Dr Emma Offord

Neuroaffirming Therapist, Coach, and Thoughtleader

Emma has always been drawn to people, wanting to know them as individuals, without judgement. At the age 24, Emma had a privileged job working in London. Every day on her commute she would witness inequality through the eyes of the homeless people she passed. Emma herself had been made homeless at the age of 12 when her father suddenly died. She is intertwined with the homeless experience. She was drawn to those individuals and their stories more than the job that many would aspire to have.
 
Emma decided to retrain as a clinical psychologist, using the power of education to help the world wake up to those of us who have been unseen, neglected and judged.
 
This has taken Emma on a lifelong search for social justice. She now dedicates her life to supporting and fighting for neurodivergent people to be seen, heard, and treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. That is how Divergent Life began.
 
This was also the beginning of Emma’s exploration into her own neurodivergence. A journey that is still ongoing. Through her training as a clinical psychologist, Emma understood autism, ADHD, OCD and other neurotypes through the lens of a medical model. She was taught by society, later reinforced through her training, that there were a set of ‘symptoms’ that described each of these ‘disorders’.
 
There was little deviation from this and a huge amount of stereotyping and bias. She had to unlearn and relearn to come to an understanding of neurotype through the neurodiversity paradigm.
 
Trauma plays a huge role in the way we understand ourselves. Our experiences dominate our view of who we are. It wasn’t until Emma worked through the trauma of her experiences that she could see what was underneath. This has become a cornerstone of Divergent Life.
 
Neurodivergent discovery is more than receiving a label or identifying with one. It is about a person discovering their neurobiological identity and wrapping this around themselves, their life and their relationships. Enabling people to design a life where they feel safe to thrive.