Autism & ADHD Therapy for Adults
in Orange County

Neurodivergent (ND) is an umbrella terms for conditions that indicate a different neurotype, or neurological differences in the brain, including ADHD, Autism, high sensitive, giftedness, and Tourette's. This means the brain is structured and functions in a way that is different from the mainstream expectation.

Neurospicy is a term that means the same thing but has been popularized in the ND community because it is fun, quirky and reflective of they playful nature of many ND people.

Accommodations are adjustments you can make or request that help lower the cost of doing certain tasks. Sometimes they are requested from school or work but often there are subtle things you can do for yourself. Some common ones often involve lessening the strain of sensory overstimulation, such as noise reducing earplugs or light filtering glasses.

When focus is a challenge, a less stimulating environment can be helpful. At school, that may mean taking tests in a testing center that has less noise and visual stimuli. At work, it may mean wearing noise cancelling headphones or having white noise. Beyond environmental accommodations, body-based therapy for sensory processing can help you understand and work with your unique sensory profile, teaching your nervous system new ways to regulate and respond.

We get a lot of messages about how things "should be done" but these are often arbitrary standards in a one-size-fits-all framework. Doing things differently can make a big difference for a ND brain.

Getting a formal diagnosis is completely up to you. Self-diagnosis is often many people's first step and there is a lot of data that shows it is largely accurate.  If this is enough for you and you don't feel the need to get formal accommodations for school or work, that is valid.

If you do need or want ADA protection at work or accommodations like extended testing time for school, a formal diagnosis is needed and I can help you navigate that.

A diagnosis is helpful for some people. For others, it feels uncomfortable. If you are unsure about wanting to label it, we can explore whether some of the strategies and accommodations that are helpful for ND brains are helpful for you. Even non-ND brains can benefit from common ND tools.

This is a deeply personal decision. Having an ND diagnosis does not mean medication is necessary. For ADHD, the right medication is often a valuable tool to give you more access to your inherent cognitive resources, but not everyone goes that route. Stimulant medication is often what people think of, but there are other options as well.

We can explore your concerns and I can help you understand the ways medication can support you. The decision of what to take will be made between you and a psychiatrist.

Therapy isn't one size fits all. There are times when feelings or memories are too hard to fully or accurately express. I completely understand. This is when we step outside the box. I often find IFS parts work and brainspotting are really helpful when talking doesn't feel like it can get the job done.

Many late-diagnosed adults have developed sophisticated masking strategies that can create internal trauma. IFS therapy for masking trauma helps identify and heal the parts of yourself that learned to hide your authentic neurodivergent self to meet external expectations. Brainspotting is particularly effective for neurodivergent burnout, helping process the accumulated stress from years of adapting to neurotypical expectations without requiring extensive verbal processing.  And we can get as creative as we need to find what works best for you.

While traditional talk therapy helps you understand your neurodivergent experiences intellectually, somatic therapy for late diagnosed autism works directly with your body's wisdom to address sensory processing and nervous system responses. Many adults discovering their autism later in life have spent years disconnected from their body's signals—overriding sensory overwhelm, pushing through fatigue, or suppressing stimming behaviors to appear "normal." Somatic approaches help you reconnect with and honor these bodily experiences, teaching you to recognize early signs of dysregulation and develop personalized strategies for nervous system regulation. This body-based work complements traditional therapy by giving you practical tools to manage sensory challenges while also healing the relationship with your authentic neurodivergent self that may have been suppressed for years.