Neurodiversity-Affirming Counselling in Vancouver
Empowering Every Brain and Nervous System
Celebrating ADHD, Autism, AuDHD & Neurodivergence Through Counselling
You may have known for a long time that you experience the world differently than some of the people around you, or maybe you've always felt like an outsider or misunderstood, and are only now starting to put the pieces together. This might be a time when you're just beginning to question whether neurodivergence could help explain some of your experiences. Like many others, you might instead be coming with a recent diagnosis, or one you received a long time ago that means something different to you now as an adult.
People come to counselling from all of these places.
Our counsellors offer neurodiversity-affirming counselling in Vancouver for adults and youth navigating ADHD, autism, AuDHD and other experiences of neurodivergence.
Through a lens of inclusion and social justice, counselling in the context of neurodivergence is less about treating what has been diagnosed and more about understanding the person having the experience. We want to create space for your frustrations, curiosities and hopes to be heard, respected and explored as who you are, and who you are becoming.
Many who come to counselling already have the sense that the usual explanations and strategies for life’s struggles haven't quite fit or worked. There are so many places we can explore: practical support, exploring who you actually are, working through burnout, or trying to understand why certain things have felt so difficult. It wouldn’t surprise us if there are several layers to what brings you here.
Counselling can be a place to explore those layers together so you can delight more in the experience of being you.
Keep reading to learn more about affirming therapy.
Browse our neurodivergent counsellors further down the page.
Know you want support already? Connect with us below!
Know you want support but not sure where to start?
Our counsellors are people first. We truly believe that no one is broken, even when we feel stuck, overwhelmed, or like something is wrong with us. You’re just human, and being human can be complicated (and sometimes frustrating) to navigate.
Come take your shoes off, curl up with some tea, and let’s make a plan.
Our Find a Counsellor form can connect you with a counsellor who feels like the right fit for you:
What Does Neurodiversity-Affirming Counselling Mean?
You may have come across terms like neurodiversity, neurodivergent, neurotypical, neurodiversity-affirming or neurodivergent-affirming. The language is still evolving, and people don't always use these words in exactly the same way.
Let’s break it down:
Neurodiversity describes the natural variation in how human brains work
Neurodivergent commonly used by people whose ways of thinking, processing, communicating or experiencing the world differ from dominant expectations
Neurotypical generally refers to people whose neurological functioning fits within those expectations.
We promise that you don't have to have the terminology figured out before you come to counselling. Some of our counsellors who are neurodivergent themselves still have a hard time getting it right every time.
Neurodiversity-affirming counselling doesn't assume neurodivergence itself needs to be fixed, corrected or made less visible. This approach instead recognizes that neurodivergence comes with strengths and challenges that can be held and embraced as they are.
What does this all mean?
Affirming doesn't mean ignoring the things that are difficult. ADHD, autism and other forms of neurodivergence can affect relationships, work, school, emotional regulation, sensory experiences and everyday life. You may want new skills, more support or meaningful change in particular areas, and that’s very okay.
The difference is in the questions we ask.
Rather than starting from the assumption that the goal is to function more like a neurotypical person, we can become curious about what your experience is actually like: what's helped you get by, what's been exhausting, which expectations fit, and which ones you've been working hard to meet just because you didn’t know any other way. We can also explore what your nervous system needs, what you'd like to be different, and where your values lie (if you already know them… for many of us they can be buried underneath other’s idea of who we should be).
At times, the focus of counselling can be about change. It can also be about seeing something internally that's never quite made sense with new eyes, and finding new ways to be yourself.
With neurodivergence, often, it is both.
The Language Around Neurodivergence Is Still Evolving
There are LOTS of different words and language neurodivergent people use for themselves, and often that changes over time.
Some people prefer identity-firstlanguage, such as "I'm autistic." Others prefer person-first language, such as "I have autism." Others might have a great relationship with themselves but still don’t love using these terms to refer to themselves at all, or in certain settings.
