MAKING SENSE
3 months of 1:1 support to explore how your brain works, why things have felt hard, and what you truly need - without self blame or shame
Make sense of a lifetime of experiences through a neurodivergent lens - with clarity, compassion, and no judgement.
There often comes a moment where things begin to click.
You start to wonder if there might be a different way of understanding yourself: one that actually explains why life has felt harder than it seemed to be for others. Why you sense you haven’t achieved anything, despite outward signs of success. Why your drive and perfectionism hasn’t lead to the meaning and authenticity you crave. Why you are often overwhelmed or exhausted, and have reached a point where you can no longer keep up.
This is a space to gently explore that.
Over three months, we’ll begin to make sense of your experiences through an ADHD and/or Autistic lens - at your pace, in a way that feels safe and not overwhelming. Together, we’ll look at your patterns, your sensitivities, your ways of coping, and the parts of you that may have been misunderstood or masked over time.
There is no fixing here. No pressure to change who you are.
Instead, this work is about:
understanding how your brain actually works
making sense of past experiences with compassion rather than blame
recognising the impact of masking, burnout, and overwhelm
beginning to identify your needs - often for the first time
For many women, this stage brings a deep sense of relief.
A softening.
A feeling of “oh… this makes sense.”
You don’t have to keep trying to figure this out on your own.
Is this for you?
This space is for you if you’re beginning to wonder whether ADHD and/or Autism might be part of your story — or if you’ve already discovered this, but are still trying to understand what it really means for you.
You might recognise yourself here:
You’ve spent much of your life feeling different, but never quite able to put your finger on why
You’ve been told you are too sensitive, but still find yourself taking everything personally
You’ve learned to cope, mask, or push through - often at the cost of your energy and wellbeing
You’ve been hard on yourself for struggling with things that look simple from the outside
You’re beginning to question whether the way you’ve been living actually works for you
You want to understand your mind, your needs, and your patterns in a deeper, more compassionate way
You don’t need a formal diagnosis.
You don’t need to be certain.
You just need a sense that something here resonates - and a curiosity about understanding yourself differently.
This work is especially supportive if you’re ready to:
move away from self-blame and towards self-understanding
explore your experiences at a gentle, manageable pace
begin to consider what life might look like if it truly supported you
This may not be for you if…
…you’re looking for quick fixes, rigid strategies, or a one-size-fits-all approach. Or if you are seduced by the idea of transformation. Of becoming a different person.
There is no pressure here to change who you are.
Only an invitation to understand yourself more deeply - and, over time, to begin living in a way that feels more like your own.
What to expect
Your unique journey
Using the AuDHD Paradox Coaching Framework, we begin with a 90 minute session to map out the areas that are most relevant to your life to create a unique roadmap for our work together.
A regular rhythm
We meet for 60 minutes once every 2 weeks to take each area and explore in more depth. This allows for a balance between insights from each session and space to integrate what you’ve learned.
But flexible support
Although we follow a framework, sessions are also flexible. If you come needing to talk about what happened that morning, that is what we will do. If you need to go back over things, there’s time for that too. Nothing is too big, nor too small to bring.
Here for the long term
At the end of our 3 months together, you can continue 1:1 sessions at a rhythm to suit you, such as a monthly check in to keep the thread of things going. Or you might feel a pull to go deeper in my group programme: Coming Home to Yourself.
This work isn’t about becoming a different person.
It’s about understanding yourself more deeply - and, over time, beginning to live in a way that reflects who you already are.
The changes tend to be quiet at first.
Subtle shifts rather than sudden transformations.
But they matter.
You will begin to notice:
A growing sense that your experiences make sense, rather than feeling confusing or wrong
Less self-blame, and more compassion for the ways you’ve learned to cope
A clearer understanding of your needs - and permission to take them seriously
More awareness of your energy, limits, and what contributes to overwhelm
Small but meaningful changes in how you respond in difficult moments
Then this deepens into:
Feeling less pressure to mask or push yourself beyond your capacity
A greater sense of steadiness and self-trust
The ability to make decisions based on what actually works for you
Creating boundaries that protect your energy and wellbeing
A way of living that feels more sustainable, and more your own
There’s no expectation to do this perfectly.
There’s no version of you that you need to become.
Instead, this is a process of gently letting go of what was never truly yours -
and returning, step by step, to who you are underneath it all.
The details
Let’s chat first
If you want to start making sense of yourself…
The next step is to arrange a free 30 chat with me.
This is not a sales call.
It’s a gentle, no-pressure conversation where we can:
briefly explore what’s been coming up for you
see whether this kind of support feels like a good fit
answer any questions you may have
There’s no expectation to commit to anything afterwards.
If it feels right, we can plan to start work together. If it doesn’t, that’s completely OK too.
Please click the button below to schedule a date and time.
How it works
If you decide that you’d like to work with me, the next step is to book in for an initial 90 min session, where we do a deep dive into what has brought you to where you are today and what you want to work on.
