Sabbir Ahmed

You may appear capable, successful and composed on the outside while privately feeling anxious, overwhelmed, emotionally exhausted or caught in patterns that keep repeating.

Perhaps your mind rarely switches off. You may overthink, procrastinate, become overwhelmed by emotions, struggle with rejection or criticism, people-please, mask how difficult things feel, or find that relationships repeatedly trigger powerful reactions. Others may see you as confident, reliable and coping well while you privately feel exhausted, disconnected or unsure why everyday life seems to require so much effort.

I work particularly with adults with ADHD, autism and AuDHD, including people who recognised their neurodivergence later in life or have spent many years masking. I also work extensively with BPD and emotional intensity, trauma, anxiety, difficult relationship patterns, addiction, low mood and burnout.

Therapy offers a calm, compassionate and non-judgemental space where you do not need to perform, mask or arrive knowing exactly what to say. Together, we can understand what is happening beneath the surface, develop practical ways of managing difficult emotions and create a way of living and relating that feels more grounded, authentic and sustainable.

My approach
My name is Sabbir. I am a UKCP-registered psychotherapist and EMCC-accredited coach with more than 20 years' experience across the NHS and private practice.

My approach is warm, collaborative and practical. I draw on psychotherapy, psychodynamic and systemic thinking, CBT, DBT-informed approaches and neuroinclusive coaching. Rather than trying to fit everyone into one model, I adapt the work to the person sitting in front of me.

Some people come to therapy wanting practical strategies for anxiety, emotional regulation, procrastination, relationships or everyday demands. Others want to understand why the same emotional or relationship patterns seem to return despite knowing intellectually that they want things to be different.

Often, the most useful therapy combines both.

We can pay attention to what is happening in your life now while also exploring how earlier relationships, attachment experiences, family dynamics, trauma, culture, identity and established ways of coping may continue to influence how you think, feel and respond today.

The aim is not simply to reduce symptoms. It is to help you understand yourself more clearly, become less controlled by automatic emotional reactions and develop ways of coping, relating and making decisions that feel healthier and more sustainable.

ADHD, autism, AuDHD and neurodivergence
You may have spent years knowing that something felt different without fully understanding why.

ADHD, autism and AuDHD can affect attention, organisation, motivation, time management, sensory processing, communication, emotional regulation and relationships. You may know exactly what needs to be done yet struggle to begin, procrastinate until pressure becomes intense or move between periods of intense productivity and exhaustion.

You may become deeply absorbed in particular interests while everyday administrative tasks feel disproportionately difficult. Criticism or rejection may affect you strongly, competing demands may quickly become overwhelming, and you may feel frustrated that your abilities are not consistently reflected in everyday life.

For many people, recognising neurodivergence later in life brings relief and greater self-understanding. It can also bring grief, anger or questions about how life might have been different with earlier recognition and support.

Years of masking can also take a significant toll. You may have learned to monitor yourself constantly, suppress your needs, overprepare, imitate what seems socially expected or work much harder than others realise simply to appear as though you are coping.

My approach is neuroinclusive rather than corrective. The aim is not to make you behave in a more neurotypical way. It is to help you understand how your mind works, reduce unnecessary self-criticism and masking, recognise your needs and develop strategies that genuinely fit your life.

I provide therapeutic and coaching support around neurodivergence but do not undertake formal ADHD or autism diagnostic assessments.

BPD, emotional intensity and DBT-informed therapy
Some people experience emotions with extraordinary intensity.

A disagreement, perceived rejection, uncertainty or change in another person's behaviour may trigger anger, panic, shame, fear or a powerful urge to react. Relationships may move between intense closeness and painful conflict. Afterwards, you may understand intellectually what happened while still feeling guilty, confused or deeply self-critical.

You may also experience fear of abandonment, impulsivity, difficulty trusting people, rapidly changing emotions or a sense that other people do not understand how strongly situations affect you.

My work is informed by Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT). We can develop practical strategies to recognise emotional triggers earlier, tolerate distress, regulate intense emotions, communicate more effectively and respond to difficult situations without unintentionally making them more painful.

