Amanda Sandford - BEd, MBACP, CCYP, PCEAT

I’m Amanda and I work with neurodivergent people of all ages from age 13. I’m trained to work with all issues, but have an interest in working with social and
relational difficulties, with issues such as anxiety, low self-esteem, perfectionism and people-pleasing
and who may have experienced abuse.
If you or your child are struggling with anxiety and finding work, education, relationships or a life
change a source of constant worry, you may feel you are losing a sense of who you are amongst all
the expectations, opinions or advice around you.
You may be self-critical or have trouble setting boundaries in your relationships and have feelings of
guilt and shame. Perhaps you fear rejection or abandonment or have difficulty trusting people and
become emotionally unavailable or anxious in relationships. If you find yourself in romantic or
friendly relationships with emotionally unavailable people, you may feel unloved, unlovable or
struggle with your identity and self-worth and seek external validation, whether you identify as
heterosexual or LBGTQIA+
I can help you to untangle your worries and to develop tools that suit your individual needs, finding
your strengths, overcoming blocks to change and to rediscover your joyful, playful, intuitive, creative
self.
Investing in therapy can be a gift of personal tools with which to carry with you going forward and
throughout your life, to weather any storm with courage, bravery and a sense of hope and
determination to stay on your own path.
As a mother and living in a neurodivergent household, I understand the
issues you may be facing from both a personal and a parenting perspective. Alongside this, my
professional experience in special needs and art education, both in mainstream and home education
and later in teaching meditation, gives me experience of supporting neurodivergent individuals and
diverse groups to overcome their unique challenges through the education system and within
alternative provisions.
Running a home and business and supporting my family, as a late-diagnosed neurodivergent person,
I understand the challenges you may be experiencing, whatever gender you are or identify as. Getting through education or training to be
working doing something you love, to achieve financial independence balanced with family life and
time for yourself requires strength, resilience and organisation. I work within all gender perspectives and family systems both traditional and diverse.
I also understand the effects of relational trauma, from personal experience and through working as
a counsellor within a womens’ service and how important it is to feel heard, understood and
supported through your recovery from abuse in childhood or an adult relationship.
Whether you are pre-puberty, going through puberty, in your fertile years or moving into peri
menopause or have reached your menopause phase, you are likely also experiencing cycles that
influence your progress and health and this can be particularly challenging for neurodivergent
women.
To support mind, body and soul, I have developed ways to connect further to myself as a spiritual
being. Creating time and space for connecting to ourselves, in addition to attending to our mental or
physical health, adds to our overall wellbeing. I have discovered that my higher or spiritual self can be part of
my healing process.
We can all develop an inner compass and grounding within ourselves, as a guide to what we are meant to do, what our passions are and as a guide to navigate through the external expectations and sensory challenges. A sense of self that knows that you are more than
capable and that you have all that you need, within you. When you develop a clearer sense of what you need, when you need it, this can be a trusted source of wisdom, helping you to set boundaries, connect to your intuition, creativity and inner strengths.
I can support you to connect to your inner compass through talking and person-centered expressive arts therapies within the
counselling process in individual therapy and through online groups focusing on meditation and
creative activities. If you are interested in either individual or group therapy, contact me for a free consultation.