Anxiety therapy
Finding Relief When Your Brain Works Differently
Anxiety therapy looks different when you're neurodivergent—and if you're reading this, you might already sense that. Maybe you've noticed that traditional anxiety management techniques don't quite fit, or perhaps you're realizing that what you've called "anxiety" for years might actually be the exhaustion of constant masking, sensory overwhelm, or the weight of navigating a world that wasn't designed for how your brain works.
Anxiety therapy for autistic and AuDHD women requires a fundamentally different approach, and that's exactly what I offer. I specialize in working with neurodivergent women who need more than conventional anxiety treatment—because your anxiety often has unique roots that demand a deeper understanding of how autism, ADHD, masking, and sensory processing all intersect with what gets labeled as "anxiety."
Understanding Anxiety Through a Neurodivergent Lens
For many of my clients, anxiety isn't just about worried thoughts or fear of the future. It's deeply intertwined with the neurodivergent experience. You might recognize yourself in some of these patterns:
Your anxiety spikes when routines are disrupted or plans change unexpectedly. What others call "going with the flow" feels like free-falling without a parachute. This isn't rigidity or being difficult – it's your nervous system's need for predictability in an unpredictable world.
Social situations leave you drained and anxious, not because you're shy or antisocial, but because you're constantly translating between your natural way of being and what's expected. You might replay conversations for hours, analyzing whether you said the "right" thing or if your mask slipped.
Sensory experiences that others barely notice can trigger intense anxiety responses. Fluorescent lights, background noise, or certain textures might send your nervous system into overdrive, but you've learned to hide your discomfort so well that no one notices you're struggling.
The perfectionism that's earned you praise throughout your life comes with a shadow side – the constant anxiety of maintaining impossibly high standards while your internal resources are already stretched thin. You might find yourself caught between the fear of letting people down and the exhaustion of keeping up appearances.
Why Traditional Anxiety Treatment Often Falls Short
Many of my clients come to me after years of therapy that helped somewhat but never quite addressed the core of their experience. They've been told to challenge their "irrational" thoughts, practice mindfulness, or "just breathe through it" – advice that can feel invalidating when your anxiety stems from very real challenges of living in a neurotypical world.
Traditional anxiety treatment often assumes that anxiety is primarily about distorted thinking patterns or learned fear responses. While these elements can be present, neurodivergent anxiety frequently has additional layers:
Sensory processing differences mean your nervous system might be in a constant state of alert, scanning for overwhelming stimuli. This isn't something you can simply think your way out of.
Executive function challenges can create anxiety around time management, task initiation, and organization. When your brain struggles with these foundational skills, anxiety becomes a constant companion.
Communication differences mean you're often translating between your natural communication style and neurotypical expectations, creating a baseline of social anxiety that's about survival, not social phobia.
Masking fatigue creates a unique form of anxiety – the fear of being "found out," coupled with the exhaustion of maintaining a persona that doesn't align with your authentic self.
My Approach to Anxiety Therapy
I combine evidence-based treatments with a deep understanding of the neurodivergent experience. My training in Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Inference-based CBT (I-CBT), Cognitive Processing Therapy, and Prolonged Exposure Therapy provides a strong clinical foundation, but I adapt these approaches to honor how your brain works.
Rather than trying to make you fit into a neurotypical framework, I help you understand your anxiety within the context of your neurotype. We explore questions like:
How much of your anxiety is actually your nervous system's appropriate response to overstimulation or overwhelming demands? Sometimes what we call anxiety is actually your body's wisdom telling you that something in your environment or lifestyle isn't sustainable.
Where does reasonable accommodation end and avoidance begin? I help you distinguish between honoring your genuine needs and patterns that might be limiting your life in ways you'd like to change.
What would anxiety management look like if it centered your neurodivergent needs rather than trying to eliminate them? We work on strategies that support your nervous system rather than fighting against it.
What to Expect in Our Work Together
Our journey begins with a free 15-minute consultation where we can connect and determine if we're a good fit. If we decide to move forward, the intake session provides space for a comprehensive review of your history and a holistic assessment of biological, psychological, and social factors affecting your well-being. Together, we'll establish goals that reflect what you want from therapy – not what others think you should want.
