THIS MONTH’S SPOTLIGHT: CHARLIE MITCHELL

Charlie is a coach, facilitator and social entrepreneur based in Stroud, Gloucestershire. She is the founder of Creating Space For You CIC, a learning and development social enterprise with over 15 years of experience supporting people from all walks of life. For the past six years her work has focused more on neurodivergent (ND) adults, inspired by Charlie’s own neurodivergent lived experience, diagnosed AuDHD in 2022.

Since Charlie began coaching 25 years ago, she noticed similar patterns in her ND clients’ relationships; losing a sense of self, masking, fawning or difficulty navigating consent.Rather than assume these held true more widely, she took them back to the community. Through the Untangle Roots project, she led a community-based survey of neurodivergent adults about their experiences of therapy, coaching and healing with regard to their relationships. Respondents rated practitioners’ understanding of ND consent at just 2.1 out of 5, and their understanding of ND codependency lower still.

Most respondents described losing themselves in relationships, and the ways they found their way back were almost entirely self-taught, which will not be possible for everyone. This highlights a development need for therapists and coaches generally.

Charlie now turns this research into practical resources for professionals. Her book and subsequent CPD training explores neurodivergent consent, and her PEACE framework (Perceive, Explore, Attune, Create, Empower) offers a relational and embodied approach to ND support. She also coined the concept of “ecological consent load”, giving practitioners a holistic approach to exploring aspects that impact ND consent.

Her work draws on nature, creativity and is rooted in relational safety, reflecting what her community says it needs. The next phase of her research explores the experiences of therapists, coaches and other professionals working with ND clients.

Find out more at www.untangleroots.org/research

You can take part in the research until 2nd October 2026.