Our Social Enterprise
Creating Space For You CIC has over 15 years experience working with a diverse range of people, including leaders in charities and social enterprises, young leaders and parents with children who experience the world differently.
In terms of our community benefit, we have contributed over £320,000 to workforce and community development since we started in 2010.
About Untangle Roots
In 2022 we began exploring neurodivergent consent based approaches for developing happy and healthy neurodivergent relationships. This examination also explored where consent breaks down and where challenges develop into codependency, with a focus on the differences neurodivergent people experience compared to the standard neuronormative narratives and approaches that are present in our society.
You can find some of the research that has informed our thinking here
We are using our findings and community based research with ND individuals and professionals to develop support for professionals working with ND clients to use safety as the basis of sustained change.
We have found that ND people benefit from support from professionals who understand ND consent and codependency. For this reason, we are focusing on training professionals rather than working with individuals directly at this time, so that we have a larger pool of understanding professionals who can go on to support ND individuals effectively.
Untangle Roots has become one of the projects that Creating Space For You CIC manages.
We have a commitment to developing work that enhances lived experience of neurodivergence. As a result, we involve ND people with lived experience at every stage of our process, to ensure our work is fit for purpose, including planning, development, delivery and review.
We have a group of neurodivergent supporters who have advised us on our research plans, research questions and support with implementation. This includes neurodivergent people who have experienced coaching, counselling and other mental health services, as well as ND people who are qualified in coaching, counselling and supervision. Where possible, we have considered demographic information to ensure we have a range of different life experiences to draw on.
Our Current Focus
While undertaking an in-depth review of our work with ND people over the last 5 years, we identified key commonalities between our clients. We wanted to find out if these commonalities were present outside our practice and we decided to do some research directly with ND people, so we could confirm if our findings were replicated in the wider ND population. Here is our detailed Research Report that outlines our findings:
Neurodivergent Experiences of Therapeutic Relationships
We are evaluating the research we have undertaken with therapists, coaches and professionals to explore their experiences of working with ND clients. Sign up to our newsletter to be the first to find out more.
All the research outlined above will inform resources being developed to support professionals who work with ND clients, enabling ND clients to flourish.
Our Vision and Values
Vision:
- Neurodivergence is valued and respected
- Neurodivergent people make decisions in their best interests
- Neurodivergent people have happy and healthy relationships
Values:
The following values underpin everything we do: love, warmth, gentleness, generosity, authenticity, tenacity, community, courage, openness, boundaries, choice, groundedness, peace
About Charlie Mitchell, founder
I set up Creating Space For You CIC in 2010, to support charity and social enterprise leaders with leadership development. Work was funded by Joseph Rowntree Foundation and involved a strategic approach to leadership development across the voluntary sector in York.
With over 25 years experience in transformational coaching, I have noticed certain patterns and themes with the people I have worked with:
- the ways people’s brains work influences their choices including consent, boundaries and codependency
- many coaches and therapists do not fully understand the nuances of neurodivergent decision making and the impact on relationships, so can struggle to help people fully change ingrained patterns.
- change is possible, and when it does happen it can be liberating and truly life changing for individuals, their families and future generations.
I am AuDHD myself (late diagnosed) and qualified in coaching (Diploma in Coaching, Certificate in Coaching Training), education (Certificate in Education) and Careers Guidance (Certificate in Careers Guidance Development) along with an Inner Child Healing Diploma and other training, development and quality assurance qualifications.
I have three amazing kids; one is Autistic, one is Autistic with ADHD and one has Down Syndrome. They have taught me a great deal about bringing up kids with extra support needs, the moments of choice we have in amongst the challenges, and how we can evolve into the parents our amazing kids need.
Previous feedback on my work has included:
- I like the way the sessions builds on the different levels - it is all valuable
- Opportunity to share and put things into practice
- Space to explore our own history, our lineage and what we are bringing to our children
- Dealing with our own triggers every day so that we don't bring that to our children
- I am less triggered as a result of doing this
- Deeply healing
- Really supportive, great to share, helpful to listen to your wisdom
United Kingdom
