14 - 16 yr olds group: Managing anxiety and building confidence

A nurturing, compassionate group, based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy principles.

This group is to help neurodivergent young people between 14 and 16 years old to make new friends, meet others going through similar issues, and understand and manage their anxiety. It will be a small group, with 8 online sessions and 1 face to face meet up in London. 

Suitable for neurodivergent young people:

• Aged 14–16 years with autism
• Able to have conversations and reflect on their emotions (lower level of needs)
• Experiencing anxiety, low confidence, or difficulties making and keeping friends

In this group, we’ll learn to:

• Understand our thoughts and feelings – noticing what’s going on inside us without judgement.
• Recognise when our thoughts are unhelpful to us and learn to step back from them.
• Choose what matters – identifying personal values (like friendship, kindness, fun, or courage) to guide decisions.
• Make space for emotions – finding ways to let feelings come and go instead of getting stuck or overwhelmed.
• Accept, not fight, anxiety – learning that anxious feelings are normal and don’t have to stop us doing things we care about.
• Develop a toolkit of strategies that help us when things get difficult.
• Take small brave steps – practising actions that move us towards a meaningful, connected life, even when anxiety shows up.
• Build connection and confidence – learning we can still be ourselves and reach out to others, even when we feel nervous.
• We'll also play lots of games, and have fun together, building friendships and social confidence.

Dates and Times (flexible and can be changed): 

• Weekly online sessions, Tuesdays 4.30pm 
• Starting when group has confirmed - TBC
• In person session - to be arranged at mutually convenient days and times
• Activity - to be chosen collectively by the group (examples of possible trips: zoos, park, boat ride, museum, cafe)