Cogwheel Counselling

Cogwheel Counselling Cogwheel Counselling is a Cambridge-based charity that provides affordable mental health counselling

We’re joining Big Give's ! That means from 22nd – 29th June, you can have all your donations matched at Big Give! Save ...
17/06/2026

We’re joining Big Give's ! That means from 22nd – 29th June, you can have all your donations matched at Big Give! Save the date now and get ready to make double the difference for mental health across Cambridgeshire.

Cogwheel provides affordable counselling for people living within Cambridgeshire who wouldn’t be able to afford it otherwise.

Set a reminder, your generosity can create twice the impact.

Follow us and stay tuned for the donation link when it goes live!

We’re taking part in Big Give, Global’s Make Some Noise and NCVO’s campaign Cogwheel provides affordable counselling f...
11/06/2026

We’re taking part in Big Give, Global’s Make Some Noise and NCVO’s campaign

Cogwheel provides affordable counselling for people across Cambridgeshire who wouldn’t be able to afford it otherwise!

Thanks to Postcode Places Trust, donations made to us in Big Give’s Small Charity Week will be DOUBLED!

With your generosity, our campaign will expand the number of counselling sessions we can provide to people on low or no incomes living within Cambridgeshire.

📅 Small Charity Week is live between 22nd – 29th June.

Save the date and make your donation worth double!

Follow us and we’ll provide a link when it’s time to give!

The noise no-one talks about. For many people with ADHD (especially common with AuDHD), sound isn’t just sound. It's a p...
08/06/2026

The noise no-one talks about.

For many people with ADHD (especially common with AuDHD), sound isn’t just sound. It's a physically experienced sensation. Sound can be used to regulate and self-soothe but it can also be extremely triggering.

The everyday noise of family life - laughter, chatter, repetition of “mum, mum, mum” and endless stories that don’t stop until you validate them with a response, nonsense sounds, toys clattering, kids playing, TV too loud, busy soft plays and kids parties. It can sometimes feel like an endless onslaught.

It’s not about disliking your children’s joy, questions or having fun. It’s about sensory overload, when the brain can’t process information because it’s overwhelmed by stimulation.

To the outside world, it can look calm and collected. On the inside, it feels invasive and intrusive - impossible to shut out. Patience evaporates, and all you want is quiet - not because you’re angry, but because your nervous system is full and you can’t regulate when the sound feels like it’s taking over.

This isn’t bad parenting. It’s the sensory side of ADHD and AuDHD and it’s incredibly common, particularly among women who mask or internalise their stress.

💚 Counselling can help you recognise your sensory triggers, manage overwhelm, and build strategies that protect both your calm and your connection.

You’re not “too sensitive.” Your brain just hears sound more viscerally.

➡️ www.Cogwheel.org.uk

Fact: Studies show around 70% of adults with ADHD experience sensory sensitivities, often to sound, light, or texture (ADHD UK, 2023).

Life with ADHD can feel like living with the volume turned up - every sound, every demand, every to-do.For women jugglin...
05/06/2026

Life with ADHD can feel like living with the volume turned up - every sound, every demand, every to-do.

For women juggling work, home, and childcare, the overstimulation can be constant:

👂 background noise that never stops
🧠 a mind jumping between tasks
💓 emotions that rise fast and crash hard

Feeling overwhelmed is not weakness, it’s your nervous system running on overdrive.

Counselling helps you slow the pace, learn calming techniques, and find kinder ways to manage your energy and emotions.

💚 You can create space for calm, even in a loud world.

➡️ www.CogwheelCounselling.org

Fact: Women with ADHD are at higher risk of anxiety, depression, and sensory overload - especially during hormonal changes or parenting years (Lancet Psychiatry, 2022).

Many mothers first hear the word “ADHD” in conversations about their children, not themselves.As they learn about the si...
03/06/2026

Many mothers first hear the word “ADHD” in conversations about their children, not themselves.

As they learn about the signs - forgetfulness, losing focus in some areas but hyperfocus in others, emotional sensitivity, impulsivity, busy minds, sensory overload, and difficulties regulating feelings, they start to recognise familiar patterns.

It can feel like relief, grief, anger, and clarity all at once.

Relief in finally understanding the why.

Grief for the years spent feeling like you were the problem - for the child you were who never got the right kind of support.

Anger for the moments you felt suppressed or misunderstood and a renewed anger for the lack of adult ADHD support - from diagnosis to workplace understanding.

And clarity that life can be managed differently now, with compassion and insight rather than shame.

ADHD often runs in families, and as awareness grows, many parents are realising that this understanding explains so much of their own experience too.

💚 If you recognise yourself in your child’s story, it’s okay to seek support as well.
Counselling can help you untangle guilt, reduce overwhelm, and build strategies for both you and your family.

