Nurture in Nature Dramatherapy

23/08/2026

So incredibly powerful and so important, that this is being explored and represented.
Thinking of all you who are already feeling the dread of the school return. 💚💚

14/08/2026

Wellness in the Wild it was a pleasure to be back this year for some creativity. Thank you for having me back to run my creative nature art workshop and this year, running a story telling workshop for the children.
It was lovely to use the six part story method using natural materials for the children to create their own stories… plus a few of my own! I think I pulled a few muscles in my Billy goats gruff rendition.
Hope you see you again next year!🌳🏞️✨🎭🐐🧌🌉

05/08/2026

I’ve been reflecting on some of the recent headlines around ADHD and autism. 🧠📰🗞️

I’m sure many can identify with certain traits of autism and adhd. We all lose focus, feel overwhelmed, seek routine, struggle with change, or become emotionally dysregulated at times. Human beings are wonderfully diverse, and no two brains are exactly the same.

But living with a neurodevelopmental condition isn’t about recognising ‘traits’. It’s about the cumulative impact those differences have on everyday life—for the individual and for the people who love and support them.

As both a parent and a professional, I see that impact every day.

The exhaustion isn’t usually caused by one big event. It’s the relentlessness of needing to think about every transition, every demand, every sensory experience, every expectation, every change of plan, every emotional response, every routine—and how all of those interact with one another.

There can be a constant balancing act between needing routine and craving novelty, wanting autonomy but needing support, seeking sensory input one moment and becoming overwhelmed by it the next, desperately wanting to do something while feeling completely unable to begin.

For me, one of the greatest challenges has been demand avoidance.

Living with demand avoidance often means that nothing is straightforward. What appears to be a simple journey from A to B can become A to Y, then Z, before eventually reaching B—if you get there at all. Every request, every transition, every expectation can be experienced as pressure, even when it’s something the person genuinely wants to do.

As a parent, that can be incredibly isolating and exhausting. You find yourself constantly adapting, reducing pressure, changing your language, regulating your own emotions, abandoning the script, and finding another route. Again. And again. And again.

This isn’t about saying one person’s experience is harder than another’s. Nor is it about creating division. It’s about recognising that there is a significant difference between occasionally relating to a trait and living with a nervous system that experiences the world differently every single day.

And perhaps this is the question I’d like us all to reflect on.

If we accept that human brains are wonderfully varied, and that many people experience the world differently, then why are so many of our systems still built around one narrow expectation of how people should think, learn, communicate and behave?

Why are schools still largely designed around one way of learning?

Why are workplaces often built around one way of thinking?

Why are transitions expected to be effortless, eye contact expected to show respect, sitting still expected to mean listening, and doing something simply because you’ve been asked expected to be easy?

For many people, those expectations fit comfortably. For others, they require an enormous amount of effort, masking and emotional energy just to get through the day.

Perhaps the conversation shouldn’t be about whether ADHD or autism are “real”, or whether everyone has traits. Perhaps it should be about how we create environments where different ways of thinking are understood rather than judged.

Whether someone has a diagnosis or not, we all benefit from a little more curiosity, a little less judgement, and systems that recognise people are not all wired in the same way.

As a society, we often ask neurodivergent people to adapt to the world around them. Perhaps it’s time we also asked how the world could adapt to them.

Because when we design schools, workplaces and communities that are flexible, compassionate and inclusive, we don’t just support neurodivergent people—we create environments where everyone has a better chance to thrive.

Understanding doesn’t begin with assuming everyone experiences the world in the same way. It begins with listening when someone tells us that they don’t.

13/07/2026

The risk of fire in dry seasons 🚫🔥‼️⚠️

Today, thanks to the incredible reactions of my amazing neighbours Nurture in Nature Dramatherapy HQ was saved from a wild fire.

We don’t know the cause of it, it could have been as simple as a fragment of glass heating up in the sun. With the season being exceptionally dry and the wind being up today, it was something that could have been much more catastrophic.
The summerhouse stayed intact and the tall trees luckily did not catch.
But this was only because three of my neighbours, one of them being a fire fighter, tackled the issues within minutes of spotting it. Without them, the fire would have increased and the fire brigade didn’t get there until 30 min after the call- this is most probably because this is happening everywhere.
Huge thank you to all my neighbours who dealt with this situation so swiftly. It could have been a very different story.

Please be vigilant of any fires 🔥 in this weather and keep an eye out for smoke near hedgerows.
I called the fire services two weeks ago, for just this on the a12.

11/07/2026

Summer holidays!
When you are a parent to children with SEN it can be difficult to support them with a long gap between school terms.
Your children may be finally getting to grips with the school routine.
Your children may be in complete burnout and overwhelm.
Your children may be holding it together at school and in complete demand avoidance at home.
Where ever you are at, I just want to say well done to you, parents and care givers for holding and containing it all.

Something that I have found has helped my own children in the summer is a visual timetable of the weeks. That they can see and plan activities and get some control over the concept of the time.
Usually we have to allow the first week to be gentle with low demands; to support building up the window of tolerance, not only for the children but parents too!

