Disability, neurodiversity and identity

What is disability-informed psychotherapy?

Not every therapist has lived experience of disability. Not every disabled person wants or needs a disabled therapist. But many people want a therapist who already understands the realities of disability, accessibility, healthcare systems, grief, adaptation, fatigue, identity and the social barriers that can shape mental health.

Disability-informed psychotherapy recognises that emotional distress does not exist in isolation. It develops within relationships, environments and systems. Disability is not only a medical or physical experience. It can also be emotional, relational, cultural and social.

Many of the difficulties disabled people experience are intensified by inaccessible environments, inadequate services, discrimination and assumptions about what a disabled person can or cannot do. You may feel constantly expected to explain yourself, prove your needs, minimise your discomfort or make other people feel comfortable about your disability. You may be tired of having to fight for access before you can even begin to participate.

As someone born with a physical disability, I bring both professional training and lived understanding to this part of my work. That does not mean I will assume your experience is the same as mine. Every person experiences disability differently, and my role is to remain curious about what disability, illness, access and identity mean in your life.

You will not need to spend your first sessions explaining wheelchair access, chronic fatigue, medical trauma, ableism or why asking for help can feel so complicated.

You may want to explore:

• changes in your body or physical capability;
• grief connected to injury, illness or changing circumstances;
• dependence, independence and interdependence;
• relationships with carers, family members or professionals;
• difficult experiences within healthcare systems;
• fatigue, pain and limited energy;
• internalised ableism, shame or self-criticism;
• feeling overlooked, underestimated or treated differently;
• asking for support or requesting accommodations;
• intimacy, sexuality and relationships;
• employment, education or financial pressure;
• uncertainty about your future;
• identity, belonging and self-worth.

You may also have learned that needing support means being weak, or that your value depends on how productive, independent or capable you appear. You may feel pressure to remain positive, resilient or inspirational, even when you are angry, grieving, frightened or exhausted. Over time, these messages can become internalised.

Therapy can offer a space in which you do not have to perform strength. We can acknowledge the genuine challenges of disability without reducing you to a diagnosis, condition or set of support needs, and recognise your strengths without expecting you to be endlessly resilient.

For some people, therapy involves redefining independence. Independence does not have to mean doing everything without help. It may mean having choice, autonomy and control over how support is provided. For others, it may involve grieving changes, expressing anger, rebuilding confidence, challenging internalised shame or reconnecting with ambitions that have been placed aside.

What is neurodiversity-informed psychotherapy?

Not every neurodivergent person experiences the world in the same way, and not everyone who wonders whether they may be autistic or have ADHD wants or needs a diagnosis. But many people have spent years believing that they are too sensitive, too disorganised, too intense, too quiet, too emotional or simply too different.

You may have learned to hide parts of yourself to fit into environments that did not recognise or accommodate your needs, carefully monitoring how you speak, move, respond or express emotion. This is often described as masking. Over time, masking can contribute to exhaustion, anxiety, low self-esteem, burnout and uncertainty about who you are beneath other people’s expectations.

The aim is not to make you appear more “normal”. It is to understand how your mind works and identify what helps you feel safe, regulated and able to participate in your own life. Therapy can be adapted to suit your communication, sensory and processing needs. This may include:

• clearer structure and expectations;
• direct and concrete communication;
• slower pacing;
• written prompts or summaries;
• additional time to process questions;
• exploring emotions through thoughts, sensations or experiences;
• flexibility around eye contact and body language;
• recognising sensory overload and shutdown;
• finding practical strategies for organisation and daily demands.

Disability, neurodiversity and identity

Disability and neurodiversity are parts of a person’s experience, but they are not the complete explanation for who that person is. They may intersect with gender, sexuality, culture, relationships, family background, work, education and many other aspects of identity.

You may feel proud of parts of your identity while grieving or struggling with others. You may experience both capability and limitation, confidence and uncertainty, acceptance and anger. These experiences do not have to be simplified into a single story.

My aim is to offer a respectful, accessible and non-judgemental space where your whole experience can be recognised.