AUDHD COUNSELLING
AUDHD COUNSELLING
This is the short version (TL:DR)
I offer AuDHD counselling for adults and young people over 16, in person in Kingsbridge, Devon, and online across the UK.
You do not need a formal diagnosis to work with me. You may be diagnosed, self-identifying, waiting for assessment, or wondering whether both autism and ADHD might explain why life has often felt confusing, exhausting or difficult to manage.
As an AuDHD counsellor, I understand how confusing it can be when one part of you needs structure, another part needs freedom, and both parts are real.
My work is shaped by professional training, lived experience and a neurodiversity-affirming understanding of autism, ADHD and AuDHD. You can also read more about my professional and lived experience on my About Me page.
When you feel caught between needing routine and needing freedom
AuDHD can feel difficult to explain, especially when your needs seem to pull in different directions.
You may need routine, but also feel bored or trapped by routine. You may want structure, but struggle to keep it going. You may crave stimulation, but also feel overwhelmed by too much noise, pressure, change or social demand.
You might not always know whether you need rest, stimulation, connection, quiet, movement, certainty or space to think. This can feel confusing, especially if you have spent years trying to make yourself fit advice that only understands one part of your experience.
Counselling can help you slow this down and begin to understand what is happening, without blaming yourself for finding it complicated.
When autism and ADHD seem to pull in different directions
Autism and ADHD can overlap in ways that make everyday life feel chaotic, even when you look capable from the outside.
You may mask, people please, overcommit, procrastinate, shut down, melt down, become overwhelmed, lose track of time, or push yourself until you crash. You may be sensitive to rejection, emotionally intense, easily overstimulated, and deeply frustrated by the gap between what you intend to do and what actually happens.
None of this means you are lazy, difficult, dramatic or not trying hard enough.
It may mean that your internal experience is much more complex than other people realise.
What AuDHD counselling is, and what it is not
AuDHD counselling is not autism counselling with ADHD added on. It is not ADHD counselling with autism added on. It is not about fixing contradictions, teaching you to mask better, forcing consistency, or making you more productive at the cost of your wellbeing.
It is not about assuming you are lazy, difficult or overreacting. It is not another place where you have to explain or justify every part of yourself.
AuDHD counselling offers emotional support to help you understand yourself more clearly, reduce shame and guilt, and make sense of how autism and ADHD interact in your life.
Counselling may be more helpful if you want to explore emotions, identity, past experiences, shame, relationships, burnout or the impact of being misunderstood. Coaching may be more helpful if you want practical support with routines, boundaries, communication, planning, transitions or everyday life. Some people benefit from both at different points.
Where you do not have to arrive organised or explain yourself perfectly
In therapy with me, you do not have to arrive with a neat list, a clear explanation or a perfectly organised version of what is going on.
You can lose your train of thought. You can contradict yourself. You can talk quickly, go quiet, jump between ideas, need time to process, or not know where to begin.
We can adapt therapy to your communication style, pace and way of processing. The work does not have to be polished to be meaningful.
This matters especially if therapy before has not understood the overlap between autism and ADHD, or if you have felt misunderstood, rushed, pathologised or expected to fit a way of working that did not suit you.
Understanding shame, overwhelm and inconsistency
Many AuDHD people carry shame around inconsistency.
You may have spent years wondering why you can do something one day and not the next. Why you can manage a crisis but struggle with ordinary tasks. Why you can be deeply focused on one thing and unable to begin another. Why you can look capable, but inside feel scattered, exhausted or close to overwhelmed.
Executive dysfunction, procrastination, sensory overwhelm, emotional dysregulation, shutdowns, meltdowns and burnout can all become tangled with guilt and self-criticism.
Counselling can help you recognise these patterns with more compassion. Instead of asking, “What is wrong with me?”, we can begin to ask, “What is happening here, and what might this be telling me?”
Emotions, relationships and rejection sensitivity
AuDHD can affect how you experience emotions, relationships and belonging.
You may feel things intensely, worry about rejection, overthink conversations, apologise often, people please, or try to manage other people’s comfort before your own. You may have been told you are too sensitive, too intense, too inconsistent or too difficult.
Over time, this can make relationships feel exhausting. You may find it hard to identify your own needs, communicate them clearly, or trust that they are valid.
Counselling can help you understand emotional intensity and rejection sensitivity without shame. It can also support you to build boundaries, communicate needs more clearly, and begin rebuilding self-trust.
Moving from self-criticism to something kinder
For many AuDHD people, counselling is not about becoming a different person. It is about understanding yourself more honestly and responding to yourself with less blame.
That might mean making sense of autism and ADHD together, reducing shame and guilt, responding more kindly to overwhelm, understanding your emotional patterns, exploring identity after diagnosis or self-recognition, and learning what your needs actually are.
There may be relief, grief, confusion, anger or uncertainty as you begin to understand yourself differently. You do not have to make sense of all of that alone.
I work with autistic, ADHD and AuDHD clients in a neurodiversity-affirming way, integrating person-centred, Gestalt and CBT approaches. The aim is not to make you more typical, more productive or easier to manage. It is to help you understand yourself, rebuild self-trust, and move towards a life that feels more authentic and sustainable.
You may also find my pages on Autism Counselling, ADHD Counselling, Autism Coaching, ADHD Coaching and AuDHD Coaching helpful if you are unsure which kind of support feels right.
Send me a message
You do not have to arrive with a clear explanation, the right words, or certainty about whether AuDHD explains everything. You are welcome to get in touch even if all you know is that something needs to change.
A simple message is enough.
I offer AuDHD counselling in person in Kingsbridge, Devon, and online across the UK for adults and young people over 16.