We often have found that come the third week of the holiday, there is fear that we do not have enough time left. So, last year I created a timetable and it seemed to support those feelings of fear around transition a little bit easier.

Here is an example that may help your family over the holidays💚🌞
Thinking you all

18/05/2026

**“Many people think emotional regulation means never getting upset… when sometimes real regulation is finally allowing yourself to feel what you spent years suppressing.”**

# **The Difference Between Emotional Dysregulation And Emotional Regulation**

As a therapist, one of the biggest misunderstandings I see is this belief that being emotionally regulated means always staying calm, agreeable, quiet, and emotionally controlled.

But often, what people call “being calm” is actually emotional suppression.

Smiling while hurting.

Saying yes while overwhelmed.

Staying silent while angry.

Swallowing emotions to avoid conflict.

And over time, the nervous system pays the price for carrying emotions that never had a safe place to go.

# **Why So Many People Mistake Suppression For Strength**

One patient once told me:

“I thought I was emotionally mature because I never reacted… but really I was terrified of expressing needs.”

That realization changes people deeply.

Many adults grew up learning emotions were inconvenient, dramatic, unsafe, or unacceptable.

So instead of processing feelings, they learned to disconnect from them.

Laugh off pain.

Minimize exhaustion.

Overthink instead of feel.

Push through burnout.

Stay quiet to keep peace.

And eventually emotional suppression becomes automatic.

The problem is that ignored emotions do not disappear.

They stay stored in the nervous system.

# **What Dysregulation Actually Looks Like**

Emotional dysregulation is not always explosive anger or visible emotional outbursts.

Sometimes it looks incredibly functional externally.

Saying “I’m fine” while emotionally drowning.

Never asking for help.

People pleasing constantly.

Holding everything inside until complete burnout arrives.

Remaining in draining situations long after the body is begging for rest.

Because many people were taught surviving discomfort mattered more than honoring their emotional reality.

# **What Real Regulation Looks Like**

Real emotional regulation is not perfection.

It is emotional honesty with safety and awareness.

Feeling angry and communicating it respectfully.

Crying when something genuinely hurts.

Saying no without drowning in guilt.

Leaving environments once the nervous system reaches capacity.

Recognizing exhaustion before collapse happens.

Allowing emotions to move through the body instead of trapping them internally.

And yes, sometimes regulation includes messy moments too.

Because healthy regulation is not about never struggling emotionally.

It is about repairing instead of suppressing.

# **Why The Body Eventually Forces Awareness**

The nervous system can only carry emotional suppression for so long before symptoms begin appearing physically and mentally.

Chronic suppression may contribute to:

* Anxiety
* Emotional numbness
* Burnout
* Irritability
* Brain fog
* Fatigue
* Sleep issues
* Chronic tension
* Feeling disconnected from yourself

Because emotions are physiological experiences too — not just thoughts.

The body keeps responding even when the mouth stays silent.

# **The Hardest Part Of Healing**

For many people, healing feels uncomfortable at first because authenticity feels unfamiliar.

Suddenly they are learning:

To speak honestly.

To stop shrinking themselves.

To recognize emotional limits earlier.

To take up space without apology.

To stop abandoning themselves just to keep everyone else comfortable.

And honestly, that process can feel terrifying for people who spent years surviving through emotional suppression.

# **What Emotional Regulation Actually Means**

Not becoming emotionless.

Not staying calm at all costs.

Not never upsetting anyone.

Real regulation means your emotions no longer control you silently from underneath suppression, shame, fear, or exhaustion.

It means finally feeling safe enough to experience emotions without abandoning yourself in the process.

17/05/2026

I’m almost finished writing my booklet for NHS staff. A booklet that neurodivergent people or parents of neurodivergent children and young people can give to any NHS staff member (or any professional) that needs to understand autistic, and also AuDHD and PDA burnout.
Initially I will release it as a download that anyone can purchase from my website.

I will keep you updated.

18/03/2026

neurodivergent celebration week!

What does it mean, to those who live with it day in day out.

Maybe it’s about celebrating the fact we do 90% of a task before parking it for another day, when an even more important job would come along before we completed it.

Maybe it’s about celebrating the fact we can occasionally meet our basic needs; get hydrated, eat healthy food, get enough sleep and look after our wellbeing. Not often all happens in one go though, eh?!

Maybe it’s about celebrating what we are able to see in others. We have empathy in abundance for others going through the same journey, yet berate ourselves that we haven’t quite mastered the art of giving ourselves the same grace.

Maybe it’s about celebrating the quirks, the creativity, the kookiness, the weird. Because life through a neurodivergent lens is never dull, and most often maybe side quests are in the making.

This year I had it confirmed that I am, most definitely neurodivergent and am so grateful to know that my brain connects and speaks the language of my incredible clients.
I am forever grateful to the journeys with all of you.

So let’s celebrate you, in all your glory!

💚

15/03/2026

I see you, all those challenging mornings, the end of the marathon.
Laura Clery sums this up beautifully! Xx

23/01/2026

I am running a wellness walk next weekend at the lovely Mann Wood in Chatham Green.
If this is something you would be interested in attending, please let me know x

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