Lucy Button: Person-Centred Online Counselling for Neurodivergent and/or LGBTQIA+ People

Hi, my name is Lucy

As a non-binary, autistic and queer person I understand the barriers that those of us with identities or ways of life that are often discriminated against can face when seeking and engaging with therapy. I work with adults of all genders and sexualities and with relationship diversities including polyamory and other forms of CNM (consensual non-monogamy). My practice is neurodiversity and LGBTQIA+ affirmative, sex worker allied and kink aware.

My journey to becoming a counsellor began in 2018 . I gained an MA in Counselling and Psychotherapy Practice from the University of Nottingham in 2023 and a BSc in Psychology from the Open University in 2017.

Prior to becoming a therapist, I was a support worker with neurodivergent adults for a year and before that a support worker in women’s aid domestic violence services for a decade. Experiencing the profound impact on people’s lives of being heard, believed, and valued without judgment in these support worker roles led to me embarking on the journey to become a person-centred psychotherapist.

In my experiences as a psychotherapy client, prior to and during counsellor training I repeatedly found my time taken up withholding parts of myself or with educating the therapist on the contexts of my existence as a queer and neurodivergent person. Changing to a queer and neurodiversity affirmative therapist, was a revolutionary experience for me. For the first time, I could be open about my relationships, dynamics, and spaces I occupy in the world without fear of the therapist judging me or seeing my gender, sexuality, or relationship diversities as problems to be solved.

Bringing my whole self to therapy lifted such a weight from me, no longer did I need to use my time and energy within personal therapy to withhold or talk around aspects of myself, instead that energy and space was freed up for me to explore what I actually wanted to bring to therapy. It was like I could fully breath in a therapy space for the first time.

Wanting to offer this kind of affirmative experience to my future clients informed the direction of my studies, dissertation, continuous professional development, and client work. Alongside more general learning which is part of counsellor training I wrote assignments on LGBTQIA+ experiences, on person-centred therapy and BDSM and Kink. I started a gender sexuality and relationship diversity (GSRD) encounter group for LGBTQIA+, polyamorous, sex worker and kink identified trainee therapists.

I conducted my dissertation research on autistic self-actualization, and I am due to present this research at the BACP Annual Research Conference in May 2024 along with my colleague Jay McCarthy.

Alongside continuous professional development training which most therapists will have attended around trauma, self-harm, anxiety, domestic violence etc, I also attend CPD around neurodiversity, and Gender, Sexualities and Relationship diversities. Including talks and workshops by Gendered Intelligence, Pink Therapy, Sam Hope Counselling & Training, and Sonny Hallett Autistic Mental Health.

I have regular clinical supervision, where I talk through my work in confidence with my supervisor, to gain another experienced perspective and to support me to provide the best counselling I can for you. I am an Accredited Member of the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS) which means I have met their standards for training and experience, and I adhere to their ethical framework. You can find me on the NCPS professional register. I have full public liability insurance. I am ICO registered, and data are held in compliance with GDPR.

I began to provide online and telephone counselling during covid and found that working remotely provides flexibility for those who struggle to make time for themselves and gives people the power to choose an environment that is accessible and safe to them.

Anything you need to feel more yourself and at ease during your sessions is welcome, don’t worry about maintaining eye contact with me, and stim freely. If there’s anything I can do to make the sessions more accessible, just let me know.

I offer sessions for the full 60 minutes which take place over zoom, you can choose between having a video or voice-only call, whichever feels most comfortable. Sessions take place on a weekly or fortnightly basis according to your preferences. We will work together at your own pace, and I offer short-term or long-term counselling depending on your wishes and needs.

Research indicates that the most important element of any counselling experience is the relationship between counsellor and client, that this is more important even than the approach or modality that the counsellor trained in. For this reason, I offer a no obligation free initial 20-minute consultation over zoom as a chance for you to see if working with me feels like it would be a good fit for you, before you decide whether to book in for counselling sessions.