You deserve the same understanding you give to your child.
➡️ www.Cogwheel.org.uk

Fact: ADHD is up to 80% heritable, and many women are first identified during their child’s assessment (UK Adult ADHD Network, 2024).

Some women with ADHD go decades without realising it.They’ve learned to work twice as hard to meet deadlines, remember a...
01/06/2026

Some women with ADHD go decades without realising it.

They’ve learned to work twice as hard to meet deadlines, remember appointments, keep the house running, and hold everyone else’s needs together.

They look like they’re coping - until one day, they’re not.

ADHD isn’t about capability; it’s about capacity. You can be bright, capable, and kind and still find the day-to-day exhausting.

Counselling helps you recognise what’s draining you, what’s working, and what needs to change.

💚 You don’t have to fall apart to ask for help.

➡️ www.Cogwheel.org.uk

Fact: Research shows women are often diagnosed 10–20 years later than men and are more likely to experience chronic stress and burnout before diagnosis (ADHD UK, 2024)

Many women with ADHD become experts at “masking.”They notice how others behave and quietly copy it - staying composed, a...
31/05/2026

Many women with ADHD become experts at “masking.”

They notice how others behave and quietly copy it - staying composed, appearing calm and meeting deadlines, but behind the mask, it can feel like:
💭 A mind that never switches off.
💭 A constant loop of “Did I say the wrong thing?”
💭 Days filled with guilt and evenings filled with exhaustion.

The pressure to appear capable can lead to anxiety, burnout, or even depression.
Counselling offers a space where you don’t have to perform, where you can drop the mask, breathe, and start working out what you actually need to feel balanced.

💚 You don’t have to keep pretending you’re fine.

➡️ www.CogwheelCounselling.org

Fact: Studies show women and girls are more likely to internalise ADHD - showing anxiety or emotional overwhelm rather than hyperactivity (CHADD, 2024).

Women with ADHD often look calm on the outside. A focused face. A steady voice. A quiet moment of stillness. But inside,...
29/05/2026

Women with ADHD often look calm on the outside. A focused face. A steady voice. A quiet moment of stillness. But inside, it’s anything but quiet.

Thoughts overlap like radio stations - ideas, memories, worries, to-do lists, and what-ifs, all playing at once.

“I can spend a day in silence and still feel like I’ve had an exhausting social experience because my mind never stops talking to me.”

Many women experience ADHD this way: not as loud energy, but as internal hyperactivity.

A busy mind. Endless reflection. Emotional rewinds. External perceptions influence internal pattern weaving; idea generation that can present as feelings and imagery as well as internal dialogue.

It’s invisible to most people, which is why many girls with ADHD go through school without being flagged. But it’s real, and it can be exhausting.

Counselling can help you turn the volume down, unscramble the noise, find calm inside the chaos, and learn gentle ways to rest your mind.

💚 You don’t need to be loud to be overwhelmed. ADHD doesn’t always look busy, sometimes, it feels busy.

➡️ www.Cogwheel.org.uk

Fact: Women with ADHD are more likely to experience “internal hyperactivity” - racing thoughts, emotional rumination, and burnout rather than the visible restlessness seen in boys (CHADD, 2023).

The Hidden Side of ADHD in Women.ADHD doesn’t always look like a child bouncing off the walls.For many women, it looks l...
26/05/2026

The Hidden Side of ADHD in Women.

ADHD doesn’t always look like a child bouncing off the walls.

For many women, it looks like:
✴ Holding everything together but feeling like you’re about to drop it all.
✴ Forgetting simple things while remembering the smallest details.
✴ Running on caffeine, to-do lists, and guilt.
✴ Feeling “lazy”, “dizzy” or “too emotional,” even when you’re exhausted from trying so hard.

Many women with ADHD learn to mask - smiling through stress, staying late to catch up, pretending to be organised while fighting chaos inside.

Counselling can help you take off the mask safely. To understand your patterns. To see your strengths. To build small steps that work for you.

💚 Affordable, local, and confidential support.
➡️ www.cogwheel.org.uk

Did you know? Women are diagnosed with ADHD on average 5–10 years later than men, often because their symptoms are less visible and more internal (source: UK NICE guidance, 2023).

Cogwheel Counselling offer affordable counselling for people on low income living in Cambridgeshire. We also provide an ...
13/05/2026

Cogwheel Counselling offer affordable counselling for people on low income living in Cambridgeshire.

We also provide an Employee Counselling Service for organisations to provide prompt wellbeing support; free to register and no contracts.

Along side this, Cogwheel provides Cogwheel on Saturday for people who struggle to fit counselling into the working week.

If having a space to recognise, understand and process your thoughts or feelings would be helpful, get in touch!

https://www.cogwheel.org.uk/

Address

66 Devonshire Road
Cambridge
CB12BL

Telephone

+441223464385

Website

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