Working with neurodivergent couples can leave us uncertain about what we are seeing and where to take the work. We may recognise a repeating pattern, yet find that our usual interventions bring little change, or that helping one partner feel understood leaves the other feeling overlooked.

I know this uncertainty from my own couples work. Partners do not always arrive knowing they are neurodivergent, and making sense of their difficulties can involve holding several possible explanations together.

Following questions raised in the first workshop, this one-hour session explores how a neuro-informed perspective can deepen our understanding of difficulties between partners. We will consider three questions that arise in practice.

**How do we work when neurodivergence is undiagnosed?**

Couples may arrive without a diagnosis or a shared understanding of their differences. Some may be reluctant to explore neurodivergent identity. How can we remain curious about patterns in attention, processing, sensory experience and regulation while respecting each person’s readiness? We will briefly explore how to describe what we observe and respond to individual needs, without making diagnostic claims or requiring partners to adopt a label.

**What changes when we bring a neuro-informed lens to attachment and trauma?**

Withdrawal, reassurance-seeking and emotional reactions can invite different interpretations. We will explore what attachment-based, trauma-informed and neuro-informed perspectives each bring to understanding these experiences, where they overlap, and how they can inform our work together. The focus is on broadening formulation and choosing interventions that fit the couple’s experience.

**What happens when dysregulation is experienced as deliberate hurt?**

Silence, irritability or an abrupt response may be experienced by a partner as rejection, punishment or an attempt to upset them. We will explore how these interpretations can intensify relational difficulties. Using Nea’s Sensory Economy model, we will consider how accumulated demands and reduced capacity affect availability for connection, while holding the impact on both partners and their responsibility for repair.

Through practical examples and shared reflection, participants will develop more precise questions, a broader understanding of relational behaviour, and clearer direction for intervention. Nea’s distinctive contribution is to connect neurological capacity, personal meaning and relational impact within the same formulation.

Description supplied by the event organiser.