Therapy for REAL Change
Neurodiverse-affirming Online Therapy for Adults diagnosed with ADHD or Autism in Austin, Texas and Houston, Texas
The Puzzle Pieces that Finally Fit: Understanding Your Adult-Diagnosed ADHD or Autism
You have ADHD or Autism… Now What?
You’ve recently received a diagnosis of ADHD or Autism and it’s cleared up a few things. But you still have a lot you want to understand.
You may have pursued testing to better understand why you always felt "different," or to know why some things are so hard for you. Maybe it always seemed like you were “lazy” no matter how hard you pushed yourself. Or maybe it felt like others always understood things you missed. And those many subtle interactions added up over time, even though you worked so hard to get it right, so that you feel constantly anxious and a deep worry that maybe something really is wrong with you.
Your new diagnosis offers some insight into your experience, but that’s just the start. You may still be wondering:
How does my diagnosis explain these challenges?
But doesn’t this confirm something is wrong with me?
How does this diagnosis intersect with my personal history, including any past trauma?
How do I communicate this to friends, family, or colleagues?
What are my next steps toward understanding and growth?
If you’re also navigating the world as a queer person, a person of color, or someone with other experiences of oppression, these questions might feel even more layered.
If you're seeking clarity and direction post-diagnosis, you're not alone. In a series of 1-5 sessions, I can help you better understand your new diagnosis and apply it to your experiences, challenges, and strengths.
Let’s figure out how to support your vulnerabilities and capitalize on your strengths, together
Why this feels so hard-
Receiving a diagnosis in adulthood can be both enlightening and overwhelming.
You’ve developed coping mechanisms to navigate life — maybe masking in order to fit in, maybe over-functioning to compensate for feeling scattered or sensitive.
Now, with this new information, you're re-evaluating past experiences and questioning long-held beliefs about yourself.
Common thoughts might include:
"Was that behavior a result of my neurodivergence?"
"How do I figure out what is me and what is from the coping strategies I've adopted?"
"Why didn't I know this earlier?"
Maybe you're replaying a tough moment at work — that one meeting where you shut down or said too much — and now you're wondering, “Was that ADHD? Anxiety? Something else?”
If you’ve experienced trauma or are part of a historically marginalized community, you might be trying to untangle years of adaptation, survival strategies, and cultural expectations — all at once.
This process can feel deeply confusing, even lonely.
And while testing might have given you an answer, it probably didn’t do much to help you understand what it means or help you make sense of it all in the context of your real, messy, beautiful life. And what about all of the feelings that are coming up with this new understanding of yourself?
I can help you put all of these pieces together so you can understand how your brain works and what you need to thrive.
What If This All Made Sense?
Imagine:
Walking away from a session with a clearer understanding of why you operate the way you do — and realizing it makes sense.
Feeling affirmed instead of pathologized.
Letting go of years of self-criticism and replacing it with curiosity and compassion.
Having a way to explain your experience to people in your life without shrinking yourself or over-explaining.
Starting to recognize and trust your strengths — not just focus on what’s “hard.”
A diagnosis doesn’t change who you are — it helps you see who you are more clearly. And with that clarity often comes relief, strength, and more self-compassion.
How I Can Help
I offer consultation tailored for adults seeking to understand their ADHD or Autism diagnoses.
These sessions are collaborative, compassionate, and designed to help you integrate the information into your life — not just understand it intellectually. This is also meant to be short-term, usually a series of 1-5 sessions.
Together, we will:
Interpret your assessment results in everyday, accessible language.
Explore how your neurodivergence may have influenced your relationships, career, communication style, and patterns of coping.
Identify both strengths and vulnerabilities connected to your diagnosis.
Consider how past trauma, cultural background, and intersecting identities shape your experience.
Develop language you feel good about to use when talking to others about your diagnosis (or deciding not to).
Create a next-steps plan that feels grounded and empowering — not overwhelming.
I bring warmth, a strengths-based lens, curiosity, and a little humor — because understanding yourself doesn’t have to feel clinical or cold.
I also move at a pace that feels right for you. Some folks want a deep dive, others need more spacious reflection — both are welcome here.
Hi, I’m Annie. I am trained in assessing many things, including Autism and ADHD, and I’ve seen how powerful it can be to finally understand how your brain works. That kind of clarity can ease anxiety, lift shame, and help life feel more manageable.
In our work together, we’ll connect the dots between your diagnosis, your past experiences, and how they’ve shaped how you see yourself and move through the world.
I use a warm, practical approach that’s neurodiverse-affirming and strengths-based. We’ll figure out what actually works for you, while also exploring how your neurodivergence intersects with trauma, identity, and broader systems of oppression.
What to Expect from This Work
This is a consultation space — not traditional therapy — which means it's typically short-term and focused on helping you understand your diagnosis in the context of your life.
For many clients, 1–5 sessions is all they need to walk away with a stronger sense of self, next steps, and tools for integration.
Sometimes, this process feels like a good launching point to explore deeper emotional patterns — like anxiety, shame, depression, or relationship challenges that may have stemmed from being undiagnosed (and misunderstood) for years.
In that case, we might talk about:
Transitioning into ongoing therapy with me (if that seems like it would be a good fit),
Referrals to other therapists if you’re looking for a specific style or specialty,
Or other resources that support your continued growth.
You get to decide what you need — and how far you want to go.
My role is to walk beside you as long as it's helpful, and then make sure you're resourced for whatever comes next.
What’s the Purpose of a Diagnosis, Anyway?
If you’ve just received a diagnosis in adulthood — especially after years (or decades) of feeling different, or like everyone else got something that you didn’t — you might find yourself asking:
What am I supposed to do with this?
For some, a diagnosis can open doors to tangible supports — like medication, accommodations, or a better understanding of how to manage executive functioning or sensory needs.
But for many, the biggest gift of a diagnosis is that it finally names something you’ve felt for a long time but didn’t know how to explain.
It helps you understand how your brain works - that you aren’t lazy, disorganized, over-emotional, or bad at life, but that the world we live in wasn’t made to fit your brain.
You now get to relate to yourself with more compassion and clarity. And you have the tools to make a roadmap to understand your needs, your world, your supports…. you.
This Is for You If…
You've recently been diagnosed with ADHD or Autism as an adult.
You're seeking to understand what this diagnosis means for you personally.
You're trying to untangle how trauma, identity, and neurodivergence all show up in your life.
You want a safe space to process your experience with someone who won’t use jargon or rush you.
You're looking for a strengths-based, affirming approach that honors your whole story.
Ready to Make Sense of Your Story?
If you're ready to explore your diagnosis in a supportive and collaborative environment, I'm here to help.
Let’s connect the dots — and help you move forward with clarity, curiosity, and self-compassion.