Natalie Roberts
My Journey to Sparkling Again!
Hello!.. welcome to some highlights of my story and why I’m so passionate about supporting other women to recover themselves and thrive in their neurodiverse relationship.
Neurodiversity arrived in my story in 2014.
I thought it would be an answer and an end to everything that had been difficult for 15 years.
While discovering neurodiversity revealed new information and offered our family new ways to talk about issues, it didn’t solve the challenges in the relationship as I experienced them. I learned lots about neurodiversity but I wasn’t feeling any better about things and actually began to feel worse.
Since then, through devotion to recovery and soul CPR, I’ve discovered I’m a gallivanting sparkling nomad who loves adventuring of all kinds, being outdoors, dancing the seasons and connecting with others about life and possibility!
It feels a world and a lifetime away from how sad, hopeless and powerless I felt in March 2015. Back then I’d have given anything to be a ‘normal’ family, in a ‘normal’ relationship, doing all the things that I saw others doing with apparent ease!
Between despair and delighting in life was a very challenging chapter. I realised I was experiencing a collection of symptoms that have been labelled a number of different things over the years – Cassandra Syndrome, OTRS (Ongoing Trauma Relationship Syndrome), Affective Deprivation Disorder. I recognised myself in their descriptions. However, other aspects associated with them didn’t add up for me. They largely placed the blame at the door of neurodiversity and, more specifically, my partner’s ‘deficiencies’. I wasn’t 100% convinced. Subsequently, I began to realise the part I’d been playing in the relationship challenges and in my losing myself… and that was something I could 100% do something about. I had no idea how though! …and the thought of changing anything was really really scary.
Everything I’d read suggested that surviving in my relationship was the best I could hope for and that my partner couldn’t change. Some even said it was bound to get worse. NONE of the suggested solutions I found worked in the day to day life I was living.
So recovering myself, reversing the impact of unknown neurodiversity became my mission!
My partner wasn’t open to working on anything at all at that point in the story and I subsequently discovered that didn’t matter.
This was an inside job! I needed to focus on ME! ✨
I began to find my way through unfamiliar territory, discovering a new map and ways to navigate by. Gradually, glimmers of hope became a path forward, and I found my way back to myself. The experience changed how I see myself, my relationships and life itself.
These days, you’ll find me between home, the woods, the seaside, adventures in my camper van and being Nanna to two gorgeous grandchildren! I’ve unravelled old patterns and woven a life that feels like me.
My relationship with Pete, my husband of 25 years, transformed hugely as I began to understand myself and the differences in our relationship and family in new ways. Old hurts were healed and we found our way back to each other. So much changed for the better. More recently, I found my way to a new decision about our relationship, opening another chapter in my journey.
Life is exciting. I trust myself in it. I trust life with me. Join me there! ✨
Today, I have a different way of navigating life and relationships, one that supports me to stay true to myself while connecting with the people around me.
I’ve discovered that it’s possible to recover from the impact of unknown neurodiversity, reconnect with yourself and find the clarity to make courageous decisions about the relationship and life you want.
I’m passionate about sharing the Be You Map that continues to shape my own journey, so you can ‘Be You again!’ and create a life that feels truly yours ✨
This passion is at the heart of my next chapter…
Who do you want to be? How do you want to feel? What do you want to be experiencing?
Reading
The Impact of Unknown Neurodiversity Doesn’t Need to Continue Once You Know About It
Since 2018 I’ve been supporting women who find themselves lost in the same map as me, to recover from the impact of unknown neurodiversity, reconnect with themselves and find the clarity to make courageous decisions about their relationships and the life they want to live.
I created Be You, a safe and encouraging online space, to share the Be You Map, that’s supported my own recovery and continues to bring me closer to the person I want to be. By embracing it, you can ‘embrace yourself, not brace yourself’ in your relationship and life.
You too can follow your own path from lonely to laughing, exhausted to excited, chaos to calm, resentful to relaxed, frustrated to free in your neurodiverse relationship!
Bringing yourself back to life is big work. We need support to do it. If it’s our physical health we need doctors and defibrillators. If it’s our emotional, mental, social and spiritual health we need people alongside us too. I feel privileged every day to be this kind of support for women who decide ‘I can’t do it like this anymore and need to find a way forward!’
Professionally, I’m a Level 6 accredited Master Coach and Therapeutic Coach, using many different ways to support you to see the road behind and ahead more clearly, heal past hurts and walk a path in the direction of your dreams for the future.
I also have a degree in Anthropology, a Diploma in Theology and Ministry (specialising in wellbeing, recovery and mutual support) and I’m a qualified Mental Health First Aider. My knowledge and expertise also extends to neurodiversity, autism, sensory issues, LGBTQ, wellbeing, trauma, healing, neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), recovery, culture, identity, communication, behaviour, language, relationships, psychospirituality and soul work, all of which enhance how I work with clients.
Coaching Invitations
Working with Natalie
We Need Company and Cheerleaders to Begin and to Keep Going!
Both of those made ALL the difference to my journey. So join me — to Be You again as you start walking the step by steps I’m going to show you! Reignite Roadmap is your first step.
I host Reignite Roadmap live approximately every 6–8 weeks throughout the year, with a pause over the summer holiday period and in December. You’ll find the next start date on the Reignite Roadmap purchase page. For your investment of time, attention and £47/$67, you’ll leave with your unique and personal roadmap for change, with a clear picture of where you are, what matters now and where you could move next.
‘Just when life is feeling completely hopeless and lonely you suddenly enter this special place where everyone gets it and you feel supported and connected with positive and practical tools that give you hope for the future’
Three live sessions over seven days will give you space to find clarity, reconnect with hope and begin creating your own way forward. I’ll be there to meet you when you’re ready 💖✨
Myth Busting Neurodiverse Relationships Podcast
Somewhere else you can find me! I co-hosted the Myth Busting Neurodiverse Relationships podcast with Heather Parks – listen on Spotify, Apple and wherever else you access podcasts. Or watch us on YouTube too!
‘Watching the podcasts and my mind is being blown! Resonate so much with what Heather and Natalie are talking about, and so glad that they focus on the self and the changes we can make without stigmatising or blaming the other.’
Ready to turn toes together?
Look where you’re standing right now, move only your toes and change direction a little. When you’ve ‘turned toes’, even slightly, the view ahead will not look exactly the same as before. You don’t have to navigate this journey alone. I’m here every step by step of the way.
Your Next Step