More than a directory and yet with the autonomy of private practice - we offer a supportive space for neurodivergent practitioners from around the globe to advertise services, receive referrals, connect with peer practitioners, get some admin support, mentoring and much more - all at no cost.
Since we began in July 2020, we have grown from the spark of an idea into a global not-for-profit with a focus on the human rights of neurodivergent people to thrive.
We are a strong collective of neuro-affirmative, neurodivergent counsellors, coaches, psychologists and therapists and educators. Month on month, we have found our client referrals doubling, trebling and beyond. This exponential growth has shown us there is a real and urgent need to create a wider community for neurodivergent practitioners to connect with clients, and a safe space for neurodivergent clients to find practitioners who can truly understand some of their experiences from the inside out.
We offer this service to the wider neurodivergent community without cost, with the aim of supporting practitioners to do their best work, in a neuro-affirmative environment, with the autonomy they deserve to thrive.
We appreciate that neurodivergent people across the globe come from many different backgrounds, with multiply marginalized identities being the norm rather than the exception for our community. We are committed to providing a space for all neurodivergent practitioners, with a special focus on elevating the voices of those of us who hold multiply marginalized identities.
As an organisation, we are committed to racial equity and we support the vitally important Black Lives Matter Movement. We are determined to promote the decolonization of mental health services and acknowledge the structural racism embedded into the vast majority of EU and US-centric counseling and psychology training programs. We recognise therefore that multi-dimensional barriers to equitable training exist. We warmly invite insured practitioners from a wide range of disciplines to share this space.
If you are a multiply marginalized member of our community and you have time or interest in helping shape the direction of the Neurodivergent Practitioner Community, please get in touch. We are determined that there is representational equity in the leadership of our organisation.
Who can list their services:
We welcome self-identified or formally diagnosed neuro-affirmative, neurodivergent professionals from across the globe who are fully qualified, insured practitioners.
While we each have our own experiences, expertise and autonomy, core to this community is a commitment to respectful, neuro-affirmative practice. Each practitioner who wishes to advertise services must consent they agree with the principles outlined in our Neuroaffirmative Practitioners Commitment for Respectful Practice. (see below)
We do appreciate that each of us is on a personal journey of evolving our understanding and unpacking any privilege we hold and so if you would like support on your journey before wholeheartedly agreeing to the commitments outlined, we can signpost you to resources and further trainings both free of charge and low-cost.
To protect the space and provide neurodivergent clients with reassurance, for all VERIFIED practitioners on our directory, we request a digital copy of your primary qualification, your current practitioner insurance, proof of your membership of a professional body and a photo ID. We will store your documents securely according to GDPR regulations. See our privacy policy here
Documentation FAQ
I don't have all these documents, what can I do? As acknowledged above, many of us have been failed by the systems we are living in and may not have access to all of the requested documentation. We are happy to work on a case-by-case basis to support your verification. For eg. if you wish to state you are a licenced therapist you must provide evidence of such but if you state you are a consultant then you can provide insurance proof that you are insured for consultancy services. If you do not have current police clearance but can show that you needed clearance to gain licensure then this will satisfy the requirement. We can work with you to help you succeed.
I am a student, can I still join? Yes, as long as you can provide proof of insurance and you state on your listing that you are a student. You will be fully verified once you have qualified and can provide proof.
I struggle with executive functioning, this all seems too complicated, help! We understand the struggle! First, just get yourself listed by registering on the site and adding your listing without verified status. Then send us an email and we'll do our best to support you step by step to become verified.
There is no charge for listing your services on our site. The service is offered completely free of charge to the community. You can advertise and receive referrals free of charge.
By listing your services on this site, it does not imply that you are employed by us. You are acting as an independent, self-employed service provider and this website is provided as a service to the neurodivergent community to help people offer and find support.
Great! Take a look at our FAQ's below or send us an email and we'll get back to you asap
Add your listing by registering here: https://neurodivergentpractitioners.org/submit-listing/details/
Then:
Email us with any questions you have or just get started with uploading your documents for verification by clicking the button below:
Read and reflect on the core agreements for respectful practice before deciding to join the community. While we each have different areas of expertise, it's vital we all come from the same model of neuroaffirmative support.
Register on the site directory and get your listing live.
Upload the required documentation & your website listing information in our onboarding platform to gain verified status. Once your uploaded documents have been checked by our team, you'll receive our welcome pack and your listings will be live!
Come join one of our group peer-support meetups, pop into our Slack communication group or schedule a 1-1 mentorship session to get support with your marketing, burning questions or just a catch-up.
We will be here to support you every step of the way! Check our FAQ's or Email us hello@thrivingautistic.org
We commit to follow to the very best of our ability these signposts of a respectful practitioner inspired by the Therapist Neurodiversity Collective International:
No. Absolutely not. Self-identification is recognised as completely valid. We appreciate the multitude of barriers that exist for those who wish to have their neuro-identity assessed and confirmed formally. We also recognise and appreciate that many of us prefer to self-identify. We look forward to a world where self-identification of ones neurotype is simply accepted across society.
We take the position that we are not gatekeepers of people's identities. We recognise neurodivergence as any neurotype that diverges from the typical. This includes but is not limited to Autistic, ADHD, ADD, Bipolar, Dyspraxia, Dyslexia, Depression, Tourettes, Traumatic Brain Injury, Post-Traumatic-Stress. Click here to read an excellent primer on terminology from Dr Nick Walker and click here to read from Kassiane Asasumasu, who coined the term, about its inclusiveness of all brains that diverge from the typical.
When we started in 2020, we were a small group of Autistic therapists, psychologists and coaches. As we evolved, we realised that many of the people we worked with were identifying as being Autistic as well as ADHD or other neurodivergencies. Then many of our core team began to recognise that they themselves were multiply neurodivergent. That's when we realised we needed to expand and open up our services to neurodivergent people and practitioners more generally. Thriving Autistic is a fantastic name, and since 2020 we've supported over 5,000 people in online workshops, 1-1 sessions and trainings. We decided to start the Neurodivergent Practitioner Community to help us in our aim of continuing to evolve and support the community in a wider manner. We've just created a sister website for the Neurodivergent Practitioner Community and so the directory is no longer hosted only on the TA site, it has it's own identity now and the name Thriving Autistic will likely fade into the background here.
Alongside the website listings, we have a whole suite of free supports we want to offer you. If you would like a professional email address, we can offer you one free of charge. If you'd like to be part of our core training team, to avail of paid opportunities to present online trainings, workshops or workplace consultancy referrals, we would love to share these with you. If you'd like some mentoring around your services and marketing, or how to manage your admin we can help with that too. For team communications, we use Slack and can set you up with a login so you can chat with other practitioners and discuss opportunities in our secure space. If you prefer email-only communications, that can be facilitated too. We can chat about all these options once you've onboarded.
If you already have your own "brand", or are associated with another organisation but would still like the support we offer you are so very welcome to join also! We exist to support you. We can easily create a listing that links to your own website so that you can benefit from our website traffic and referrals while also availing of as many of our other supports as you wish.
Fantastic! Please email us and we'll get back with an answer!
© 2021-2023 Thriving Autistic CLG is a non-profit social enterprise dedicated to advancing the human rights of Autistic and otherwise Neurodivergent people | The Neurodivergent Practitioner Network is a trading name of Thriving Autistic | Registered in Ireland 695770 | Privacy Policy
