/11/2025

Had the best hike today with an incredible sunset that I just had to share with you all 🧡

Sometimes you just need a hike and your bestie to ground you and remind you what your values are, who you are and what you love. I didn’t want to be around many people today but I did want to be in nature. This is the best kind of therapy for me.

It aligns me and centres me. I love socialising and I love catching up with friends but nature has been my happy place all my life really.

My dad always used to take me and my brother out into nature everytime we were with him and I definitely recreated the same with my boys when they were younger, always climbing a tree with them or getting lost in the woods!

I think because it brings peace, clarity and a sense of who you are.

It’s also the quickest way to reduce sensory overwhelm for me.

It can be so easy to forget about the things that nourish you, getting swamped in everyday life, always doing things for others and completely disconnecting from your passions. This is another form of self neglect that we forget about.

So today was a pretty epic day, chasing sunsets, being outdoors, grounding our nervous systems in the process and laughing at each other (obviously) 🥰

Someone also captured a cute video of us and airdropped it to us. I think she thought it was a sweet, loving moment. In reality we were bickering about whether we would fall off the edge and how could we get comfortable whilst watching the sunset 😂

29/11/2025

End of month check in, if it’s welcome ✨

Before we rush into a new month, if you would like to, take a moment to reflect on how this one has actually felt for you.

What’s one thing that has supported you, grounded you or made life feel even a tiny bit easier? 💛

For me, this month has been surprisingly calm. No one else in my family has broken any more bones, which feels like a win, and Josh has only had one infection so far, so that feels like progress too 🎉

I’ve also felt so much more able to show up for you on here. Posting, chatting, creating content for you all and I genuinely love connecting with you on here!

A big part of that is because I’ve been focusing more on how I feel day to day.

Prioritising sleep. Socialising less. Keeping my environment calmer. It has helped my brain settle and my focus return in a way I really needed 🌿

And I think the one thing that has supported me the most this month has been cutting out alcohol. I love a red wine with cheese, but even one glass affects my sleep, my body and how I feel the next day. So I’ve barely touched it this month and I feel so much better for it!

So, what is one thing that has supported you this month and can you keep it for next month?

27/11/2025

Therapy is a space where you can explore the parts of yourself that feel confusing, heavy, hidden or misunderstood.

We look at your relationships, your boundaries, your patterns, your nervous system, your past and how it still shows up today.

We explore masking, sensory needs, internal narratives and the parts of you that feel lost, too much or not enough.

For autistic and ADHD people, this work can be life changing.

It gives space to unlearn shame, understand your sensory world, and recognise your needs without apologising.

You begin to understand why you respond the way you do, what overwhelms you, what soothes you and what makes you feel safe.

You learn that your brain isn’t failing you. It’s communicating with you.

When you understand your inner world, you gain choice.
You build self belief.

You find a way to communicate your needs in a way that works for you.

You feel more in control of your emotional and sensory life.

Therapy gives you room to unravel, reflect and rebuild yourself in a way that feels true to who you are.

The Neurodivergent Therapy Space

06/01/2026

05/01/2026

31/12/2025

19/12/2025

11/12/2025

09/12/2025

04/12/2025

03/12/2025

02/12/2025

30/11/2025

29/11/2025

27/11/2025

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