For many these aren’t just labels or words, but identities.
You might identify as “neurodivergent”. You may have a formal ADHD or autism diagnosis that you find yourself referring to. You may still be exploring which identities fit, or you may simply recognize that your experiences don't match others’.
The same is true for counselling. You'll see terms such as neurodiversity-affirming counselling, neurodivergent-affirming counselling, neurodivergent therapy and affirming therapy used by different practitioners. It often all boils down to the same values.
For us? We don’t really mind what you call it, as long as it makes sense and feels good to you.
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It's a broader umbrella term for many types of brains and experiences that don’t fit within the dominant expectations. Alongside Autism, ADHD and AuDHD, this includes brain injuries, trauma, dyslexia, OCD, BPD and more.
Connect With One of Our Counsellors who Love Supporting Neurodivergent Clients
Finding the right counsellor matters. Our team brings different personalities, experiences and therapeutic approaches to their work with neurodivergent clients.
The following neurodivergent-affirming therapists have availability for new clients. Whether you’re already looking for support for yourself, or in some cases, for your partner or teenager, we offer free 15-minute consultations so you can connect and ask questions first.
ADHD Counselling in Vancouver
ADHD can affect much more than attention.
For some people, the difficult part is getting started, shifting attention, organizing or following through.
For others it’s the emotional intensity, impulsivity, rejection sensitivity or chronic overwhelm that feels the most disruptive. You may know exactly what you want to do and still find that turning that knowledge into action is unexpectedly difficult.
It can be really difficult for these experiences not to have an impact on how you see yourself, especially if you didn’t know why this was happening until recently. Repeatedly struggling with things that appear easy for other people can create shame, self-criticism or the feeling that you're simply not trying hard enough.
However, ADHD looks different for everyone, and it isn't only about what's hard. There are many beautiful things that those with ADHD (and those who know them) enjoy about themselves: creativity, hyperfocus on things that matter to them, quick thinking, spontaneity, and a kind of aliveness that can be hard to find elsewhere. Part of the our job is to support you to see both sides clearly, not just the parts that make you feel lesser than.
We view counselling as a space to understand those patterns without turning productivity into a measure of your worth. We can also give you the opportunity to feel held in your struggle, acknowledge the exhaustion of fighting yourself (or others) and grieve the lack of ease you may have felt. Tools and strategies can be part of what we do, but they feel best when they are brought in with the hope of supporting the life you actually want to be living. You might also choose to explore the emotional and relational experiences that may have developed alongside ADHD, including burnout, self-esteem, conflict in relationships, transitions and the impact of a later diagnosis.
If you're looking specifically for ADHD counselling, our dedicated ADHD page does more of a deep dive into these experiences and the ways our counsellors can support you.
Autism Therapy in Vancouver
Autism can shape the way you experience communication, relationships, routines, emotions and the world around you and contribute to being overwhelmed by your senses. Male science-and-train-loving stereotypes like Sheldon Cooper easily come to mind when we think of what autism stereotypically looks like, but there are SO many different ways autism shows up in real life. Day to day, the autistic experience can look very different person to person and is potentially subtle, misunderstood or easily dismissed.
Amelia Shepherd from Grey’s Anatomy, Amy Santiago from Brooklyn 99, or Beth Harmon from the Queen’s Gambit anyone?
Though not explicitly named as autistic, many with autism can see the connection and themselves here in ways that they hadn’t in more obvious representations
Aside from the challenges, many autistic people also hold unique traits and beautiful ways of being in the world: deep focus, pattern recognition, honesty, loyalty, and a way of noticing details or connections others miss. We hope working with us gives you the opportunity to build a relationship with what’s draining or painful as well as the delightful parts of how you work.
An autism diagnosis or exploration can bring a sense of recognition or relief, with experiences that once felt disconnected finally making more sense. You can begin to see a childhood memory, a difficult friendship, or the exhaustion after social situations in a different way, and the amount of energy required to appear comfortable may suddenly take on a different meaning.
