Neurodiversity Counselling

Name: Safe Place Therapy
Price range: $$

We offer supportive and effective neurodiversity counselling

We have many different clients that access our team. Everyone comes in with their specific needs and issues.

Neurodivergent people specifically need a real focus on the finer details of counselling help. It’s not uncommon for people who identify as neurodiverse to walk into a usual counselling office and feel overwhelmed.

For some, it may feel confronting or even daunting to discuss their personal issues in a face-to-face session for a whole fifty minutes. For some neurodiverse individuals, needing to sit in one place for this amount of time can be almost impossible.

Understanding neurodiversity

At Safe Place Therapy, we understand clients who have specific needs, and have taken the time to address these issues. We offer different changes to the environment to help ease the stressors related to counselling.

We see it as our job to create safety in the room and help shape best communication based on a person’s needs. We ensure our waiting room is a quiet space. In sessions, we offer sensory tools that can provide a welcome distraction, and can include time for short breaks when sessions become stressful. We can even change the seating arrangements to reduce the amount of direct eye contact if that is a particular need.

Neurodiversity is diverse

‘Neurodiversity’ is an umbrella term that captures a range of conditions, including autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and Asperger’s syndrome. Although there is ongoing research into the causes of these conditions, it is likely they arise due an interplay of genetics and the early environment, either before birth or in the first few months of infancy. There are typically changes in the connections formed within the brain, such that it may be ‘wired’ slightly differently to those who are considered neurotypical or non-neurodivergent.

A note on terminology: We use the terms ‘neurodiverse’ and ‘neurotypical’ instead of ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’. There is nothing ‘abnormal’ about neurodiversity, and ongoing research demonstrates it is a normal variation in human neuropsychology.

If you are neurodiverse, or have traits associated with neurodiversity, it’s important to find a mental health counsellor who understands you, and someone you feel comfortable in talking to. At Safe Place Therapy, our counsellors are well-equipped to work with neurodiverse clients through a range of mental health issues. You can either book with someone online, or can call our bookings line and have us help find the right counsellor for you.

There are a number of different conditions that fall within the scope of neurodiversity. There are degrees of overlap between many of them, and it is possible for neurodiverse individuals to be diagnosed with more than one of these conditions.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Autism spectrum disorder, or more commonly referred to as simply ‘autism’, is a neurological condition shaped by repetitive patterns of behaviour and difficulties with social interactions. It is a spectrum disorder, meaning there is a wide variety in presentations, such that one autistic individual may be exceedingly different to another.

For some autistic people, social interactions may be overly complicated, and it may be difficult for them to understand the social nuances. For example, many autistic individuals have trouble reading facial expressions and body language. For this reason, many autistic people appear introverted and may even prefer being alone. For some, it may be an isolating experience.

Autistic people may also struggle with sudden environmental changes. For example, it may take someone with autism a lot more time to get used to an office desk being moved from one spot to another. Many people with autism say that they need a degree of order, and for furniture and other aspects of their environment to be arranged in a way that feels natural to them. Without this, they can easy feel stressed or distracted until the problem is corrected.

There is a common misconception that autistic people are intellectually disabled. In reality, autistic people have the same range of intelligence as neurotypical people. People with autism have a huge amount of potential, but sometimes it can be hard to reach, especially when there is a lack of support or understanding.

At Safe Place Therapy, we pride ourselves in our ability to help our autistic clients identify the barriers to achieving their full potential, and work with them to find the right strategy for them to overcome obstacles.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by restlessness, difficulty concentrating, and difficulty maintaining attention. These are often accompanied by impulsivity, and behaviour patterns that may be pervasive, disruptive, and overall have a negative impact on liveability.

Like autism, ADHD is caused by an interplay between genetics and the environment, and there are many different factors that may impact on the likelihood of developing ADHD. While it is a lifelong condition, ADHD can be managed though medication, therapy, or a combination of both.

There are several different subtypes of ADHD, and these differ in the degree of hyperactivity or attention deficits. Having an understanding of which subtype a person fits into can help counsellors tailor therapy and identify strategies that are specific to the individual needs of the client.

One of the major societal problems with ADHD is a mis-association with ‘naughty kids’. People with ADHD are frequently misdiagnosed, often going for years with an incorrect diagnosis. For many, being given an appropriate diagnosis is described as ‘cathartic’, and immediately helps them to understand why they may have felt different from people around them.

Diagnosing Neurodiversity

Our neurodiverse clients frequently tell us that it has taken years for them to receive a diagnosis that fits within their lived experience. Often, they explain they have been misdiagnosed with either anxiety or depression, or other personality disorders such as borderline personality disorder. In part, this all stems from common misunderstandings about neurodiversity, even by mental health professionals.

Our clinicians are skilled in identifying the particular traits frequently associated with neurodiversity, and can work with mental health concerns that are within the scope of neurodiversity, and well as issues that might be caused by something else. We pride ourselves on viewing the person as a whole, and the range of counselling styles we use reflect the importance of treating someone holistically, rather than a ‘condition’.

As part of an individualised therapy, we also recognise that you are exactly that – an individual! No two people are the same, and this applies to people with neurodivergence as well. There is no ‘one size fits all’ therapy that applies to people, and even less so when it comes to people who share only the same neurodivergent condition. As counsellors, our job is by in large to listen to your experiences, to hear your stories, to have you share with us what your ultimate goals are with your mental health, and for us to work one-on-one to develop and train the skills required to achieve those goals.

If you are neurodivergent or have neurodivergent traits and would like to discuss your mental health with someone who understands you, either book with us online or call the bookings hotline.

Finding the right support for neurodiversity can be difficult. Help is here, just reach out for it. At Safe Place Therapy our neurodiversity treatment is effective. We are here to help you.