Shauna Aura

I’m Shauna :-) human first, counsellor second 🙏🏾

I have 18 years experience working in purely private practice, and I genuinely love my work. I deeply value every person who comes to see me, each story, each quiet act of courage, and each moment of trust. It is a privilege to be invited into someone’s inner world, and I approach this work with humility, warmth and care.

I offer comprehensive Autism and ADHD assessments using gold standard assessment tools to ensure a robust, evidence-based process that meets NICE guidelines. Assessments are carried out in a neuro-affirming and supportive way, with careful consideration of each individual’s experiences, strengths, and needs. I have a particular interest in working with late-identifying women and girls, while also offering assessments for males. Please get in touch to find out more about the assessment process, availability, and how I may be able to support you.

My counselling practice is a female-only counselling space, created intentionally and thoughtfully. Many women tell me they need a place where they can soften, unmask, and speak freely - without needing to explain themselves, justify their feelings, or stay emotionally guarded. This is a space designed with women in mind: emotionally, relationally and sensory-wise.

You might be feeling anxious, overwhelmed, low, disconnected, or unsure of yourself. You may be navigating trauma, loss, identity shifts, or changes that feel confusing or destabilising. You don’t need to be in crisis to come to counselling, and you don’t need to have the right words. Sometimes it’s simply about having a safe place to pause and be met as you are.

I work with women experiencing anxiety, low mood, trauma, relationship difficulties, suicidal thoughts, eating distress, health anxiety, PTSD, emotional overwhelm and burnout. I am also a birth trauma specialist, with particular sensitivity to how birth trauma can affect neurodivergent women.

For autistic and ADHD women, birth can be especially overwhelming -often involving sensory overload, loss of control, unexpected changes, communication breakdowns, feeling unheard or dismissed, invasive procedures, and a profound sense of being unsafe in one’s body. Many neurodivergent women describe outwardly coping or masking during birth while internally becoming flooded, dissociating, or shutting down, only for the impact to surface later as anxiety, flashbacks, hypervigilance, guilt, grief, or a loss of trust in themselves or professionals.

Birth trauma may show up months or even years later, sometimes only once life slows down enough for the nervous system to register what happened. This work is held gently and respectfully, with careful attention to sensory needs, communication style, pacing and emotional safety. You will never be rushed, analysed, or asked to revisit anything before you are ready.

Alongside this, I have significant experience supporting women through infertility, reproductive challenges, and the emotional impact of perimenopause. These experiences are often layered and complex, affecting identity, emotional regulation, relationships and self-trust. Hormonal changes can intensify anxiety, overwhelm, sensory sensitivity and emotional reactivity, particularly for neurodivergent women-  and this work requires a deeply empathetic, attuned and validating approach.

I also work with women who have experienced domestic abuse and coercive control, including emotional and psychological patterns that may not have been recognised at the time. As understanding of coercive control has grown, many women find themselves revisiting past or current relationships with new clarity. These dynamics can quietly erode confidence, autonomy and self-trust, especially for women who have learned to appease, adapt or mask for safety.

I have particular experience supporting neurodivergent women, including those who self-identify as autistic or ADHD. Many women arrive having spent years, sometimes decades, masking: adapting their behaviour, suppressing needs, mirroring others, over-functioning, people-pleasing, and pushing through exhaustion in order to fit in, stay safe, or be seen as “coping”.

For late-diagnosed or self-identifying neurodivergent women, masking can carry a significant emotional cost. It often leads to chronic anxiety, burnout, low self-esteem, identity confusion, grief for unmet needs, and a sense of not knowing who you are beneath the layers of adaptation. Many women describe feeling relief alongside sadness or anger when they begin to understand themselves through a neurodivergent lens, questioning past experiences, relationships, parenting, work, and how much they have had to hold alone.

In this space, you are not expected to perform, explain, minimise or keep yourself together. Therapy can become a place to gently notice what has been survival, what has been learned, and what you might want to soften, reclaim or let go of. Eating distress in neurodivergent women is approached with compassion and curiosity, particularly where it connects to sensory sensitivities, emotional regulation, routines, control, trauma or lifelong adaptation. There is no pressure to “fix” or force change.

Whilst I do not diagnose in this clinic, I work in a neuro-affirming, person-centred way, supporting you to explore your experiences, needs and strengths with respect and care. Increased awareness of how autism and ADHD can present differently in females has allowed many women to finally find language that fits their lived experience, often later in life. You are welcome here whether you feel certain, uncertain, or are just beginning to explore.