I write up the main themes and insights for you, and highlight areas of the AuDHD Paradox Coaching Framework that I think will be helpful to explore further.
We then meet every 2 weeks, usually on the same day / time. You will receive email and text reminders of appointments, and you have 48 hours to reschedule (because life happens!)
I often share extra resources after sessions, and check in on the weeks we don’t meet. I ‘m not one for action lists and SMART goals (because you probably have enough of those already), but I do offer gentle prompts and accountability to help you move forward.
At the end of our 3 months together we review, and you can continue 1:1 sessions at a rhythm to suit you, or join the next cohort of my group programme.
What it costs
The full 3 month package of support from me includes:
1 × 90 min initial session
A personalised plan with 3-4 main themes you want to address and my initial insights
6 × 60 min follow up sessions
Check ins between sessions
Tools and resources to support what we cover in sessions (e.g. guided audios and workbooks)
Total investment = £885
or 3 payments of £295 over 3 months
I accept Access to Work funding, and we can identify your specific needs in our free initial chat.
Meet me
I’m Ali, a late discovered AuDHD therapist and coach. My special interest is studying what makes other people tick, but it took me until my 50s to figure out why I felt so different, and what to do about it. I spent many years stuck in repeated cycles of high masking, disguising my own limits to others and myself, only to crash and withdraw when things got too much. Now I’ve found a different way to be in the world that honours my unique way of being and enables me to show up for the people and things I care about without burning out. I can help you do the same.
Got questions?
Here are some answers to questions that you may have before booking sessions with me. But if there’s anything that is not covered here, please get in touch with me via my contact page.
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You can bring anything to sessions with me, and my aim is to meet you where you are in terms of the scope and complexity of what you want to bring.
A neurodivergent experience is often one of hiding or making ourselves smaller to be socially acceptable. I have been in too many spaces where I felt my experience was either dismissed for being too trivial or judged for being too deep. I want this to be a conversation in which you feel it's OK to share what matters to you, however big or small it seems.
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Neuro-affirming therapy and coaching starts from the belief that there is nothing wrong with you. Being Autistic or having ADHD isn't a problem to be fixed: it's a different way of experiencing and moving through the world.
A lot of people come to me having spent years being told (directly or indirectly) that they need to mask, adapt, or push through. Neuro-affirming work is the opposite of that. It means we work with how your brain is wired, not against it.
In practice, that looks like:
No pathologising. I won't treat your neurodivergence as a disorder to be managed. We'll explore the challenges you're facing without framing you as the problem.
Your goals, your pace. Sessions are shaped around what matters to you, not a one-size-fits-all programme designed for neurotypical people.
Honesty about masking and burnout. If you've been performing a version of yourself for a long time, we can gently explore what it might feel like to stop, and what support you need to do that safely.
Practical and flexible. I know that executive function, sensory sensitivities, and energy fluctuations are real. The way we work together will reflect that.
Accommodating your needs. I’m always open to things that help you to feel more comfortable in sessions. So that could be having your camera off, taking breaks, getting up and moving around, using fidget toys, stimming, not making eye contact and so on.
Put simply: you don't need to arrive here having already figured yourself out. You just need to show up as you are.
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No, you do not have to be neurodivergent to work with me, and you certainly don’t need a formal diagnosis.
Some people in the neurodivergent community are not comfortable with the idea of a diagnostic process that is based on a medical model of deficit, and prefer to self identify as a particular neurotype. Others would like to receive a formal diagnosis but face structural barriers such as the high cost, fear of discrimination, or prejudice within their community.
You can work with me at whatever stage you are in your thinking about whether or not to pursue a diagnosis, and this is one of the topics I often coach clients on.
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Yes, I do work with neurotypical clients. However, many clients who seek my help would say that they are highly sensitive, and they may be curious about whether aspects of ADHD and / or Autism explain some of their experiences.
I also work with clients who have children or other family members who are neurodivergent, and who want to better understand how to support them.
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I mainly work with women and AFAB (Assigned Female at Birth) clients, but you are very welcome to contact me if what I offer resonates with you but you do not identify with these labels.
I have a special interest in major life and hormonal transitions for women around motherhood and menopause. My background is in pre / post natal support (I was a pregnancy yoga and hypnobirthing teacher for many years) and I have specialist training in and over 10 years’ experience of therapeutic coaching for matrescence (the transition to motherhood).
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While I have extensive experience of working with neurodivergent clients, and an academic background in psychology, I cannot formally assess you for ADHD or Autism. I can, however, help you to make sense of your experiences through a neurodivergent lens, and decide if pursuing a diagnosis would be worthwhile.
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Yes, I do accept Access to Work funding, but this needs to be in place before you begin to work with me. I can provide you with a quote for sessions for to provide your assessor.
Please see my article on how to apply for funding if you’d like more information.