Neurodiversity Affirming Therapy
Does it feel like everyone else but you was given the rule book about how to function in society? You can’t figure out how to fit in, and it’s hard not to feel like something is wrong with you.
Whether you’re starting to suspect you’re neurodivergent, self diagnosed, or formally diagnosed with autism or ADHD, you know your brain operates uniquely. You may have felt for a long time that the world functions one way, you function another, and the world isn’t too accepting of that.
From childhood, you could have been looking to your friends or family to tell you what to wear, what’s appropriate or inappropriate to say, and constantly felt like you can’t trust yourself to have the “right” answers. You were the one with the “quirks”, like things being too loud even though everyone else was fine, being “picky” with food, or getting extra passionate about something and just wanting someone who would talk to you about it for hours.
Neurodiversity affirming therapy is a space where we embrace, lean into, and strengthen your confidence in your “quirks” and the amazing uniqueness of you.
As someone who has AuDHD (autism and ADHD), I get it. Being neurospicy is amazing, but also hard! But loving all of your brain and learning how to create a life that works with - instead of against - your brain is possible.
With a neurodiversity affirming therapist, we customize the therapeutic approach so all brains feel welcome, including brains darting around to five different topics in a minute, or brains that thrive on structure and directness, however your brain wants to show up. Whether it’s helping you start to see the superpowers of your autism and/or ADHD or gaining coping skills on how to live in a neurotypical world while still being authentic to yourself, therapy is a valuable space to learn how to thrive with your neurodivergence.
In neurodiversity affirming therapy in California, we’ll focus on:
Unlearning societal messaging of what’s “wrong” with you for having a unique way of seeing the world
Normalizing what are typical things that show up with autism and/or ADHD
Improving self-esteem and awareness of personal, neuro-spicy strengths
Increasing communication skills to learn how to improve assertiveness and self-advocacy
Creating custom coping skills to help you navigate life and moments of over/under-stimulation
FAQs
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Technically, any brain that operates “differently” from the norm of society is considered neurodivergent. This includes autism, ADHD, PTSD, anxiety, OCD, etc.
In working with me, my focus is more on working with people with autism, ADHD, anxiety, and childhood trauma in adulthood.
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Neurodivergent affirming therapists understand that every person has a different way of experiencing the world with their own unique set of needs. There is no one size fits all approach or perspective on how therapy should go.
Instead of being criticized for their differences or told to fix who they are, clients expand their awareness of their unique ways of being and learn how to live authentically.
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ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) is an outdated term that only encompassed the inattentive aspect of attention regulation disorders.
The updated clinical term used nowadays is ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder). This term incorporates that there could be people who are more inattentive, some who are more hyperactive, or some who have a mix.
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I do not provide official assessments to diagnose autism and ADHD since I am a licensed therapist and these assessments need to be done by doctoral level psychologists.
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Absolutely! As long as you’re in California, you are more than welcome to bring in your questions and thoughts around things you’re noticing about yourself that may fit into ADHD or autism. While I cannot officially diagnose you, we can validate the parts of you showing up that could be in either category.