In our ongoing sessions, you'll find a space where:
Your neurodivergent traits are understood as differences, not deficits. We won't waste time trying to make you "less autistic" or "more normal." Instead, we focus on what's causing distress and what changes would improve your quality of life.
Unmasking is safe and encouraged. You don't need to perform neurotypicality in our sessions. Stim if you need to, avoid eye contact if it helps you think, communicate in whatever way feels natural. The energy you save by not masking can be redirected toward actual therapeutic work.
Your expertise about your own experience is valued. You've likely spent years studying yourself, trying to understand why things feel so hard. That knowledge is valuable, and I see my role as adding professional expertise to your self-knowledge, not replacing it.
Practical strategies are tailored to your brain. We might explore accommodations like written processing time, movement breaks, or sensory tools. I won't suggest strategies that require executive function skills you don't have or sensory experiences that overwhelm you.
Beyond Symptom Management: Integration and Identity
While reducing anxiety symptoms is important, my approach goes deeper. Many of my clients are at a point where they're asking, "I know I'm autistic – now what?" They're not in crisis; they're seeking to understand themselves more fully and create a life that honors their neurodivergent identity.
This might mean:
Reevaluating relationships and boundaries through a neurodivergent lens. What you've called social anxiety might actually be your intuition telling you certain relationships are unsustainable.
Exploring career and lifestyle changes that better accommodate your needs. Sometimes anxiety decreases dramatically when you stop forcing yourself into environments that don't fit.
Processing grief and anger about late diagnosis and years of misunderstanding. There's often complex emotional work involved in recognizing how much harder you've had to work just to appear "okay."
Developing authentic connection with others who understand your experience. Anxiety often decreases when you find your people and can exist authentically in relationships.
A Different Kind of Healing
I understand the unique challenges of being a high-achieving, late-diagnosed neurodivergent woman. Like many of my clients, I know what it's like to maintain high performance while managing invisible challenges. I bring both professional expertise and personal understanding to our work.
My clients often describe feeling seen and understood in ways they haven't experienced before. They appreciate that I can hold space for both their struggles and their strengths, recognizing that the same traits that create challenges can also be sources of power when properly supported.
If you're tired of anxiety treatment that doesn't quite fit, if you're ready to understand your anxiety within the context of your neurodivergent identity, and if you're seeking integration rather than just symptom management, I'd be honored to support you on this journey.
Begin Your Journey Today
Taking the first step toward anxiety therapy that truly understands your neurodivergent experience can feel vulnerable and hopeful at the same time. You've likely tried many approaches before, and it makes sense if you're cautious about trying again.
I invite you to reach out for a free consultation where we can discuss your specific needs and explore whether my approach aligns with what you're seeking. Together, we can work toward not just managing anxiety, but understanding it as part of your larger journey toward authentic, sustainable well-being.
Contact me today to schedule your consultation and learn more about pricing and availability. Your journey toward anxiety relief that honors your neurodivergent identity can begin whenever you're ready.
Located at:
Portland, OR
Washington State
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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Anxiety therapy for neurodivergent women addresses the specific ways anxiety shows up when you're autistic or AuDHD. Traditional anxiety treatment often misses the mark because it doesn't account for sensory overwhelm, masking fatigue, executive dysfunction, or the constant cognitive load of living in a neurotypical world. I work with clients to understand whether what they're experiencing is generalized anxiety, social anxiety rooted in years of misunderstanding social cues, or the physical manifestation of burnout from decades of masking. The therapy approaches I use are evidence-based but adapted to honor how your brain actually processes information and stress.
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I use several evidence-based therapeutic modalities depending on your specific needs and goals. These include Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) for OCD-related anxiety, Inference-based CBT (I-CBT) which is particularly effective for obsessive thinking patterns, Cognitive Processing Therapy for anxiety rooted in trauma, and Prolonged Exposure Therapy when appropriate. The key is that I don't apply these approaches in a cookie-cutter way. We work together to determine which methods align with your neurodivergent processing style and what feels manageable given your current capacity.