At the same time, psychotherapy allows us to look beneath the immediate reaction. We may explore attachment experiences, trauma, shame, fear, identity and recurring relationship patterns to understand why certain situations carry such emotional power.

The intention is not to suppress your emotions. It is to help you experience them without being completely controlled by them.

I generally provide DBT-informed psychotherapy rather than a comprehensive specialist DBT programme.

Anxiety, overthinking and trauma
Anxiety does not always look like panic.

It may appear as constant overthinking, racing thoughts, perfectionism, reassurance-seeking, intrusive thoughts, difficulty making decisions, physical tension or repeatedly imagining what might go wrong.

You may function extremely well while living with an internal level of anxiety that other people rarely see.

Traumatic experiences can also continue to shape how we respond long after the original events have passed. You may feel hypervigilant, emotionally numb, disconnected, ashamed, unsafe in relationships or easily triggered by situations that remind your nervous system of earlier experiences.

Therapy can help you understand why these responses developed, recognise what continues to activate them and gradually build more flexible ways of responding.

Addiction and compulsive coping
Alcohol, drugs, gambling, pornography, sex, internet use or other compulsive behaviours can sometimes become ways of managing stress, loneliness, boredom, shame, rejection or emotional overload.

For some neurodivergent people, impulsivity, reward-seeking, emotional regulation difficulties or periods of intense focus can also contribute to addictive or compulsive patterns.

I approach addiction without judgement.

Rather than asking only, “How do we stop this behaviour?”, we also explore, “What is this behaviour helping you cope with?”

Understanding the emotional function of an addiction or compulsion can make it possible to recognise triggers, reduce shame and gradually develop alternative ways of coping.

Relationships, couples and families
Relationships can bring out parts of us that remain hidden in other areas of life.

You may find yourself repeatedly becoming angry, withdrawing, feeling rejected, seeking reassurance, avoiding difficult conversations or becoming involved in similar relationship dynamics despite wanting something different.

I work with individuals and couples experiencing communication difficulties, repeated conflict, emotional distance, infidelity, loss of trust or uncertainty about the future of their relationship.

Where ADHD, autism or AuDHD affects a relationship, a neuroinclusive perspective can be particularly important. Differences in communication, emotional processing, sensory needs, planning, organisation and executive functioning can easily be misunderstood as lack of effort, lack of care or incompatibility.

Understanding these differences can create space for partners to communicate more clearly and respond to one another with greater understanding.

I also support parents, partners and family members who may have become accustomed to holding everything together while privately becoming exhausted themselves.

Work pressure, perfectionism and burnout
You may be highly capable professionally while privately struggling with procrastination, perfectionism, imposter feelings, fear of failure, executive functioning difficulties or an inability to switch off.

Perhaps you repeatedly push yourself beyond your limits, struggle to rest without feeling guilty or believe that whatever you achieve is still not quite enough.

My combined psychotherapy and coaching background can be particularly useful where emotional wellbeing, neurodivergence, confidence, leadership and professional performance overlap.

We can explore both the emotional patterns underneath your relationship with achievement and practical ways of working more effectively.

The aim is not simply to make you more productive. It is to help you develop a healthier and more sustainable relationship with responsibility, ambition, achievement and rest.

Taking the next step
Reaching out can feel difficult, particularly if you have spent years masking, coping independently or being the person everybody else relies upon.

You do not need to arrive with a diagnosis, a perfectly clear explanation or a list of goals.

We can begin with an initial consultation, understand what has brought you to therapy and think together about what kind of support would be most useful for your circumstances and needs.

Meaningful change rarely happens all at once. Sometimes it begins with having a space where you no longer need to pretend that everything is fine.

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I offer a free 15 minute initial phone consultation prior to a first session.

My fees are:

• £195 for one individual session
• £250 for one couple session

Monday Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evenings, in addition to weekends

In upholding ethical responsibilities, including confidentiality, within my practice I maintain adherence to UKCP, EMCC and Professional Standards Authority guidelines, including fully GDPR-compliant record-keeping and secure data handling.