Neurodivergent-Affirming Therapy
You were never meant to spend your life trying to become someone you're not.
Many neurodivergent women have spent years feeling different without understanding why. You may have been told you were "too much," "too sensitive," "too emotional," distracted, disorganized, or simply "not trying hard enough."
Over time, you may have learned to mask, people-please, overthink, push through exhaustion, or constantly adjust yourself to meet the expectations around you.
That doesn't mean there is something wrong with you.
It means your nervous system learned ways to help you navigate environments that didn't always understand or support the way you experience the world.
For many women, discovering they have ADHD or are autistic later in life can bring a mixture of emotions.
There can be relief in finally having words for experiences that never made sense.
There can also be grief.
Grief for the years spent trying harder. Questioning yourself. Believing you were lazy, difficult, overly sensitive, or somehow failing at things that seemed easier for everyone else.
Sometimes finally understanding yourself changes the way you see your entire story.
Therapy That Adapts to You
At Northwoods, therapy isn't about teaching you how to mask better.
And it isn't about making your neurodivergent brain behave more like a neurotypical one.
Neurodivergent-affirming therapy recognizes that there are different ways of thinking, communicating, processing emotions, experiencing sensory information, regulating the nervous system, and moving through the world.
That means therapy needs to adapt to you—not expect you to adapt to therapy.
You may need movement while we talk.
You may need more time to process a question.
You may communicate differently when you're overwhelmed.
Eye contact isn't required.
You might need something repeated or explained another way.
You may need to change positions, fidget, wrap yourself in a blanket, drink your coffee, or sit somewhere that feels comfortable.
You get to be a human being in therapy.
Neurodivergence & the Nervous System
Neurodivergence isn't separate from the body.
Sensory input, executive functioning demands, social expectations, masking, transitions, relationships, sleep, movement, stress, and the environment around you can all influence what you're experiencing.
Sometimes what looks like anxiety may include sensory overwhelm.
What looks like procrastination may involve executive functioning.
What looks like shutting down may be your nervous system responding to overwhelm.
Instead of immediately asking:
"How do we stop this?"
I often want to begin with:
"What's happening here?"
What is your nervous system responding to?
What does your body need?
What feels overwhelming?
What helps you regulate?
What have you spent years pushing through because you believed you were supposed to?
Curiosity allows us to understand the pattern before deciding it needs to change.
When Neurodivergence & Trauma Overlap
Being neurodivergent doesn't mean you've experienced trauma, and trauma doesn't cause someone to be neurodivergent.
But the two can exist together.
Years of being misunderstood, masking, bullying, difficult relationships, sensory overwhelm, criticism, rejection, or repeatedly being expected to function in environments that don't meet your needs can shape how you relate to yourself and the world around you.
This is where my somatic approach becomes especially important.
Rather than focusing only on your thoughts, we can become curious about your nervous system, body, emotions, relationships, environment, and experiences as a whole.
Not everything needs to be changed.
Sometimes it needs to be understood.
Lived Experience & Curiosity
As a late-identified woman with ADHD, I understand some of the relief that can come from finally having language for experiences you've carried for years.
I also understand that my experience isn't your experience.
There isn't one way to be neurodivergent.
Your brain, nervous system, sensory needs, relationships, identity, strengths, struggles, and story are uniquely yours.
I don't want to assume I understand your experience simply because we may share a diagnosis.
I want to remain curious about you.
You Don't Have to Explain Yourself Before We Begin
You don't need to prove that something is difficult for you.
You don't need to justify why something that seems "easy" for someone else feels overwhelming.
And you don't have to perform therapy the "right" way.
We can begin exactly where you are.
Together, we'll explore your nervous system, your experiences, and what genuinely supports you—with curiosity rather than judgment and compassion rather than criticism.
Your neurodivergent brain isn't broken.
And therapy doesn't need to be another place where you're asked to become someone you're not.