Online sessions, daytime and evening.
Neuroaffirming psychotherapy, counselling or coaching with Vauna Beauvais. Online Video Sessions for adult individuals.
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Welcome. If you're reading this, you might be looking for a therapist who truly understands you and how to work with neurodivergent people so that therapy is worthwhile and meaningful for you.
You could be interested in sessions because you are seeking therapy about the things that can affect any human being. Those types of things could include
processing events or experiences,
addressing situations,
making choices or changes,
solving problems,
exploring and improving the way you feel about yourself or about your life.
Alternatively, you may be interested in sessions because you believe that being neurodivergent is a big factor in what is going on in your life right now and you would like a therapist who you can talk to about these things to help gain understanding and to move forward. That may include things such as
exploring and questioning whether you are neurodivergent,
discussing the issue in your relationships or work,
finding ways to make your life better (for example managing energy differently, making decisions differently, thinking about and treating yourself more kindly while also pursuing what you want out of life).
I believe that understanding yourself can be transformative, but also that every person's journey with this understanding is unique.
Time together with me is a space where you are welcome and embraced, your experiences are heard, believed and validated, and where what is of concern to you takes priority in what we pursue.
Your therapist, Vauna
My way of working
Why is my work neurodiversity specific?
I'm Vauna, an autistic ADHD psychotherapist with over 25 years of experience and a multitude of qualifications and accomplishements.
Having discovered in my 40s that I am autistic (10 years after I became a therapist) and then discovering 5 years after that I’m an ADHD-er, I understand personally the multi-layered journey of personal discovery in adulthood.
I work solely with neurodivergent people these days (the past 6 years) . I’ve deep-dived into re-understanding myself and my timeline and current situations, after appreciating I have been AuDHD all along.
I read a lot of rearch materials and publications on autism, ADHD diversity and inclusion, and therapy and wellbeing. I also create publications and broadcasts on understanding neurodivergent people and the therapy that is beneficial for them. This triple perspective shapes everything about how I work and what I can offer you.
In our sessions, we'll work collaboratively, and explore at your pace. I don't sit back silently – I'm engaged and interactive as we talk together.
At first, though, I’m engaging with what brought you to therapy or coaching, and why it matters. Additonally I am seekig to understand what kind of person you are, what you value and prioritise, find painful, or are not concerned about. This helps me to be more aligned with what matters to you and why.
A lot of the time you may need to talk to illustrate the subject matter. And a lot of the engaging with that should feel interactive between us (not only me being quiet or encouraging). In general, my approach combines that deep listening with taking a lot of time for clarifying I am understanding you properly and the relevance and significance of what you are sharing with me. I may also offer opportunity for practical or useful insights when it is fitting.
I do draw from multiple therapeutic traditions, while always remmbering that we are humans and not models of human psychology. I seek to stay grounded in the fundamental reality of us being two adult people who are meeting because we are very invested in you having a better experience of yourself and of your life.
I understand that for many neurodivergent people there could be a backdrop of a life experience of hurtful, frustrating, or harmful interpersonal experiences - for example by having our words misinterpreted, our intentions misunderstood, and our needs and preferences discounted or swayed.
Moreover there may be times in your life where the broader living conditions of life have influenced whether you have had peace, wellbeing or happiness , based on any leveraging of power dynamics interpersonally or systemically - whether you have known that you were neurodivergent or not. I seek to account for all clients in context of the world and their life and environments, rather than abstracting them out of it and reducing everything down to the individual alone.
I work with an understanding that:
I don’t offer any assessment services, such as autism assessments or ADHD. And i am not in a poisiton to tell you whether you are or are not neurodivergent. But i am available to explore this with you if you have such curiosity.
I believe that an autistic or ADHD or AuDHD adult who did not know as a child that they were, has a series of potential relevant associated themes - as a client population. Each person is different and is an inidivdual with unique lived experience and encounters, as well as a uniqueness of individual persceptions and meaning making of their life and the world. Being a unique individual is the person who is the client that i get to know during our time together. And if neurodivergent (and/or a member of any other minoritised group) there exists context which is also taken into account in how I might think about things you present. I do share my thoughts with you and we create meanings and understandings through jointly considring things, rather than me deciding this or that about you. INot everything fits a person simply because they are neurodivergent, but if it fits and is relevant we can hold those areas of understanding in useful ways.
