Catherine Hurley

BA (Hons) Humanities, BSc (Hons) Occupational therapy, MRCOT

A warm welcome to my website. Here is my bio..

'Empower Neurodiversity' is a new, exciting venture in the field of Occupational therapy, offering opportunities to create inclusive and hopefully transformative support for individuals.

It is a small company, of which I am the owner. It is also the culmination of many years of thinking, work, practice and experience.

It has always been an ambition to set up as an independent practitioner to support neurodivergent people to achieve their goals and thrive, embracing their unique strengths with confidence and support. This collaborative, strengths based approach is in keeping with the core philosophy of Occupational therapy. Here is more about my skill set..

I am a highly skilled and experienced Specialist Occupational Therapist of 25 years, working within the NHS for many years and within independent health care services and both Tier 3 and 4 mental health and Children and young people’s settings.

My particular skills are in mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions.

I have worked in both ADHD and autism clinical pathways providing both assessment and post diagnostic support and I am trained in providing ADOS and ADIR standardised assessments, undertaking regular clinical refresher training. I started my career in mental health, and later working in children and young people’s mental health services, where I honed my skills and later worked as part of an MDT diagnostic team, providing assessment and tailored post diagnostic support for working age adults. Here, I developed autism specific resources for service users as well as working part of the diagnostic assessment team. I am known for my friendly, accessible and relatable approach and I have had consistent positive feedback from my clients over the years. I am a strong advocate for neurodivergent people.

I have supervised and coached newly qualified Occupational therapists and those returning to practice. My specialist interest is work, education and reasonable adjustments and I have worked collaboratively with people, assisting their return to work and navigating reasonable adjustments both in the NHS and with independent health care providers. I am a qualified practice educator for Occupational Therapy students at Northumbria University. I have worked as a DSA specialist mentor for 10 years, with neurodivergent students, and I utilise many of my transferable skills with students to aid their transition to university and beyond.

I studied for a post graduate qualification in Health Coaching in 2017, and more recently undertaken a level 3 ADHD Coaching course, for which I received a distinction. I have EMCC UK membership and I’m part of the specialist interest group in neurodiversity.

I have Enhanced DBS Certification: Professional Indemnity Insurance and I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) under the Data Protection Act. I undertake regular clinical supervision with a Consultant Occupational therapist.

Please the Services section for more details on the areas I support.