Affirming Care Services

Get to know Affirming Care Services

From Affirming Care Services's website.

• Our approach

  Affirming Care Services uses a neuroaffirming therapy approach that respects different ways of thinking and being. Sessions are grounded in understanding behaviour through a nervous system and relational lens, with a core commitment to supporting capacity without asking people to mask or change who they are. The team works with children, young people, and adults in individual 1:1 therapies (delivered in person and online) and structured group programs that leverage interests, encourage natural connection, and prioritise autonomy. Group programs support social, emotional, and relational development through play and shared interests, while individual therapy includes counselling, key work services, executive functioning support, and family and school consultation. The approach reflects a genuine understanding that therapy should help people understand themselves, navigate everyday life with greater ease, and build lives that genuinely suit them.

• Working with families

  Affirming Care Services involves families through multiple pathways: they offer individual therapy and support services specifically for parents and families supporting neurodivergent children, provide family and school consultation services, and deliver environmental audits to support systemic change. The provider works with families, schools, and systems to reduce barriers and make environments more friendly for neurodivergent brains. This commitment to family and systemic involvement reflects their broader philosophy of supporting not only the neurodivergent person but also the systems and people around them to create more affirming contexts.

• Meet the team

  The team at Affirming Care Services is small and experienced, comprising psychotherapists, counsellors, social workers, teachers, and therapy assistants who work across childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Many team members are neurodivergent themselves, bringing both lived experience and professional training to their work. The founding director is Sarah Hampton, and the team also includes Emily Kelly, Ashley Ellis-Smith, Michael Thorburn, and therapy assistants. The team shares a commitment to neuroaffirming, respectful practice and grounding their work in both evidence-based practice and genuine understanding of neurodivergent experience. They support autistic, ADHD, and neurodivergent people, as well as families, schools, and systems.