About 2diverse
2diverse works with clients across the UK and overseas using online platforms for all our consultations.
We provide expert mental health support for autistic people.
Most of our clients are older teens or young adults and/or their parents. We work with everyone involved to help them understand and experience what genuinely autistic-affirming support looks like in practice.
We listen carefully to make sure we understand all our clientsâ needs and strengths, as well as the different contexts and environments where they spend their time, and we make every effort to tailor our support accordingly.
Our approach
Autistic individuals face all kinds of challenges because they experience and respond to life in a different way to the majority. These challenges are often compounded by a lack of understanding from those around them.
We therefore encourage all our clients to consider the situations they’re facing from a standpoint that affirms autistic people, values each person’s uniqueness and recognises everyone’s capacity to thrive in the right setting.
We focus on helping clients and their families deal with their challenges through improving communication and strengthening their key relationships, enhancing mental health and well-being in the process.
- Please note: We donât offer diagnostic assessments, but can signpost you to local services that do.
Meet the Team
2diverse works with clients across the UK and overseas using online platforms for all our consultations.Â
Sarah Pagdin
I’m an autistic HCPC registered counselling psychologist and I’ve spent nearly 30 years supporting people with complex mental health challenges. These days I work solely with autistic teens and young adults and their families – work that’s shaped both by my professional training and my own life as a parent.
2diverse began as a family team. My autistic/ADHD young adult child, Alexis, and I designed and delivered support for parents of autistic young people together. Although Alexis has moved on to other projects, their insight, honesty and rare gift for reframing what everyone else takes for granted is an enduring legacy woven into everything I do. So is our ongoing learning as a family.
This combination of clinical training, lived experience, and a deep understanding of what families are actually going through is what enables me to do this work with a sense of hope and a keen eye for the small things that can make a difference, even in the most challenging of situations.
I’m also trained in equine assisted therapy and accredited by the International Society for Schema Therapy as an advanced level schema therapist, supervisor and trainer. I’ve written a chapter on my work with families for Routledge’s new publication, Neuro-affirming Approaches in Schema Therapy: Working Affirmatively with Neurodevelopmental Differences, due out soon.Â
Alexis Pagdin
Although Alexis has moved on to other projects for now, it’s fair to say that 2diverse wouldn’t be here without them! Alexis was closely involved behind the scenes in developing many of the ideas underpinning our approach, and a regular contributor in our live sessions for parents and for teams in the NHS, private and charity sectors. Parents and colleagues appreciate Alexis’ honest and refreshingly different âtakesâ on the reality of being a young autistic person with ADHD, as well as their sense of humour! Â
OUR NETWORK
We value connections we make with other people that are based on honest communication, genuine curiosity, willingness to share and respect for one another’s experience. Over the years we have grown many such connections within the autistic advocacy and professional community. This enables us to draw on a wide range of resources and confidently recommend services and practitioners where appropriate. It also gives us the chance to be part of interesting collaborative projects, such as guest blogging.
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