Liz Pilley

Realising you're autistic or have ADHD, especially as an adult, can be challenging and liberating, but there's often a lot to process - things to look back on and interpret through your new lens, new knowledge to integrate and apply for a happier future, as well as thinking about how things are working for you in the present. I can help you through this process, using a mix of counselling, coaching, psycho-education, and my own lived experience of going through the same process. Neurodivergent people often have issues finding a therapist who really "gets" them. Who better than another neurodivergent person?

I am an autistic counsellor and coach, who is passionate about helping autistic people and people with ADHD thrive in their lives. I offer post-diagnosis (including self-diagnosis) counselling and coaching, as well as help to discuss or explore any issue in your life, with an understanding of the way your individual brain works.

Whether you're really struggling, or just want a space to explore new issues, or need a therapist who understands neurodivergent or related issues (such as queer identity), I can help - with a free, no obligation, half-hour videochat to see if we suit each other. I work exclusively on Zoom.

After one of my children was diagnosed with autism and ADHD, and finding there wasn't much help and support available, I did a deep dive into the subject for myself. During this, my other two children were also diagnosed and so was I. I realised that ordinary counselling and coaching often doesn't work for neurodivergent brains. We need someone who understands the way we see and relate to the world and can offer specific and tailored advice. Having already trained in life coaching, I then also trained in counselling, and now offer both, from an autistic and ADHD perspective.

I specialise in counselling and coaching for autistic people and people with ADHD. Whether it's coming to terms with a diagnosis or a self-diagnosis, issues with work, issues with family life, burn-out, anxiety, or working out where and how you fit into life and society, I can help work things through and work out what you need to have in place in order to thrive in your life.

Autism and ADHD often intersect with being queer and/or disabled. I have life experience of both, and often deal with issues arising from these with clients. Questioning gender or sexuality often goes hand in hand with neurodivergence, and different relationship styles such as forms of ethical non-monogamy are also common.

Health issues to do with chronic nervous system activation and/or genetic predisposition are also common with neurodivergent people, and I am able to offer support with commonly co-occurring issues such as EDS, fibromyalgia, POTS, inflammatory issues and immune system issues.

I work online via Zoom, or occasionally by phone. I offer counselling or coaching from a person-centred perspective. I work from a non-hierarchical perspective - we are working as a team to support you in the way that works best for you. You are in control of the process and choose how often you want to have sessions and what you'd like to cover. If you want to look at the past and into emotions and patterns of behaviour, then counselling is probably the best choice for you. If you want to look at changes to make going forwards, or if you want help shaping new goals or achieving current goals, including what may be blocking you from doing that, then coaching would probably work better for you. With either choice, I also offer psycho-education (useful information about how our brains work) along the way.