🎭 Unmask Me – Identity, Regulation & Expression for Neurodivergent Youth
Unmask Me is a 1:1 creative mentoring and therapeutic support service designed for neurodivergent children and young people who feel overwhelmed, shutdown, or like they’re constantly pretending to cope.
We provide a safe space to explore who they really are — underneath the masking, pressure, and survival mode. Through gentle tools, creative play, co-regulation, and trust-building, we help them reconnect with their true selves.
👥 Who It’s For
- Neurodivergent children and young people aged 7–25
- Especially those who mask at school or home
- Children struggling with shutdowns, identity confusion, anxiety, or school refusal
- Young people navigating trauma, PDA, burnout, or post-crisis recovery
- Those who feel like they’ve lost themselves to survive
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🌈 What We Offer
- Creative 1:1 sessions tailored to the child’s communication and sensory needs
- Emotional regulation through play, movement, art, and story
- Explorative identity work in a non-clinical, non-pressured format
- Choice-led tools to support expression, autonomy, and voice
- Parent consultations and optional co-regulation support -
🧠 Why It’s Needed
“Masking” means hiding how you really feel to appear fine or ‘fit in.’ Many children mask at school and then crash at home. Over time, this can lead to exhaustion, identity confusion, anxiety, or shutdowns.
Parents often say: “No one sees what we see.” At Unmask Me, we do. We see beyond behaviour. We hold space for what’s underneath.
Unmask Me provides the space, trust, and tools to support healing and safe expression. -
🧩 What’s Included
- 1:1 online or in-person creative mentoring
- Individualised toolkit based on the young person’s needs
- Access to Unmask Me elements:
• 🎨 Say It Without Words
• 🧸 Home Ground
• 🧰 Reset Box
• 🧪 Calm Lab
• ✨ Safe Start
• 🧭 The PDA Compass
- Pre/post visual check-ins
- Optional sensory supports and visual prompts
- Parent feedback loop every 6 sessions
- Can run alongside Gaming Minds or Passion Pathways
- Can be commissioned as part of EHCP or AP provision
🔐 Safety & Approach
- Trauma-informed, neurodivergent-aware mentors
- PDA-safe and demand-sensitive
- Relationship-first, non-clinical model
- Matches child’s pace, not external expectations
- All sessions are delivered by trained, trauma-informed mentors — not clinical therapists
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🔬 Why It Works – Backed by Research
- Masking is linked to increased anxiety, self-harm, and depression in neurodivergent youth (Cage & Troxell-Whitman, 2019)
- Relational, creative, and child-led approaches reduce masking and improve wellbeing (Cook et al., 2022)
- Safe expression supports identity integration, confidence, and emotional safety (Siegel, 2012)
💬 What Young People Say
“I like that I don’t have to talk if I don’t want to.”
“It helps me know it’s okay to be me.”