The benefits of knowing whether we are neurodivergent can be multiple. There are considerations around who gets to decide who knows and for what purpose. I believe in the neurodivergent person themselves being able to choose what to share and for what reasons. Access finally to the full information to bring the opportunity for knowing oneself and may improve relationships, access to equity and protections. Additionally, being now able to update our self-understanding is not only transformative, but also very practically useful for treating oneself properly, and making whole-person decisions when pursuing a fulfilling and meaningful life and relationships.
Practical Details
Who I Work With
What You Can Expect
I offer online sessions via Zoom, allowing you to engage in therapy from your own space. Sessions are 60 minutes long, and I'm available from 08:45am to 9pm on weekdays. We can meet weekly, fortnightly, or monthly, depending on what is best. FEES ARE SHOWN HERE
Before committing to regular sessions, I offer a free 15-minute video call for those interested. This gives us both a chance to meet and see if we might be a good fit. I understand that finding the right therapist is crucial, and I encourage you to trust your instincts about whether our connection feels right for you.
My practice welcomes:
Adults exploring or coming to terms with late-identified neurodivergent self.
People questioning whether they might be neurodivergent
Those navigating relationships, work, and life transitions
People seeking to live a new way that is in their own best interests
Folks seeking an affirming, knowledgeable therapist
People dealing with trauma, anxiety, depression, identity or quality of life and fulfilment
In our sessions, we'll focus on what matters to you. This might include:
Understanding yourself better, especially through a neurodivergent lens that is as unique as you
Processing the impact of late identification
Making decisions about whether to seek formal diagnosis or whether to disclose
Developing alignment with your natural ways of thinking and being
Building self-acceptance and challenging internalised punitive neuronormative beliefs that restrict options
Exploring insights leading to more fulfilment in relationships and work environments
Finding ways to viably (and sustainably) pursue your aspirations
Understanding and managing needs and challenges in your everyday life
Figuring out how life has impacted you and not only healing, but also being protected going forward
Clarifiying and pursuing a really nice quality of life in any aspect that is important to you
Vauna, as a person
My Qualifications and Training
My Values and Committments
Understanding how humans work has been a special interest of mine since I was a child. Since my teenage years I have been fascinated with how people could benefit by understanding self and others better, operate in the world more comfortably, and generate a happier life. I’m very happy to have made this the daily work that I do.
Over the years I have studied many ways of approaching working with people. And because I have been seeing clients for 25 years now, I have tried out a lot of ways of working as I have studied different models of therapy, and deeply understood differing approaches to the issues that people experience. So, I approach our work together as an eclectic way, deriving my ideas and style from that broad range of sources.
In the end, what happens is that I am with a person and all that matters in those sessions is what that person is experiencing and that real help is given. So, you’ll experience me as down-to-earth, warm, caring, friendly and really interested in you and what is best for you.
I am a UKCP registered psychotherapist(Member number 06158135) and as such I abide by the ethics and guidelines of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP). I’m a Certified Cybertherapist, a Certified Transactional Analyst, and I hold qualifications in Psychotherapy, (MSc) Counselling (PGCDip), Autism (PGCert), Modified Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), and Coaching. I’ve studied ADHD (sometimes known as ADD), Narrative Therapy, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, Solution Focused Therapy, Positive Psychology, and Motivational Interviewing.
My formal qualifications include:
Master's Degree in Psychotherapy.
Certified Transactional Analyst. CTA(P)
Post Graduate Diploma in Counselling
Post Graduate Certificate in Autism
Certificatie CBT Psychotherapy
Certified Cybertherapist
Coach Practitioner
NLP Practitioner, and LAB Profile Certificate
Certificate in Training Practice.
Beyond these qualifications, I maintain an active commitment to ongoing learning about neurodiversity, mental health, and therapeutic approaches. I regularly participate in professional development and stay current with emerging research and understanding in these areas.
