Last time we looked at what makes this work important, even when things are going well. This time we look at what happens when there is a the gap, perhaps because we received a no, a session was cancelled or there is some other change of plan that can all create the same uncomfortable thing: a void.
What I mean by the void
The void is the space that opens when something you planned for stops existing. Your next appointment is running late. A friend texts to say they can't make it. A client says "I don't know" and the thread you were following disappears. Time you had held, and energy you had prepared, is suddenly available and unused.
I've lived this myself. During a long period caring for someone I love in hospital, I had almost no time out, and a huge amount of time in a room with a lot of emotion and very little I could actually do.
I found that, left to itself, my mind would dwell and spin into negative patterns. So I decided in advance what I would do with that time. I chose something I'd always wanted to do, and I wrote a book. Since then I've used the same approach in car parks, waiting rooms and cancelled plans.
Planning for the void means deciding in advance what you'll do with unplanned time, so you aren't making that decision when your capacity is jangled by sudden change. As practitioners, we can help clients do the same.
Why the void can be harder for neurodivergent clients
A void isn't just disappointment. For many neurodivergent people, several things can be happening at once.
Monotropism. Many autistic and ADHD people have attention that narrows deeply onto one thing at a time. When that focus is interrupted by a cancellation or a change of plan, the cost isn't only the lost event. Attention has been pulled out of a state that took energy to enter, and re-routing it can be slow, uncomfortable and disorienting. (Murray, Lesser and Lawson, 2005)
Processing delays. A change of plan has to be taken in, understood and responded to. For clients who need more time, the news can arrive faster than the mind can absorb it. The real response, whether that's relief, grief or anger, may come hours or days later, which links back to the late no from our last article. This is according to lived experience and alexithymia literature.
Freeze. When the unexpected lands, some clients don't act, they stall. From the outside it can look like passivity or avoidance. It's often a nervous system response, and "just decide what to do" isn't available when the body has frozen. You can find out more through Buckle et al (2021) - see below for reference.
Sensory overload. A void can arrive at the end of a day, or in a loud or bright place, when sensory capacity is already used up. Waiting in a crowded corridor or a hot, noisy room can turn an empty hour into a depleting one (Stromberg et al, 2022).
Taken together, a gap in the plan isn't a neutral blank. It's often a moment of reduced capacity, which is exactly when old patterns rush in: fawning, people-pleasing, rumination or saying yes to whatever fills the silence.
What this means in practice
If a client appears to "fall apart" after a cancelled session, or says yes to something unwanted in the minutes after a change of plan, the void may be part of the picture.
In our survey, recovery strategies were overwhelmingly self-developed, and very few respondents had been taught them in therapy (Mitchell, 2026a). Planning for the void is one place where we can help close that gap.
Five ways to plan for the void with clients
- Name it together. Ask: what happens for you in the gap after a plan changes? Let the client describe it in their own words, including body sensations, thoughts and what they reach for.
- Identify the cause, not just the symptom. Is it a monotropic interruption, a processing delay, freeze or sensory overload? The answer changes the plan. A client in freeze needs something very small and physical. A client interrupted mid-focus may need a way to re-enter or park the task.
- Choose something that's theirs. Writing, drawing, knitting, listening, a voice note. Something chosen in advance, portable and small enough to start. The point isn't productivity, it's turning the time towards themselves.
- Make the plan explicit. As with a marked exit, write it down, draw it or make a card. A plan that's explicit is easier to use than one that's implied.
- Review and adapt. Capacity varies, so the plan should too. Include a low-capacity version and a "just survive it" version.
One example: a nature-based void plan
This is one practice among many. For a client who can get outside, even to a doorstep:
- Feet on the ground.
- Notice three things: something to see, something to hear, something to feel on the skin.
- Ask one question: what do I want to turn towards?
- Let the answer be small.
Several respondents named nature as one of their most reliable ways to regulate and find their way back to themselves (Mitchell, 2026a). Invite clients to co-design this rather than adopting it as written, and offer indoor alternatives for clients who can't or don't want to go outside.
Your own void
This also applies to practitioners. Cancellations, late arrivals and a client's sudden silence create voids in our diaries and our heads too. If you're ND yourself, your own monotropism, freeze and sensory limits will shape how you hold the gap. Reflective practice and supervision are a good place to plan for it (Mitchell, 2026a).
A note on limits
This article draws on personal experience and a small community sample, mostly white, female, mid-life and UK-based (Mitchell, 2026b). A void plan is a support, not a treatment. If a client's gap feels unsafe, the response is more support, not a better routine.
One thing you can do
Think of a recent session or cancellation, with no names or identifying details.
- What did the gap look like for the client, or for me?
- Was one of these four factors, monotropism, processing delay, freeze or sensory overload, involved? Or something else?
- What's one small thing I could plan to do differently with a client before the next gap?
What's next
Next time we'll look at what to do when a no arrives late, days after the session. Tell me in the comments what you tried, with no identifying details, and sign up to the newsletter at www.untangleroots.org.
Buckle et al. (2021), “No Way Out Except From External Intervention”: First-Hand Accounts of Autistic Inertia, Frontiers in Psychology, 12:631596.
Murray, D., Lesser, M. and Lawson, W. (2005) 'Attention, monotropism and the diagnostic criteria for autism', Autism, 9(2), pp. 139–156. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361305051398 (Accessed: 12 November 2026)
Strömberg et al. (2022), Experiences of sensory overload and communication barriers by autistic adults in health care settings, Autism in Adulthood, 4(1), 66–75.
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