If you feel ready to seek assessment, I am able to write letters of support for your GP based on your lived experience, to help begin the assessment process. This is always led by you and approached gently. 

I am ASIST suicide prevention trained, meaning I am experienced in holding conversations around suicidal thoughts in a calm, grounded and compassionate way. If you are struggling with thoughts of wanting to escape, disappear, or not be here, you will be met with steadiness, care and understanding- never judgement.

I specialise exclusively in working with women because I believe the therapeutic relationship is central to healing. Person-centred counselling is rooted in the belief that feeling genuinely seen, heard and valued allows growth and change to occur. Our work together is collaborative, paced by you, and grounded in trust.

My counselling space in Worthing, West Sussex is intentionally warm, cosy and not over-stimulating. It is designed to feel calm and grounding, a place where your nervous system can settle. There will always be tea and biscuits, soft lighting, and an atmosphere that feels human rather than clinical. There is free parking outside and easy access.

Counselling can offer space that is just yours-  space to reflect, process complex experiences, reconnect with yourself, and explore new ways of coping and moving forward. You don’t need to arrive with everything figured out, and you don’t have to do this alone.

Separate to my counselling work, I offer comprehensive autism assessments for children and adults, including those seeking a late diagnosis. I understand the unique challenges this can bring and provide a supportive, neuro-affirming approach. Please contact me for more details or to discuss how I can support you.

I have a lot of experience supporting and assessing girls and women, especially those whose neurodivergence or mental health needs might have been missed, misunderstood, or hidden. I pay close attention to how social expectations, masking, and inner struggles can shape the way someone presents themselves, and I make sure to look beyond what’s visible on the surface.

My goal in every assessment is to understand you as a whole person, including your experiences, your challenges, and your strengths, so that what I share truly reflects your life and your story.

If something here has quietly resonated with you, you’re very welcome to get in touch, even just to ask a question, and we can take things gently, one step at a time.  I am here to answer any questions you may have and take the process at your own pace. I hope you find what you are looking for here.

If it feels helpful, you’re welcome to read the client testimonials below, which offer a sense of how others have experienced working with me and the therapeutic space I offer.

I have been working with my therapist for just over a year, and the impact she has had on my life has been truly invaluable. Since receiving my AuDHD diagnosis, she has supported me with such care, patience, and deep understanding, helping me slowly unmask and begin to discover who I really am. This process has felt safe, affirming, and genuinely life-changing. Her support extends far beyond me as an individual. She has also helped me better understand and support my two neurodiverse children, giving me tools, insight, and confidence as a parent. Through her guidance, our family life has become more compassionate, informed, and connected. She is deeply passionate about inclusivity and neuroaffirming practice, and it shows in everything she does. I have always felt seen, respected, and accepted exactly as I am. She has done more than help me navigate challenges — she has helped me build understanding, self-compassion, and hope. I am incredibly grateful for her and the difference she has made in my life.

Shauna is truly one-of-a-kind. I’d never engaged in any counselling before and was very apprehensive, but Shauna put me at ease and made me feel safe instantly. In contrast to what I assumed counselling to be like, she creates such a friendly, cosy and safe space - even online - where every emotion or thought is valid and accepted (no clipboards or clinical-looking rooms here!) Shauna’s warm approach and amazing attention to detail has made me feel like we’ve faced my battles together and has prevented me from feeling alone in my most difficult times. I couldn’t recommend a therapist highly enough - especially if this is your first time.

When I first met Shauna she really pulled me out the darkness and helped shine a light on the truth of my situation and my sense of self-worth. She enabled me to find the strength to make one of the hardest but best decisions for myself I could of made and for that I really be forever thankful.

Shauna helped me a great deal when I was going through a lot at a young age and didn’t know how to cope with my emotions. She is an excellent listener and makes you feel at ease and safe to explore your feelings. I first worked with Shauna when I was a young teen and I had previously struggled to open up in counselling sessions but she was able to get through to me and quickly earned my trust. I would recommend Shauna to anyone who feels they could benefit from counselling.

I have turned to Shauna twice now, the first time in person and the second on-line and both times she has been equally warm, caring and empathetic. She has even gone to the trouble to message in between sessions to check in on me, which has made me feel so supported and less alone during some really difficult times. I know she is 100% on my side, is always rooting for me and has helped me see my own worth when I couldn’t. She knows when to sit back and listen and when to step in and help steer you when you feel lost. I whole-heartedly recommend sessions with Shauna. It’s the best self-care you can give yourself.

