Topic
Neurodivergence & Neuro Affinity
The effort to appear normal costs more than most people realize.
Neurodivergent people often arrive in therapy after years of masking, accommodation without support, and the particular exhaustion of performing a version of yourself that other people find acceptable. This practice treats the conditions that develop under those circumstances: burnout, disordered eating shaped by sensory processing, rejection sensitivity that organizes entire social lives, and the overcontrol patterns that look like high functioning until the system collapses. The work here integrates structured approaches (RO-DBT for overcontrol, process-based therapy for individual pattern mapping) with depth work that takes neurodivergent experience seriously as a way of being in the world, not a deficit to correct.
Resources
Autism & Neurodivergence Screening
Three validated tools: AQ-10 (5 min quick screen), CAT-Q (masking assessment), and RAADS-R (comprehensive). Selected for women and late-identified adults.
See the assessments → Quick ScreenAQ-10 Autism Screen
Ten questions, five minutes. The recommended starting point. A score of 6 or above indicates further evaluation is warranted.
Take the AQ-10 → MaskingCAT-Q Camouflaging Assessment
Measures compensation, masking, and assimilation. Catches what traditional screens miss in people who have learned to perform neurotypicality.
Take the CAT-Q → ComprehensiveRAADS-R
80 items across four domains. Designed for adults who were not diagnosed as children. The most thorough self-report tool available.
Take the RAADS-R → ApproachRO-DBT for Overcontrol
Radically Open DBT targets the rigidity, perfectionism, and emotional constriction that many neurodivergent people know as their baseline operating system.
Learn about RO-DBT → ApproachProcess-Based Therapy
Therapy personalized to your specific pattern rather than a diagnostic label. Identifies which processes maintain your distress and targets those directly.
Learn about PBT →Articles
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The Double Empathy Problem: Connection Is a Shared Problem, Not a Personal Failure
The breakdown between neurodivergent and neurotypical people is not a deficit in the neurodivergent person. It is a mismatch between two different ways of processing the social world.
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Why Masking Neurodivergence Makes Eating Disorders Worse
Research shows that camouflaging neurodivergence predicts eating disorder severity more than neurodivergence itself. The connection between masking, sensory overwhelm, and disordered eating.
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The Burnout That Looks Like Giving Up
Neurodivergent burnout is not laziness or depression, though it gets diagnosed as both. It is the collapse of a system that was never designed to sustain the performance it required.
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Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria: When Perceived Criticism Feels Like an Emergency
Rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD) is an intense emotional response to perceived criticism or judgment, common in ADHD and other forms of neurodivergence. What it is, why it happens, and what helps.
Schedule a Consultation
If masking, burnout, sensory overwhelm, or rejection sensitivity is shaping your daily life and you want a therapist who takes neurodivergent experience seriously without reducing it to a checklist of deficits, a consultation can help determine the right starting point.
Request a consultation