When You’ve Spent So Long Trying to Fit In That You’ve Lost Touch With Yourself

Maybe you’ve spent years feeling like you’re working twice as hard as everyone else just to keep up. You’re constantly managing expectations, trying to stay organized, navigating relationships, or wondering why things that seem easy for other people feel so overwhelming for you.

You might have ADHD, identify as autistic, or simply be beginning to explore whether you’re neurodivergent. Maybe you’ve spent much of your life feeling different without having the language to explain why.

Perhaps you’ve learned to mask your struggles, push through exhaustion, or criticize yourself when you can’t meet the standards you’ve set. On the outside, you might appear capable, successful, and put together. But underneath, you may feel anxious, overwhelmed, or exhausted from trying to meet everyone else’s expectations.

And when things don’t go as planned, you might turn that frustration inward, wondering why you’re struggling with something that seems to come naturally to other people.

What if therapy could be a place where you didn’t have to work so hard to fit in?

I especially enjoy working with neurodivergent adults, including people with ADHD and those exploring their neurodivergent identities. I’m passionate about helping clients understand themselves with greater compassion, particularly when they’ve spent years feeling misunderstood, criticized, or pressured to function in ways that don’t come naturally to them.

My work is especially meaningful to me when supporting Black women and women of color who are navigating the intersection of neurodivergence, cultural expectations, identity, and self-worth. Sometimes the pressure to be strong, successful, or constantly available to others can make it even harder to recognize and honor your own needs.

I also work with clients navigating anxiety, perfectionism, trauma, relationship challenges, and body image concerns. These experiences can overlap with neurodivergence, and I believe it’s important to understand the whole person rather than focusing on any single diagnosis or concern.

You deserve therapy that makes room for the way your mind works, your lived experiences, and the person you are—not just the person you’ve been expected to be.

My Approach

Therapy That Works With You, Not Against You

I believe one of the most important parts of therapy is creating a relationship where you feel safe enough to show up as yourself.

If you’ve spent years being misunderstood, criticized, or told you need to try harder, opening up to another person can feel vulnerable. You may be accustomed to explaining yourself, defending your needs, or worrying about whether you’re doing things the right way.

I don’t want therapy to become another place where you feel that pressure.

My approach is relational, trauma-informed, and collaborative. I’m warm and supportive, but I’m also direct. I’ll listen, ask questions, offer honest feedback, and gently challenge you when there’s something worth exploring. You can disagree with me, change your mind, or tell me when something isn’t working. I want us to build a relationship where you feel comfortable being honest about what you need.

For neurodivergent clients, that might mean exploring how ADHD or other neurodivergent experiences affect your emotions, relationships, daily responsibilities, and sense of self. We might look at patterns of masking, perfectionism, emotional overwhelm, or the exhaustion that comes from constantly trying to meet expectations.

We can also explore practical ways to navigate executive functioning challenges, communicate your needs, establish boundaries, and create routines or supports that feel realistic for your life.

I draw from approaches including Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and motivational interviewing. Rather than expecting you to adapt to a rigid therapeutic process, we’ll explore which approaches and tools are most helpful for you.

My goal isn’t to teach you how to be someone else. It’s to help you better understand yourself and find ways of navigating life that feel more authentic and sustainable.

Neurodivergence, Identity & Self-worth

Making Sense of Yourself Without the Shame

For many neurodivergent people, the hardest part isn’t necessarily how their brain works. It’s the years of messages they’ve received about how they should work.

Maybe you’ve been called too sensitive, too emotional, disorganized, lazy, or difficult. Maybe you’ve learned to hide certain parts of yourself to avoid criticism or rejection. Or perhaps you’ve become so good at meeting other people’s expectations that you’re not always sure what you actually need.

Over time, those experiences can shape how you see yourself.

You might struggle with perfectionism because making mistakes feels especially uncomfortable. You might overextend yourself in relationships because you’re afraid of disappointing someone. Or you might feel ashamed when you’re overwhelmed, even when you’ve been doing everything you can to keep up.

In our work together, we’ll explore where those patterns came from and what purpose they may have served.

I believe our behaviors and coping strategies develop within the context of our experiences. Something that helped you navigate a difficult environment in the past might no longer be serving you in the same way today.

Understanding that context can help us approach change with curiosity rather than criticism.

We’ll work toward building a stronger sense of self-worth, recognizing your needs, and developing ways to care for yourself that don’t depend on constantly pushing harder.

You don’t have to earn compassion by becoming more productive, more organized, or easier for other people to understand.

Eating Disorders & Body Image  

Building a More Compassionate Relationship With Yourself

When food and your body take up so much of your mental energy, even ordinary moments can become exhausting. You might replay what you’ve eaten, compare yourself to others, or feel guilty after eating something you told yourself you shouldn’t.

Maybe you’ve promised yourself tomorrow will be different, only to find yourself caught in the same cycle of restriction, overeating, self-criticism, or shame.

I have specialized experience working with eating disorders, disordered eating, and body image concerns, including supporting athletes navigating pressures around performance, appearance, and food.

These struggles can be shaped by trauma, family experiences, cultural messages, and the expectations you’ve learned to place on yourself.

For neurodivergent clients, I also recognize the importance of understanding how sensory experiences, routines, emotional regulation, and individual needs may influence their relationship with food and their bodies.

Together, we’ll explore what’s underneath these patterns without adding another set of rules to follow or another reason to criticize yourself.

I want you to be able to talk about the parts that feel difficult or embarrassing without feeling like you have to hide them or explain them away.

Couples Therapy

Understanding Each Other Beyond the Same Old Arguments

You can love your partner and still wonder why it’s become so hard to understand each other.

Maybe you’re having the same argument over and over, or small disagreements keep turning into something bigger. One of you wants to talk things through while the other pulls away. You both want to feel heard, but somehow you keep missing each other.

Over time, it can become harder to say what you really need. You might worry about starting another argument, feel defensive before a conversation even begins, or regret what you’ve said when emotions were running high.

In couples therapy, we’ll slow those moments down and look at what’s happening between you.

I’ll help you recognize the patterns you get caught in, understand what’s underneath each other’s reactions, and practice communicating in ways that help you feel more heard and understood.

I also recognize that differences in communication styles, emotional processing, and individual needs can influence how partners experience their relationships.

My role isn’t to take sides or decide who’s right. It’s to help you better understand one another and explore ways of connecting that feel more supportive and sustainable.

Experience

I’ve worked with clients in private practice, hospitals, and intensive treatment settings, supporting people navigating trauma, emotional distress, eating disorders, and difficult relationships with themselves and others.

Across these settings, I’ve also worked with neurodivergent clients, gaining an appreciation for how differently people experience emotions, relationships, expectations, and the demands of everyday life.

Working in different clinical settings has taught me that therapy needs to reflect the person sitting in front of me. I draw from approaches such as DBT, ACT, CBT, and motivational interviewing when they’re useful, but our relationship is the foundation of the work.

Some days we may spend time understanding a painful experience, while others may focus on navigating a current challenge or practicing something new together.

I believe consistency matters, especially when you’ve spent much of your life feeling misunderstood or uncertain about how others will respond to you.

I’ll bring that consistency to our work while giving you room to show up differently from one week to the next.

My hope is that therapy becomes a place where you feel understood, supported, and increasingly comfortable being yourself.