Tag: autism

A Space to Finally Make Sense of Yourself

Many people come to therapy feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, or like they’ve been trying to keep up with a world that doesn’t quite fit them. They may have anxiety, sensory or emotional sensitivity, or chronic burnout — and often, they’ve spent years assuming these struggles mean something is “wrong” with them.

For many of my clients, what’s actually at the root is neurodivergence — whether or not they’ve ever had a formal diagnosis.

I work with clients who have neurodivergent traits such as:

• Autism Spectrum (ASD) and Asperger’s 
• Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) 
• Highly Sensitive Person (HSP)
• Chronic nervous system arousal and/or emotional sensitivity
• Differences in interoception (how your body perceives inner signals and sensations)
• Feeling overstimulated in certain environments due to sensory overload

When Your Nervous System Works Differently

Neurodivergent people often learn early on to adapt, mask, or push through. They often grow up blending in with their peers, causing detection of differences to slide under the radar. On the outside, things may look “fine,” while internally, there’s constant effort and self-monitoring. Over time, this can show up as anxiety, health concerns, shutdown, or a deep sense of self-doubt.

Books like The Divergent Mind by Jenara Nerenberg provide language for these experiences, especially for women and gender-diverse individuals whose experiences are often misunderstood. Many people aren’t broken — they’ve simply been navigating life without support that matches how their minds and nervous systems function optimally.

How Therapy Can Support Neurodivergent Clients

In my practice, therapy isn’t about fixing or changing who you are. It’s about understanding your system and learning how to work with it, rather than against it.

Therapy often includes:

• Making sense of anxiety, overwhelm, and emotional intensity through a nervous-system-informed lens
  
• Identifying where masking and over-functioning are leading to burnout
  
• Building emotional regulation skills that feel supportive rather than suppressive
  
• Reframing long-held beliefs rooted in shame or misinterpretation
  
• Creating more sustainable ways of living, relating, and caring for yourself
  

For many clients, therapy becomes the first place they don’t have to explain or justify how they experience the world. They can unmask and allow. Don’t worry, I will follow along as you share pieces of your world with me.

You Don’t Need to Be Fixed to Feel Better

Neurodivergence doesn’t need to be corrected for healing to happen. With the right support, clarity and relief often come from understanding yourself more fully — not from trying to become someone else.

Therapy can be a space to slow down, listen to your system, and rebuild trust in yourself. My work is grounded in respect for individual differences and a belief that meaningful change happens when you feel understood, not managed.

Want to connect to learn more about how we can work together? Contact me here.