being

Neurodiversity describes the diversity and variation in ways of experiencing and being in the world. Humans are massively varied beings, so why does counselling so often look and feel so uniform? What might counselling look and feel like, if it were to fully embrace our diversity?

Sonny will explore some of the ways in which counselling might welcome and be changed by different ways of being, drawing from their own experiences as an autistic person accessing therapy, their work and research within neurodivergent, disabled, and other minority communities, as well as their work as a counsellor.

Sonny Hallett is a counsellor, trainer, and co-founder of AMASE (Autistic Mutual Aid Society Edinburgh). They have co-authored research on autism and mental health, experiences of counselling, autistic community and peer support, and work predominantly with neurodivergent and queer clients. They are also neurodivergent, trans and mixed race.

They are particularly interested in how counselling can be made to better suit divergent needs, how to help counsellors expand their sensitivity toward minority experiences and perspectives, and how this greater sensitivity and accessibility can enrich counselling more generally.

They also have a keen interest in nature and ecotherapy; the ways in which a relationship with the land, and the environment, can connect with our sense of ourselves.

They work in private practice in Edinburgh