Autistic children and young people experience a higher proportion of mental
health challenges than the neurotypical population. There is a high level of trauma in the lived experience of many autistic children and young people. The ableist environment our children live within, is one which is not designed for them in mind.

Fledge Psychotherapy was born of a hope that autistic young people can access psychotherapy that takes their individual needs into account, that will not pathologize them, or see them through the lens of a deficit based ‘medical’ model, but holds space for them to expand into their authentic identity.

The therapy embraces the social model of disability and identifies as working within the neurodiversity paradigm.

For more info on these important concepts please flow this link to Nick Walker’s seminal work on neurodiversity: https://neuroqueer.com/neurodiversity-terms-and-definitions/

The work aims to understand the underlying reasons why your child is communicating in a particular way, and offers space for the underlying feelings to emerge and be thought about.

The aim is to facilitate a more authentic way of being in the world, one borne of self compassion, understanding and acceptance.

The approach is not only for autistic humans but anyone who would like to explore this way of working.

This is the road less travelled.

Work usually begins with a meeting with parent/carers to start to understand the situation.

This is followed by a series of taster sessions for the child/ young person to see how they find working in this way,
and whether it is a good fit for them.

This is then explored in a review and a collaborative
decision is made as to whether the work is continued and if so, in what form.

The traditional mode of psychotherapy is to meet weekly at the same place and time, for either an agreed number of sessions or
for open ended work.

Alongside this, parent/carer support sessions are offered at a frequency agreed with you.

If the young person decides not to explore psychotherapy, parent/carer support
sessions can still be offered.

These are a non-judgmental space for parents to explore
their own thoughts and feelings around the experience of parenting.

Woven through
this is an awareness that our own experiences of being parented can often come alive when we become parents
ourselves.