In this short video, I explain why so many neurodivergent adults arrive exhausted from years of adapting, and what we do differently in our video sessions so the work fits your brain.
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Online neurodiverse psychotherapy helps autistic, ADHD and AuDHD adults, and people who are wondering whether they are, understand themselves and live with less strain. We meet one to one by video, in English, in 1-hour sessions with 50 minutes of therapy, from your own space, at a time that suits your time zone and your energy.
I help you make sense of a lifetime of masking, misunderstanding and self-blame, and turn that understanding into routines, boundaries and relationships that fit you. I do not diagnose. This is the neurodiverse branch of my online psychotherapy, with focused pages for ADHD, autism and AuDHD, and acute online neurodiverse psychotherapy when you are in crisis.
You are welcome to book a free 30-minute call, go straight to a session time, read my client policy or contact me in writing.
Online neurodiverse psychotherapy is for adults who are autistic, have ADHD, are both, or suspect it, and who are tired of feeling that they have to work twice as hard to live an ordinary life. You may have found out recently or known for years. You want a therapist who understands neurodivergence, works with it rather than against it, and can be reached by video wherever you are.
Each part of neurodivergence has its own page. If one of these lines matches you more precisely, follow the link.
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These reviews describe clients’ experiences of working with me. They come from my wider practice and do not all relate to online sessions. Each person’s experience is their own, and a review does not promise a particular outcome.
“Over more than 15,000 clinical hours, I have met many neurodivergent adults who arrive asking me to help them try harder. I think trying harder is usually the problem. Most of them have spent decades compensating, masking and pushing through, and the cost shows up as burnout, anxiety or a quiet sense of being broken. Underneath the effort I often hear a question like ‘If I stop performing, will anyone still want me around?’ and next to it a firm wish, ‘Please just let me be alone and quiet until I am ready.’ Both make sense. My work is not to make you more acceptable to others, but to help you build a life that asks less of you.”
Mark Colclough, MA, psychotherapist and EFT couples therapist
I am Mark Colclough, MA. I have practised since 2004 and offer online psychotherapy and couples therapy in English.
My training brings together your emotions, your thoughts and your relationships. My deep passion is the moment when what happens between you finally makes sense, to each of you and to each other. I have lived and worked in nine countries, so I know something of life across languages, cultures and borders.
Read about my background, or explore online psychotherapy and online couples therapy.
I meet regularly with experienced psychotherapists to reflect on my work, question my understanding and develop my skills. Supervision is part of the professional care I bring to individual and couples work, including online sessions.
My focus is thoughtful practice, integrity and responsibility.
You are welcome to ask about the kind of support you need.
Tell me where you are based and your time zone. We can then consider whether online sessions together are suitable.
Matteo is 42 and works as a software architect in Edinburgh, where he moved from Turin 10 years ago. Last year his son was assessed as autistic, and while reading the reports Matteo recognised himself on every page. He has since been identified too. He feels relief, but also anger about years of being called difficult, and he is struggling at work now that he notices how much he masks.
I would start with the anger and the relief, because both are telling the truth about his history. In a first video session Matteo would probably see that his struggle at work is not new weakness, but the end of an exhausting effort to be someone else.
I have presented this clinical example as a compound of 22 years of clinical practice.
You have compensated, adapted and pushed through for years, and the effort is now costing more than you can keep paying.
There is no right time and no right reason to start. A sense that daily life takes far more out of you than it seems to take out of others is enough. You do not need a formal diagnosis, a crisis or a perfect explanation. In 22 years of practice, working with many autistic and ADHD adults, I can tell when ordinary tiredness has become a pattern of overload that deserves real attention.
I will help you understand what is happening, what keeps it going and what needs to change. These 6 questions are a way to check whether this is the moment to contact me.
If so, take it seriously. Work, commuting, small talk, noise and admin may use up everything you have, so that your free time goes on lying still, scrolling or sleeping. You may have stopped seeing friends or doing things you love because there is nothing left.
I look at where your energy goes, which demands cost most and whether this has been building for months. That helps us tell a hard season apart from burnout in the making. If this is familiar, book a session with me and we work out where the drain is.
