Therapy for Neurodivergent Parents
Compassionate, evidence-based support for Autistic, ADHD, and highly sensitive parents navigating anxiety, overwhelm, sensory overload, and identity shifts during pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond.
Online therapy for neurodivergent parents in California, Illinois, and Missouri
Maybe you’ve always felt different and only recently realized you’re autistic, ADHD, or a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP). Or maybe you’ve known this for a while, but parenting has brought it all into sharper focus. Either way, you might feel like you’re parenting in a world that wasn’t built with your nervous system in mind.
Parenting as a neurodivergent individual comes with unique challenges, but also an incredible depth of perspective and strength. You may be navigating a combination of sensory sensitivities, emotional exhaustion, and identity shifts, all while caring for your little one. It’s important to remember that your experience is valid, and there is support available to help you find balance.
Common experiences for neurodivergent parents include:
Feeling touched out by the end of the day
Longing for alone time while feeling guilty for needing space
Struggling with transitions, like bedtime, leaving the house, or adjusting to your child’s constantly changing needs
Feeling shame around executive functioning challenges
Questioning your parenting abilities or comparing yourself to others
Finding social interactions (like playdates, mom groups, or family visits) draining or anxiety-inducing
Feeling like your sensory needs are constantly clashing with your child’s
Finding it difficult to name or process emotions in the moment
Therapy for neurodivergent parents can help you feel more grounded and understood.
I offer a neurodivergent-affirming, trauma-informed space where your sensitivities, needs, and experiences are met with compassion and understanding. Together, we can explore how to honor your nervous system, unlearn internalized expectations, and create a more sustainable path forward—one that’s aligned with your unique needs and strengths as both a person and a parent.
Support for the unique challenges and strengths of neurodivergent parenting.
Common Themes I Support Neurodivergent Parents With
Sensory Overload
From constant noise and touch to bright lights and interrupted sleep, early parenting may flood your system with stimuli. You may feel overstimulated, touched out, or desperate for moments of quiet.
Anxiety & Mental Load
Juggling your own needs while managing routines, unpredictability, and caregiving demands may lead to persistent anxiety, shutdowns, or burnout.
Emotional Disconnection
You may feel numb, flat, or emotionally distant from yourself, your partner, or your child, even when you care deeply. It may be hard to show up the way you want to when you’re running on empty.
Unmasking & Identity Shifts
For many, parenting brings their neurodivergence into sharper focus. You might have suspected you were autistic, ADHD, or an HSP or only realized it through your parenting experience. This shift in self-understanding may feel disorienting or even isolating.
Navigating a Neurotypical World
From parenting advice to social expectations, much of the world assumes one-size-fits-all and neurotypical approaches to parenting. You may feel like you're constantly adapting or questioning your instincts as a parent.
Guilt & Self-Criticism
You might hold yourself to certain standards, worry you’re not doing enough, have a loud inner critic, or feel like your struggles make you a “bad parent.”
My Approach to Working with Neurodivergent Parents
As a neurodivergent-affirming therapist (and neurodivergent parent myself!), I understand how deeply personal the parenting journey is. My work with neurodivergent parents is rooted in honoring your lived experience. My goal is to support you in discovering what alignment, ease, and self-trust look like for you in this phase of life. I offer a space where your experience is valid, understood, and supported.
In our work together, I integrate a few evidence-based approaches:
Internal Family Systems (IFS): Helping you connect with the many inner parts of you, especially those shaped by masking, perfectionism, or past invalidation, and offer them understanding, compassion, and care.
Mindfulness and Somatic Therapies: Helping you feel more attuned to your sensory needs, find grounding in moments of overwhelm, and reconnect with your body in ways that feel safe and nourishing. These practices may also deepen your emotional awareness and help strengthen your capacity for connection with yourself, your child(ren), and others you care about.
Self-Compassion Work: Softening the inner critic and building a more supportive relationship with yourself.
Narrative Therapy: Helping you re-author internalized stories shaped by the neurotypical world, comparison, or societal pressure and reclaim your voice as a parent on your own terms.
Frequently Asked Questions About Therapy for Neurodivergent Parents
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I support autistic, ADHD, and highly sensitive parents across a wide range of experiences, including sensory overwhelm, overstimulation, parenting burnout, executive functioning challenges, postpartum identity shifts, and the emotional labor of navigating parenthood in a neurotypical world.
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Yes, actually many of the parents I work with come to realize they are neurodivergent once they become a parent. Whether you’ve known for years or are just beginning to understand yourself in a new light, your experience is valid.
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Yes, many neurodivergent parents experience emotional disconnection due to overstimulation, masking, or burnout. Therapy can help you rebuild emotional awareness and show up in ways that feel meaningful for you and your child.
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Yes, I find that many of my clients actually prefer virtual sessions because it reduces sensory demands, social pressures, and logistical stress. I offer flexible, online therapy for neurodivergent parents across California, Illinois, and Missouri.
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Yes, these experiences often intersect and amplify one another. As a Perinatal Mental Health Certified (PMH-C) therapist, I also specialize in perinatal mental health and offer integrated support for anxiety, depression, and trauma within a neurodivergent-affirming framework.
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Yes. Many neurodivergent parents feel misunderstood or unseen by neurotypical partners. We can work on building communication strategies, co-regulation skills, and ways to advocate for your needs in a way that strengthens connection and understanding. If interested, I also provide couples therapy.
Still have questions or want to connect? Visit the Contact page to reach out.
You don’t have to navigate this alone. Support is here.
Parenting as a neurodivergent adult comes with both incredible insight and real challenges. You don’t have to navigate it all on your own. Therapy can be a space to unmask, feel seen, and reconnect with your strengths.
I offer virtual, neurodivergent-affirming therapy for parents in California, Illinois, and Missouri, creating a space where your needs, your identity, and your parenting experience are fully honored.