Through recovery, they pursued education, completing a Bachelor of Social Welfare with a major in Mental Health, despite managing dyslexia and other challenges. This achievement, coupled with a personal understanding of the struggles neurodivergent individuals face, inspired the creation of Nuts As Us. Here, we believe you cannot hate yourself well, but you can love yourself well. Every member of our team is committed to helping you embrace your unique self on the road to self-love, self-acceptance, and empowerment.
Nuts As Us welcomes and supports individuals from all walks of life, with a special focus on neurodivergent individuals, those struggling with substance use, and members of the LGBTIQ+ community. We believe everyone deserves to be celebrated for who they are, and our trauma-informed, person-centered approach ensures that every individual is met with compassion, respect, and understanding.
As the founder of Nuts As Us I understand the journey of recovery and the path to self-acceptance because I have walked it firsthand. From a young age I faced challenges with substance abuse, mental health struggles, ADHD, anxiety disorder, and dyslexia. Feeling different without understanding why, I turned to substances as a way to self-medicate and to find a way to fit in. This coping mechanism led med down a path of addiction and self-destruction (physically, emotionally, and spiritually) leaving me to become unemployable, and homeless living on the streets of Sydney’s King Cross.
Through time, support and an unwavering commitment to change I found the road to recovery, achieved sobriety, (now for over 25 years now) and began a transformative journey of healing and self-discovery. Formal education (a social welfare degree with a major in mental health) I have an understanding why I felt different. This has helped to put words to how I was feeling and find ways to self-regulate without needing to use substances. I have worked as a support worker for people with substance abuse issues, mental health issues, and disabilities. I have also worked in management positions including SIL houses. These experiences shaped and inspired the creation of Nuts As Us, where I am passionate about supporting others to embrace their differences on their unique paths to recovery and self-accepts in all aspects of life.
I understand neurodiversity as this is part of who I am, but I know there is so much more to me than my neurodiversity, even though it has help shape me, and is a very import part of me. I don’t try and change that part of me. I have found my place in the world where I help people to embrace all who they are, just as I have learnt do so too. Life is not always perfect, but I know it is not supposed to be. For me life is about being a little better than I was yesterday and finding the joy in not just what I do, but who I am. Its about progress not perfection and being the example of who I want to be.
Although Nuts As Us, focuses on neurodiverse people, recovery coaching, and the LGBTIQ+ people we are all inclusive, and no one with be turned away at Nuts As Us as we embrace and celebrate all peoples with disabilities. I genuinely look forward to meeting everyone who comes to Nuts As Us
David Dickson, Recovery Coach, Founder and Managing Director of Nuts As Us.
At Nuts As Us, we are committed to empowering individuals on their journey to recovery, self-acceptance, and fulfillment. Our mission is to celebrate difference and individuality by providing inclusive, honest, and respectful support that honors each person’s unique path. Through trauma-informed, person-centered care, we help people embrace freedom from the challenges that have held them back, guiding them to find strength in their diversity and confidence in their own worth. At Nuts As Us, we believe that mental health is serious, but life isn’t—so we journey together toward growth, resilience, and a life that embraces every part of who you are.
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