Yes, both wishes can live together, because each protects something real. Wanting acceptance protects your sense of who you are. Wanting to blend in protects you from criticism, rejection and the tiring work of explaining yourself. When both are active, you may mask carefully and then resent everyone for not seeing the real you.
I do not treat either wish as wrong. Both get a hearing in our sessions, as parts of you that each have a point. I help you understand what each protects and decide, situation by situation, where to blend in and where to be more openly yourself.
Many neurodivergent adults spend hours analysing interactions afterwards. A short reply, a silence or a change of tone can feel like proof that you upset someone. You may ask for reassurance, apologise for things that did not need apologising for, or avoid the person altogether.
Your wish to understand people and keep your relationships safe is legitimate, and I will not shame it. What we work on is the alarm that rings before there is any evidence. We look at where it started, often years of real misunderstanding, and you practise checking directly instead of guessing.
You may make plans eagerly, then dread them as the day approaches, or leave a party early after looking forward to it all week. Connection matters to you, and it also costs a great deal of energy. The switch can confuse the people around you, and you.
I help you slow this down so we can see exactly when wanting company becomes overload. Often it is noise, unpredictability or the effort of masking. I respect the part of you that needs to leave, and I help you plan contact that fits your capacity, so you are not stuck choosing between loneliness and exhaustion.
When emotions run high, or someone wants long conversations, plans and closeness, it can feel overwhelming. You may go silent, become very factual, change the subject or spend days alone to recover. The other person may feel rejected, and you may feel misunderstood.
My view is that you may genuinely need more recovery time than most people, and I will not tell you otherwise. I help you see what the distance protects you from and how to say what you need before withdrawal becomes disconnection, such as “I need a quiet evening, can we talk tomorrow?”
Years of copying others, suppressing your reactions and following rules you never fully understood can blur your sense of self. You may not know what you like, how you feel or what you want until long afterwards. That confusion shows how hard you have worked, not that something essential is missing.
I help you find what is genuinely yours: your interests, your preferences, your sensory needs, your values and your way of relating. I will challenge you when you erase yourself to fit in, but I will not decide who you should be. The aim is a clearer, steadier sense of yourself.
If these questions sound like your life, book a free call to talk it through, or choose a session time if you know you want to begin.
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Tell me briefly what kind of support you are looking for.
Include your country and time zone so we can discuss whether online work together is possible and find a suitable time.
You do not need to explain your whole story in your first message.
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Understanding your brain matters, but our work must also change your routines, your environment and the way you look after yourself and your relationships.
I will help you understand how your mind works, recognise the patterns of masking, overload and self-blame that keep you stuck, and make practical changes you can feel in an ordinary week. Understanding why you struggle helps, but only when it leads to a life arranged differently.
Over 22 years of practice I have found that autistic and ADHD clients often appreciate a therapist who is clear, direct and structured. I tell you what I notice, I offer a framework and I challenge explanations that keep you blaming yourself. These 6 questions describe what we work towards.
Related reading: Why does ADHD keep pulling us into the same fight? and Why can’t I stop going over things in my head?.
First we tell the source of the strain apart from the fallout. Anxiety, low mood, irritability and avoidance are often results rather than causes. Underneath may sit sensory overload, executive demands without support, years of masking, or an inner voice that learned to call you lazy or difficult.
I tell you what I think is happening, which pressures to deal with first and which stories about yourself are keeping you stuck. If you want that picture drawn plainly, book a session with me.
By learning your own early signs. There is often a sequence: noise gets sharper, words become harder to find, your thoughts race or slow, and then you shut down, snap or freeze. Knowing the first stage gives you time to act.
In our sessions I help you map that sequence and what sets it off. A map alone is not enough. We build concrete responses, such as planned breaks, sensory tools or ways to leave a situation, and you practise them until they work in your real days.
Calming your system does not mean forcing yourself to tolerate everything or hiding your reactions. It means knowing what your body is responding to and choosing what to do. Some overload is a fair reaction to a demanding world. Some is old stress from years of pushing through.
