Neurodivergent Affirming Health Psychology with Silvia

Silvia Martin

Hello! I am Silvia. I am autistic and ADHD and I live in Dublin. I am also queer and I understand what it is to feel like an outsider, but not understand why.

I am delighted to be associated with Thriving Autistic. I am a neurodiversity-affirming Health Psychologist and I work offering support to neurodivergent and/or LGBTQIA+
people. I work with talk therapy, offering counselling sessions and dealing with different issues that an individual might be experiencing, such as anxiety, depression, elationship issues, lack of energy, work problems, and so on.
Part of my work includes supporting newly diagnosed autistic people figure out what it means for them, discovering different ways that they mask, and how to change their life to support their neurodiversity. Ultimately, I support newly diagnosed adults to find themselves after realising they are autistic: What their passions are, what they
like, accepting themselves, and figuring out their goals and who they are.

● A bit more of my story:

I first met my partner four years ago, when their opening line was “I think I am autistic”. I was studying for a Masters in Psychology at the time, and I didn’t know anything about autism(apart from the clinical stereotyped view), so I said “tell me more about that”. After hearing their experience, I started to research a lot about the topic. I felt like I “didn’t belong” my whole life, but I wasn’t sure why.

My partner was diagnosed as autistic a couple of years later, as an adult, and knowing all their traits and their experience, relating deeply with them helped me realise that I was autistic as well. I started to read about ADHD too and between those two realisations, everything made sense.

● More about the post-identification support session:
You can have your camera on or off during the session, it is up to you. We can do a text session by email instead of a video call if you prefer that.

We will talk a bit about your expectations before the meeting. Some people want to ask for specific support in a specific area, others prefer to leave me ask them questions or guide the session. Some topics that might be covered during the session are:

– Masking: Who am I?
– Understanding yourself better
– How to recover from autistic burnout
– Dealing with anxiety
– Should I disclose my diagnosis to others?
– Managing emotions after the diagnosis: Self-regulation

Some people want to have a one-off session to talk things through and that is enough for them, while others might discover areas they want to work on throughout time with me. Both of them are fine, we will explore this during the session.

● Cancellation policy:
Please, if you need to cancel a session try to let me know no later than 48 hours prior to your appointment, so another client can benefit from that time.

Click here to book your session with Silvia