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Absolutely. A significant portion of my work focuses on anxiety that stems directly from years of masking, people-pleasing, and trying to appear neurotypical. This type of anxiety often gets misdiagnosed or misunderstood because it's not about irrational fears but rather the very rational response to chronically suppressing your authentic self. We explore what happens when you've spent decades managing everyone else's comfort at the expense of your own nervous system. Part of this work involves identifying which anxieties are worth addressing through traditional anxiety techniques and which are actually signals that something in your life needs to change.
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Yes, many of my clients are late-diagnosed or self-identified autistic women who are in the "now what?" phase after realizing they're neurodivergent. You might be discovering that anxiety you've carried for years makes more sense through the lens of autism, or you're realizing that what you thought was social anxiety was actually the exhaustion of masking. I help clients integrate their neurodivergent identity while addressing anxiety in ways that don't ask you to become someone you're not. This often means reframing what needs to "change" and what simply needs to be better understood and accommodated.
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Sensory-based anxiety is something I work with regularly, and it's often overlooked in traditional anxiety treatment. When your nervous system is constantly processing sensory input differently, what looks like anxiety might actually be your body's response to sensory overwhelm, overstimulation, or the anticipatory stress of knowing you'll be in challenging sensory environments. We work on strategies that honor your sensory needs rather than trying to convince you to "tolerate" situations that are genuinely overwhelming. This might include identifying your sensory thresholds, creating recovery practices, and distinguishing between anxiety that benefits from exposure therapy and sensory overwhelm that requires accommodation.
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The timeline for anxiety therapy varies significantly based on your goals, the type of anxiety you're experiencing, and what else is happening in your life. Some clients work with me for a few months to address specific anxiety patterns or develop coping strategies, while others engage in longer-term work that integrates anxiety management with broader identity development and life transitions. I'm transparent about the fact that some anxiety rooted in trauma or long-standing patterns takes more time to address than situational anxiety. We regularly check in about your progress and adjust our approach as needed, and you're always in control of how long you want to continue therapy.
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Yes, I specialize in OCD treatment using Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and Inference-based CBT (I-CBT), both of which are evidence-based approaches specifically designed for OCD. Many neurodivergent individuals experience OCD alongside anxiety, and the two can feed into each other in complex ways. I-CBT is particularly effective for autistic individuals because it addresses the reasoning processes behind obsessions rather than relying solely on exposure, which can be especially helpful if you have strong pattern-recognition abilities or tend to get stuck in particular thought loops. We customize the treatment to match your processing style and respect your need for predictability and structure.
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Before we schedule an intake session, we start with a free 15-minute consultation to make sure we're a good fit and that I can help with what you're looking for. If we decide to move forward, the first full session is a comprehensive intake where I learn about your history, what's bringing you to therapy now, and what you hope to get out of our work together. We talk about how anxiety shows up in your life, what you've already tried, and how your neurodivergence intersects with your anxiety experiences. This session helps me understand your full picture so we can create a treatment approach that's actually tailored to you rather than following a generic anxiety protocol.
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Yes, I work with many parents, particularly mothers, who have recently had a child diagnosed as autistic and are now connecting the dots about their own neurodivergence. This often comes with layers of anxiety related to parenting, identity, and sometimes grief or complicated feelings about what this means for your family. You might be experiencing anxiety about how to support your child while also processing your own late realization about being autistic. This work often involves addressing immediate parenting-related anxiety while also creating space for your own identity development and understanding of how anxiety has shaped your life.
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Yes, I provide online anxiety therapy exclusively to clients located in Oregon and Washington State. Online sessions offer flexibility and eliminate some of the sensory challenges and executive function demands of getting to an in-person office. Many of my neurodivergent clients actually prefer online therapy because they can be in their own controlled environment, have access to their comfort items or stims, and don't have to manage the transition time and energy of commuting. As long as you're physically located in Oregon or Washington during our sessions, we can work together regardless of which city you're in.
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Therapy- $250 per session
ASD assessment- $2500
ADHD assessment- $500