I help you notice activation earlier and understand what your nervous system is reacting to, whether light, sound, people, change or uncertainty. Between sessions I will ask you to practise regulation routines that suit your sensory profile and your daily life.
Asking clearly starts with knowing what you feel, what you need and what is reasonable to request. If you have often been misunderstood, you may either say nothing or explain at great length, apologising as you go.
Together we find short, direct ways to state your needs, such as asking a manager for written instructions or telling a partner you need quiet after work. I will push back when you go quiet and cope alone, and equally when you leave others to work out a need you have kept to yourself.
Decisions become clearer once you separate overload, fear and other people’s expectations from what you actually know and want. Some neurodivergent people freeze in front of open-ended choices, while others decide impulsively just to stop the discomfort.
I help you break the decision into concrete steps, look at what each option would really involve and notice where you are avoiding the choice. You get my honest professional view, but the decision stays yours.
Lasting change shows up in your actual routines: a workday with clearer structure, a home that is calmer, people who understand you, time for your interests, and recovery built into your week rather than squeezed in when you crash.
Together we sort out what needs to change and what already works. Your neurodivergence is not something to remove. The aim is a life in which your needs, values and choices line up, so that living takes less effort.
You can also send me an email
You do not need a diagnosis, a clear explanation or the right words. We start with what is hard right now and what you want to change.
At the start I listen for what is costing you most, put a name to it with you and set a direction in that first hour. I can work with notes you send beforehand, a set agenda or the camera off for parts of a session.
For most neurodivergent adults, structured individual work in my online psychotherapy is the right setting, because we can shape it around how you think and communicate. If differences between you and your partner are the main issue and your partner is willing, online couples therapy offers long-term relational development and healing. If you already know you want a steady course, a therapy bundle gives you savings and a predictable plan.
I ask what brought you to therapy now, what everyday life is like, where your energy goes and what you have already tried. You can send me notes beforehand if speaking is hard, and the full history can come later.
By the end, I share my first understanding and suggest a direction, and you decide whether my way of working suits you. If you would like to meet me first, request a free 30-minute call.
Individual work is right when the focus is your own life: your energy, your sense of self, your routines, your history of being misunderstood and the way you handle work and relationships. We can explore every relationship in your life without anyone else attending.
In individual work I provide direction, continuity and honest challenge, at a pace and in a format that suit you. If your difficulties reach beyond neurodivergence, online psychotherapy describes my structured individual work as a whole.
Couples therapy is the better route when the relationship itself needs ongoing attention. If you and your partner keep clashing over communication, plans, chores, noise or intimacy, or if one feels unseen while the other feels criticised, working together usually helps more.
In couples sessions I help you both understand the cycle between you, own your part in it and find ways of relating that work for both minds. Online couples therapy is long-term relational development and healing, and online neurodiverse couples therapy works directly with these differences.
The right pace depends on how overloaded you are, how much capacity you have and how much continuity the work needs. For many neurodivergent clients, a fixed day and time is part of what makes therapy usable.
I usually suggest weekly sessions at the same time each week to begin with. If the gaps grow too wide for the work to hold, I say so, and I also say when spacing out is safe. If you prefer concentrated work, back-to-back online neurodiverse psychotherapy places several sessions close together.
A bundle makes sense when you know the work will take several sessions and you want continuity without having to decide and book after each one. Fewer decisions and less admin often make it much easier to keep going.
A bundle reduces the cost of each session and gives you the safety of a plan agreed in advance. The options are on therapy discounts and bundles and in the cards further down this page.
Therapy has done its job when you understand your own patterns, have routines and supports that fit you, can speak up for your needs and recover from hard weeks faster. The world may still be demanding, but you are no longer fighting yourself as well.
I review progress openly and do not encourage indefinite therapy. Sessions can become less frequent, pause or end when the purpose is met. Returning later, perhaps during a big life change, is a sensible choice, not a sign that the earlier work failed.
