At The Psychology Centre, we are pushing the boundaries of Clinical Psychology to ensure that everyone is understood, valued and finds their unique place in society. Our multidisciplinary team are always striving to be the best we can be for the families we serve and the local services and communities that we are here to help.

At The Psychology Centre, we aim to be a neurodiversity affirmative practice. We can never ‘finish’ this process and as such we are always un-learning, learning, striving to understand and hoping to do better. Our best efforts at being neurodiversity affirmative means that we:

• Value neurodivergence in the same way that other differences are valued in our communities and wider society.
• Utilise our imperfect ‘diagnostic’ manuals to guide the process of identifying neurodiversity but recognise, believe in and share a broader understanding of ‘neurodivergent’ brains, how they are formed and how they shape who we are as individuals. Difference is not disorder and difficulties need to be understood.
• Subscribe to the ‘social model of disability’ in that we believe that the environments people find themselves in can either enhance wellbeing and progression or provide barriers to these outcomes. This means we never see the person as the ‘problem’ and understand that the ‘problems’ are often environmental and systemic.

These key beliefs guide our interactions with every family that we meet. We want individuals to come away with a better understanding of their own or their young person’s strengths, learning potential, communication style, values and hopes as well as the individual challenges and barriers they may face depending on their unique life circumstances. Ultimately:

Environment + individual strengths and needs = outcome

We also align with the belief that having neurodivergent differences identified and better understood gives people access to tools with which to better understand themselves, a framework to ensure access to appropriate support and to live a life in harmony with the way their brain shapes behaviour rather than feeling at odds with it.

Our ‘big dream’ would be for everyone to understand some of the nuance and complexity of neurodivergence rather than relying on outdated stereotypes which can hinder progress for all.