I originally contacted Shauna because of CFS (partly triggered by a past trauma) and related anxiety issues I was having. I was immediately relaxed by Shauna's warm, calm and understanding personality to the point where at times it became like chatting to a good friend, not to belittle the work done or the professional manor in which Shauna conducted the sessions - I was just very comfortable and at ease with her. Having now completed my counselling sessions with her I can highly recommend her to anyone with similar problems to me or indeed anyone experiencing a mental health issue. She used a wide range of counselling techniques and I have taken away many 'tools' that I can use whenever I face issues. Although she always claimed I was doing the work, her guidance and reassurance was key. I felt that her expertise in counselling was so beneficial to me that it has potentially changed my outlook of life for good.

Working with Shauna has been immensely supportive and reassuring. She has helped me move beyond some very traumatic events, by exploring them (at my own pace, when I was ready) and letting me make sense of my reactions to them. I have always felt without question that Shauna was there for me, whether my week has been great, devastating or indifferent. She is sensitive, intuitive and draws seamlessly on a number of therapy approaches, allowing her to help me 'heal' my past, deal with the present and give me the tools to cope with the future.

Shauna, thank you so much for everything you have done for me. I have been able to see things clearer and work through issues I have been burying for years! thank you for being warm, understanding and there for me relentlessly. i will miss our sessions but feel able to use the confidence I developed during counselling in the outside world. I will never forget you, Thanks again.

I contacted Shauna initially for some counselling after experiencing anxiety and difficulties in a close relationship. Having worked with Shauna over the period of nineteen sessions, I felt able to cope better with my emotions and how I conduct myself in this particular relationship. I have to say, it was the hardest thing I have ever done and therapy isn't an easy way out! Shauna was really supportive and I really felt she was non-judgmental and I felt very safe with her. I am still learning how to 'be', and this is ongoing for me but without my therapy with Shauna, I would not be half as calm and happy as I am now. I can fully recommend that anyone who is seeking therapy contact Shauna, I was really scared while looking for a counsellor but Shauna put me at ease right from the start, I will really miss her.

When I first contacted Shauna I was at rock bottom. Having a history of suicidal attempts and thoughts, I was stuck in a dark and scary place. I knew I needed some support. Shauna has been incredible. It felt like she always knew what to say when others didn't have a clue. I have been able to find ways to cope. I am alive and know I have reasons to be alive. I couldn't see this before. Shauna's support has been invaluable. She has been warm, safe and there for me when I have needed her. I have now ended my counselling and know that Shauna will be there if I need to go back. My life is totally changed since starting counselling, I can't thank Shauna enough.

Over the many months working together Shauna used a person centred approach to explore aspects of depression, suicide, self image, relationships, sexual issues, feelings of loss, and day to day coping strategies. She has also helped with my post traumatic stress disorder symptoms by working on creating a safe environment for me to explore my areas of trauma. Shauna treats me with great respect and care. I have nothing but praise for her and all she has done to support me. Her attention to detail and timing means I am always able to leave our sessions feeling safe. I am never rushed or hurried. Shauna has worked with me through the extreme lows of my depression, acted as my advocate during my period in psychiatric hospital and supported my personal journey, through artistic endeavours, to tell my story. She has helped me to realise that my experiences are valuable and that I too am valued by others.

Having worked with Shauna in counselling for the last nine months, I can safely say that starting counselling was the best decision I have ever made. Not just that, but choosing Shauna as my counsellor was the best choice I could have made. I have found sessions with Shauna absolutely calming, safe and I have felt able to talk over the most horrific things that have prevented me living a full and happy life. Shauna has helped me overcome some serious issues with self harming and suicidal thoughts. I have been able to address issues I had with my family and past relationships with Shauna's support. She has been kind, caring, gentle and shown me that I can feel in control and take counselling at my own pace. I hope to continue to move forwards in my life and I know that I can see Shauna again if I need to.

Counselling with you was really helpful. When I was struggling and alone in my darkness, your warm nature and reflective insight helped me through. I remember one particular time I was off work and anxious about going back, but after discussing how to do this I felt empowered to manage my anxiety. I was in a dark place at the time and I am not sure I would have got out of it without our weekly sessions.

Finishing counselling was almost as scary as the thought of starting... scary in a different way... scary in a 'I am facing the world' kind of way. My sessions with Shauna have helped me to face my issues around food and eating and weight and control. It has been hard. But truly brilliant. I can now say that I am in control of my life in a balanced and safe way. Shauna has been the best counsellor, she has been insightful, intuitive and gentle in her approach. Walking with me on my journey and allowing me to open up bit by bit. I will miss Shauna and the weekly sessions, knowing she is there for me no matter what. I now know, I can be there for me, no matter what. I am giving up my stabilisers... and riding free! Thanks for everything Shauna.

