Neurodiversity & Affirming Trauma Treatment

“I recovered a sense of understanding and agency about my own identity that helped me feel hopeful about life again.”

Chronic stress is the norm for most people living with divergent brains in a society that values sameness. Embracing neurodiversity means assuming that stylistic differences in language, attention and mood among humans is important to nature, to society, to community, to the future of humanity and to the planet.

A Truly Collaborative Approach

No two brains are the same.

Neurodivergent people can have the same diagnosis or “clinical profile” on an evaluation done by a neuropsychologist (like ADHD, sensory processing disorders, autism, learning disabilities, or high IQ scores) and experience the world in different ways.

We know that stereotypes of neurodivergent people are problematic and need updating. We also know that neurodivergent people have some similar needs when it comes to therapy, like:

1) a place to process the social and emotional impacts with the ability to move freely and communicate in ways that feel authentic, and

2) the understanding that sometimes support offered in the past has exacerbated the stress and stigma you were trying to recover from, driving the need for therapy that’s collaborative and empowering.

If you’re dealing with burnout or exhaustion, spending way too much energy hiding parts of yourself and life, or juggling isolation with shame and socially invalidating environments that mess with your self-esteem, you deserve a therapist who gets you.

 

Recommended to Treat:

  • Gifted Adults

  • Late Diagnosed Autistic Women & Gender Minorities

  • Emotion & Sensory Struggles (Being Under or Over-Reactive to Your Environment)

  • Struggles with Life Planning & Stressors

  • Social Anxiety & Communication

  • Physical and Emotional Issues (like isolation, guilt and anxiety) Associated with High or Low IQ Scores

Our Focus is on helping you:

  • Find real community and joy in ways that feel authentic for you.

  • Proactively prevent the anxiety and depression that often come with working overtime to function in a society that’s not built for you.

  • Communicate your needs in intimate relationships with partners, friends, family, and doctors, and recognize when it’s safe to get help and disclose your diagnosis, your struggles, or what’s happening in your day-to-day life.

  • Advocate for yourself at work and in school with the knowledge that you have a therapist’s support when it comes to getting the accommodations you need to achieve your goals.

  • Collaborate and actively coordinate care with occupational therapists, functional neurologists, and even career coaches to come up with ways to leverage your strengths, operate in your zone of genius, and outsource the stuff that’s not your wheelhouse.

  • Reframe moralistic ideas about what you “should” be doing and drop the shame so you can feel appreciative of who you are and what you bring to the table.

  • Learn to reduce harm done in relationships, balancing your needs and respecting the behaviors you use to reduce stress. If they’re risky behaviors like substance use or unsafe sex, we’ll never try to undermine your autonomy or decision-making as long as you’re not actively harming other people. And we’ll support you in creating safety for yourself and the people you love.

Late Diagnosed Autistic Women (and Gender Minorities) in Therapy

One of our main areas of competency is supporting adult women and gender minorities who were undiagnosed or late diagnosed. People have a variety of experiences, but we recognize that sometimes clients who get diagnosed as “high functioning” actually have significant support needs that go unmet. The impacts that functioning and “optimal” outcomes can be painful for people who find themselves feeling exhausted, unfulfilled, and under-resourced, even as they find creative ways to achieve and pursue independence and success.

The grief in recognizing limits can be especially painful for previously high-achieving people who have high IQs, or ways of expressing their creativity and verbal gifts that engender high expectations from people around them. Difficulties expressing what’s happening can make this more painful. Early experiences that reinforce a sense that a person’s worth and safety are tied to their productivity can create a sense of personal shame or desperation to achieve.

What Happens Next

Let’s schedule a call and see if we’re a good fit to work together. If I can’t support you as a therapist, I’ll do my best to refer you to someone who can.

let’s talk about neurodiversity