Continuing Professional Development and Industry Contributions:
Some specifics are that I:
Regularly write articles, and social media posts, and blog posts about therapy and counselling for therapists, and for people who are autistic, ADHD, and AuDHD.
Train therapists to work with neurodivergent clients via Vanguard Neurodiversity Training.
Create videos about wellbeing and mental health for autistic adults on my YouTube Channel
Deliver workshops, conference presentations, and talks to therapists, supervisors, and trainers about effective and useful therapy for autistic and AuDHD clients.
Am a published author (subject matter: Therapists training for working therapeutically with autistic adults).
Active in a Facebook group of professional counsellors and psychotherapists who are autistic
Served as director of a professional membership body for therapists.
My practice is grounded in:
Neurodiversity affirmation: We are all valid human beings who want human experiences, opportunities, and fulfillment.
Social justice and inclusion: I recognise systemic barriers and oppression shape lives, decisions, and outcomes, in addition to those that come about due to individual agency.
LGBTQIA+ affirmation: I offer knowledgeable, respectful support for all gender identities, sexual orientations, and relationship structures.
Individuality Focused: I appreciate that people live within many different types of lifestyle frameworks, including those related to religious or spiritual beliefs, economic ideologies, and other cultural norms.
Trauma-informed insight: I particularly understand the prevalence and impact of trauma in minoritised populations. My knowledge is particularly high in relation to the lives of neurodivergent people.
Anti-racist, anti-oppressive practice: I am a person who is White, English, Cis-Gender. I am aware of the biases I had in terms of race, sexuality, gender, class, and ability. I seek constantly to weed out prejudice in myself by taking feedback seriously and by being self-reflexive and reflective of my positionality and analysing my words, assumptions, and actions. I seek to be culturally attuned because I am naturally very interested in you as well as the historical and political contexts that are relevant and/or important for you.
Possible sessions
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You may be interested in this because you are seeking therapy about the things that can affect all human beings. You may or may not be neurodivergent. I was unaware that I was autistic for the first 10 years of working as a therapist. I’m qualified to work with any neurotype, and I’m experienced in working with both. For neurodivergent clients, there are many benefits of having a therapist of the same neurotype, because, not only is the connection and communication more natural, but also there is a deep appreciation, from personal lived experience, of living in a neurotypical world. (I say more in my small, but growing, blog).
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You may be interested in this because you believe that being neurodivergent is a big factor in what is going on in your life right now and you would like a therapist who you can talk to about these things to help gain understanding and to move forward. That may include things such as exploring and questioning whether you are neurodivergent, discussing the issue in your relationships or work, understanding yourself more.
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You may be interested in this because you’re are aware of having challenges and believe that with coaching you could function better, be on top of things, and achieve more. Or you yearn for being more organised or having things more under control so that you can enjoy life. You may suspect, or have validated, that you have ADHD, or you simply have challenges with executive functioning. You might want to focus the coaching sessions on any area of life, including work and relationships. And you may want to improve your chances with a particular goal outcome, or you might want to apply coaching more widely.
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You may be interested in this because you and your significant other(s) have been looking into getting some relationship counselling because you’ve found that discussing together isn’t fruitful, or you feel like there are ways in which a therapist could help. I work with adults in any kind of relationship style or configuration, and all lifestyle choices are respected.
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As a Certified Transactional Analyst CTA (P) I’m available, for therapy, to people who are in Transactional Analysis training, or are Transactional Analysts. There is a psychotherapy concessionary rate for TA trainees, so please contact me about this.
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I’m available for therapy and supervision for professional therapists. Please get in touch.
Taking the Next Step
If you're considering working with me, I invite you to reach out using the contact form on this website and let me know that youre interested in having therapy or coaching. Let me know roughly why you might be seeking sessions and I will send a reply and we could take it from there.
If you want to we can have a brief ‘discovery call’ on Zoom. This gives us a chance to say ‘hello”, and for you to ask any questions, and to find out whether you feel safe with me. Finding the right therapist is an act of self-interested care and gets you off to a good footing. So it's okay to take time making this decision. Our initial job together is to help you to discover whether you feel inspired to go ahead and book the sessions.