Working with Shauna has helped me really explore why I had been feeling the way I have and to validate my feelings and emotions in a safe space, to help understand where I needed to put boundaries in place moving forward. We were able to work really hard as to why and where certain feelings came from and know that it was okay to feel that way. And most importantly understand myself. Shauna is a really comforting and reassuring therapist to work with who is very understanding of any trauma you have been through in the past, nothing is ever too much. 

I have really enjoyed my time with Shauna as she has helped take the weight off my shoulders and I feel like I’m free and I can breathe again. She has supported me throughout my therapy journey and is a really trustworthy person to talk to. I cannot thank her enough for the continued support and compassion. 

Having met with two other counsellors, prior to finding Shauna, it really showed me how her approach was so unique and different to the previous two. Shauna has approached every session with kindness, compassion, empathy and even humour, which has helped so much. Sessions didn’t feel stressful or always too serious and I was able to open up and share some pressing issues which have affected me due to and since covid. She has been the best counsellor for me and can’t thank her enough! 

I have just finished two years of therapy with Shauna, I came to her a counsellor in training and now qualified. Shauna has supported me not only to work on my own “stuff”, but to navigate the intricacies of counselling training. I am so thankful to have found Shauna and been able to work so closely with her throughout this time. I feel she has made me the counsellor I will become, and I’ve learned so much from her. I will miss you Shauna, thank you for everything. 

Shauna has helped me navigate a lengthy autism diagnosis and allowed me to fully be myself in therapy, something that I’ve never experienced previously. Shauna has helped with my confidence and self acceptance around a lot of issues and feelings. I have a better understanding of myself and my needs and how I can communicate these to others. It’s not been an easy process but Shauna was an incredible therapist and supported me through it all. I was able to put my trust in her, which is often tricky for me to do. 

Please see my Instagram for more testimonials. 

I work only with adult female clients. I am able to work with many issues as listed but I have specialist experience working particularly with clients experiencing:

• Autism or ADHD 
• Suicidal feelings/ loss through suicide
• Workplace stress 
• Relationship breakdown  
• Infertility 
• Bereavement through suicide
• Self harm
• Post traumatic stress disorder and/or trauma
• Anxiety disorders and depression
• Obsessional thoughts and rituals
• Victims and witnesses of crime
• Abuse, in particular emotional domestic abuse/ coercive control
• Eating disorders
• Couples counselling 

I have 20 years experience in working with people with multiple complex needs, and 18 years working directly in Private Counselling Practice.

Whether you are experiencing difficulties with an issue listed above or a combination of a number of them, I am able to work with you to find a way through your distress.

Please note, I do not work with under 18’s. 

I usually work with clients on an open-ended, longer-term basis, allowing us to go at a pace that feels right for you. I also offer time-limited counselling focused on a specific concern, typically over six to twelve sessions. This can always be discussed and adapted to suit your individual needs.

I offer one-to-one and couples counselling, with sessions available in person, online, or by telephone. I also offer Skype or FaceTime sessions for anyone who feels more comfortable meeting this way.

Once we have agreed what would be most helpful for you, we can arrange a regular weekly day and time to meet. Having a consistent session time can help create a sense of safety and predictability, which many people find supportive. Each session lasts for fifty minutes.

I offer private Autism assessments which include face-to-face sessions in a calm, neuro-affirming environment with low sensory demands. Assessments follow NICE guidelines and come with a detailed report with clear recommendations and practical suggestions for next steps. Please feel free to contact me on: shauna.aura.assessments@gmail.com

The initial online consultation is free of charge and lasts 30 minutes. This is usually an online call or voice call, whatever is most comfortable for you. 

My private practice is based at my clinic in Worthing, where you will be warmly welcomed. The counselling room is calm, quiet, and confidential, and arranged to be as comfortable and low-stimulus as possible. There will be tea and biscuits, and you are welcome to bring anything that helps you feel more at ease.

I offer daytime appointments and a limited number of evening sessions. Please note that evening appointments are subject to an out-of-hours charge, which I am happy to explain when you get in touch.

I understand that taking the first step towards counselling can feel difficult or overwhelming, particularly if new situations or conversations feel challenging. You are very welcome to contact me to talk through how counselling with me might help, at a pace that feels right for you. You can call me on 07908720169 or email me here.