Hi, I’m Shelley

My aims for Complex Connexions

My goal is to enable parents and ADHD/Autistic young people to understand behaviour through a brain/body lens, cultivate calm and connection, and foster a strong sense of acceptance and belonging within the family.

When we achieve this, we nurture self-belief and support positive mental well-being for our young person as well as the rest of the family.

Join me on this transformative journey, and let’s create a brighter future for our young person, and our families, built on understanding, communication and connection.

Neurodevelopmental Practitioner – Using rhythmic movement

Neurodevelopmental Practitioner – Using rhythmic movement

Want to chat with me?

I offer a 30-minute, no-obligation chat where I can tell you more about the services I offer, whether they’d be a good fit for you as well as answer any questions you have.

You can then make up your own mind on what you want to do next, with no pressure from me.

Several years ago we were struggling!

My son, Dan who was 7 at the time, was referred to a clinician in primary mental health at our GP surgery, and then on to CYPS as he was very anxious, wasn’t eating or sleeping well, and his teachers were confused and reacting to some of his behaviour at school, as were we at home.

I could feel the relationships in our family becoming more strained – my husband and I with Dan and each other, my daughter, Jess, with her brother – we were all on edge and waiting for the next conflict. 

Feeling desperate at times, I did a lot of late night Googling and began learning more about ADHD and Autism.  I worked in a primary school, but really didn’t have a deep understanding of neurodivergence.

Dan eventually got both these diagnoses, by which time my husband and I understood so much more about his needs, which meant we were responding differently and supporting him in a much more effective way- slowly the trust was rebuilt and, with a lot of ongoing curiosity and learning (and reviewing and redoing), the connection began to become stronger again.  

Even when the challenges increased for Dan at high school, the dialogue and collaboration we had managed to create with him (most of the time) meant we could all tackle those difficulties with much more compassion and confidence.

This led me to create my video workshops for parents, based on the principles of understanding, communication and connection.

As time progressed I began to learn even more about our nervous system and the brain body connection – and how all sensory challenges, as well as difficulties with executive function skills and emotion regulation challenges – all very relevant to neurodivergent brains – come back to the concept of felt safety and how our brain and body react when they don’t feel safe.  

This is the behaviour that we see.

Understanding this is now at the core of all that I do, with parents and with children, using my Brain Body Balance framework.  

This knowledge and practice has continued to support me personally, as a parent, as well as rippling out to the rest of my family.  It also meant that I recognised ADHD traits in myself, and got my diagnosis, but have been able to empower myself with tools and skills that help me feel much more regulated and able to help Dan to learn tools and skills that he now uses to support himself.