Sarah Hayden
Social Worker
BSocWk
Member: AASW
Sarah is an accredited social worker and equine-assisted psychotherapist with extensive experience supporting neurodivergent individuals and families. Sarah’s work is informed by both professional training and lived experience, including parenting and advocacy. Sarah brings a compassionate, practical, and deeply informed approach to complex family and life circumstances.
Areas of interest
Sarah’s experience includes:
Autism and neurodivergence
Complex family dynamics
Equine-assisted psychotherapy
Trauma and crisis support
Refugee and asylum seeker advocacy
Sarah integrates clinical practice, lived experience, and advocacy to support individuals and families with care, insight, and compassion.
“There is no right way to be human.”
Professional background
Sarah is an accredited social worker registered with the AASW and a qualified equine-assisted psychotherapist. Sarah has extensive experience working with autism, neurodivergence, and complex family dynamics.
Sarah’s professional and personal life are closely connected. Sarah is a parent of five children, including world-renowned actor, author, and autism advocate Chloe Hayden. Sarah and her husband also fostered 55 children over five years, with their two youngest children adopted through intercountry adoption from Taiwan.
Sarah has contributed significantly to community work as a volunteer counsellor and advocate for refugees and asylum seekers, and has provided emotional first aid and support to people affected by disasters.
Outside of work
Sarah is a parent to five children and values family life as a central part of her identity and perspective. Sarah is also a best-selling author of the parenting book Parenting Different: How to Raise Your Neurodivergent Kids to be Their Authentic Awesome Selves, reflecting her commitment to advocacy and supporting families raising neurodivergent children.
Clinical approach and services
Sarah specialises in supporting neurodivergent individuals and families, with a focus on autism and complex relational dynamics.
Sarah’s work is grounded in empathy, lived experience, and practical understanding. Following an ADHD diagnosis at age 48, Sarah brings personal insight into neurodivergence, supporting clients in navigating identity, parenting, and life challenges with authenticity and respect.