Not sure where to begin? Here is how online neurodiverse psychotherapy compares with the options neurodivergent adults most often consider.
| Option | Choose it when | Pace |
|---|---|---|
| Online neurodiverse psychotherapy (this page) | You are, or may be, autistic or ADHD and want broad support. | Weekly 1-hour video sessions at a fixed time |
| Online ADHD psychotherapy | ADHD is clearly the centre of what you want help with. | Weekly or fortnightly video sessions |
| Online autism psychotherapy | You know you are autistic and want focused work. | Predictable 1-hour video sessions |
| Acute online neurodiverse psychotherapy | You are in shutdown, burnout or crisis right now. | Video sessions within days |
Online neurodiverse psychotherapy is individual psychotherapy by video, in English, for autistic, ADHD and AuDHD adults, and for people who are exploring whether they are. It helps you understand how your mind works, ease overload, masking and self-blame, and build a life that fits you.
I work in depth with the whole person, including your history and what you inherited from your family, and I adapt the format to you. I do not diagnose or assess. It is the neurodiverse main branch of my online psychotherapy, with focused sub-pages beneath it.
Come when daily life drains you faster than you can recover, when shutdowns or meltdowns are becoming more frequent, or when you feel you are losing yourself under constant adaptation. Your own sense that this cannot go on is reason enough.
I look at how long it has been building, what has changed recently and what you have given up to cope. If the strain keeps returning whatever you try, it deserves proper attention.
Yes, often it can. I do not promise a fixed outcome, and recovery from long-term masking usually takes time. What therapy can do is help you understand where the masking came from, reduce the load you carry and find safer places to be yourself.
In my clinical experience, people recover more fully when they stop treating rest as a reward they must earn. We look at what you can drop, change or ask for, so recovery has room to happen.
No. You are welcome whether you are formally identified, self-identified or simply wondering. I do not diagnose or assess, and our work does not depend on having a label.
If you want a formal assessment, we can talk about what it might involve and how to look for one where you live. In the meantime, we focus on what helps you now.
Both are ways of coping with a social world that often feels unpredictable. Some people ask again and again whether everything is all right. Others go silent and withdraw to avoid getting it wrong. Neither is a flaw in your character.
I help you see which way you move under stress, what each move protects and what it costs you and the people close to you. Then we build steadier options: checking in directly, and taking space without disappearing.
Yes. You can send notes in advance, type in the chat, keep your camera off for parts of the session or ask for a fixed structure. I ask what brought you, what is hardest and what you want to change, and by the end you will know my first reading.
There is nothing else to prepare. Choose your first session when you are ready, or start with a free 30-minute call to get a feel for how I work.
Plan for a course of sessions over several months rather than a few conversations. That is usually enough to understand your patterns, change some routines and feel less overloaded. If there is long-standing burnout or older pain, it usually takes longer.
With autistic and ADHD clients, I have seen that a clearly agreed first stretch with honest reviews works much better than open-ended drifting. At each review we decide together whether to continue, change the format or finish.
For many people, yes. You work from your own space, with your own lighting, sound and comfort items, and you skip the travel and waiting room. If you move country, our work simply continues.
A closed door, headphones, steady internet and a laptop or tablet are all the kit required. Some people like a fidget, a blanket or a pet nearby, and that is fine. The calendar shows all times in your own time zone, and practical questions can be answered on a free call.
Neurodiverse work is individual psychotherapy, booked as 1-hour online sessions with 50 minutes of therapy. Fees in US dollars are listed on my prices page.
If you expect a longer course, a therapy bundle saves 10 per cent on each session and gives you a predictable plan. Have a look at therapy discounts and bundles for the details.
Use the booking page to fix a first session, or start with a free 30-minute call if you would like to hear my voice before you commit. The calendar converts every slot to your own local time.
If you would rather explain things in writing, or you are close to shutdown or burnout, contact me directly. Acute cases get some protected room, usually a time within days, and acute online neurodiverse psychotherapy sets out how. There are crisis pages for ADHD, autism and AuDHD too. Book a time, and we will begin with what is hardest now.
You can also send me an email
I want therapy to help you understand your experience and make choices you can use in everyday life. We pay attention to feelings, needs and the responses that happen before you have time to think.
Our online room should offer enough trust and honesty to explore what is difficult. I bring attention and professional judgement. You bring your experience, questions and the right to say when something does not fit.
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