For others, the process can bring uncertainty and big waves of grief or fear. You may be wondering how much of yourself has been shaped by adapting to other people's expectations, facing fear around parts of yourself you wish were different, or wondering what it might mean to live differently now, and what might need to change… and change is often hard for those with autism!
Autism therapy can include space to explore:
Masking and the exhaustion that can come with it
Autistic burnout
Sensory overwhelm and regulation
Identity and self-understanding
Relationships and communication
Trauma from early experiences
Boundaries and self-advocacy
Anxiety, depression and emotional overwhelm
Experiences from childhood and adulthood
Changes following diagnosis or self-diagnosis / identification (this is valid too!)
Shame. Lots of space for shame
Expectations that may no longer fit
Finding ways of living that feel more sustainable
See our options below to connect for autism therapy.
We can also suggest an autistic therapist. Just contact us and let us know that lived experience is important to you. We will let you know if one of our autistic counsellors is available for new clients.
AuDHD Counselling
For people who experience both ADHD and autism, neither side really tells the full story of what you experience.
Understanding AuDHD isn't just adding two lists of traits together. AuDHD is much more than a sum of two parts, and you guessed it, it can look pretty different for each person. The interaction between ADHD and autism can create its own combination of strengths, tensions and challenges. AuDHD can be a source of unmatched creativity, intelligence or intensity of focus, and also a set of contradictions that can pull in completely opposite directions.
One of our favourite memes describes what the experience can look like:
ADHD - Papers everywhere
Autism - A stack of neat paper
AuDHD - Stacks of paper everywhere
If you have AuDHD, you might crave novelty while also needing predictability, and seek stimulation or intensity while also having the tendency to become overwhelmed by it. You may become deeply absorbed in something that matters to you and then struggle to shift your attention elsewhere. You might know that routines can be extremely grounding in your life, but at the same time, creating and maintaining routine or structure can feel impossible. It’s also not uncommon for those with AuDHD to crave rest but then not be able to fully settle, creating a constant waiting mode that lives in the background.
These contradictions can be confusing and anxiety-provoking, particularly when advice designed for one set of needs seems to work against the other, and require a deeper level of understanding.
If you have been to counselling with Autism and AuDHD but not with someone who understood what that meant, it also makes sense if that experience wasn’t fully what you had hoped for.
Counselling can make room for this complexity. We can look at the whole picture rather than trying to decide whether something fits in the ADHD box or autism box, and explore what helps you feel more understood, supported and able to move through your life.
We can also suggest a therapist for Autism and ADHD that has lived experience. Contact us and we will let you know if one of our counsellors who can relate to AuDHD is available for new clients.
Late-Diagnosed ADHD and Autism in Women
Many women discover ADHD or autism later in life, sometimes after years of being misunderstood, misdiagnosed, or even judged.
There are many reasons that ADHD and autism can be missed. Women are typically more socialized to pay close attention to social expectations and can become quite good at hiding under a mask. This can include becoming highly skilled at compensating for difficulties, which often takes immense amounts of energy. Others may have significant challenges that were interpreted through anxiety, perfectionism, sensitivity, relationship difficulties or other labels instead.
Of course this isn't true of every woman, as there isn't one way that ADHD or autism presents. However, what we have seen is that more and more women are being diagnosed as the system has begun to look at what ADHD and autism looks like in women in real life; there are even assessments now that look at the ability and frequency one masks and copies others' behaviours.
If you've spent years feeling like you should be able to manage more than you can, or wondering why things that seem straightforward for other people require so much effort, having conversations exploring neurodivergence can offer a radically different lens to view yourself and your life from.
It can also bring up grief, anger, relief or uncertainty.
Counselling can help you be curious how this feels, what this means for you and how you want to hold yourself and who you are moving forward, hopefully in a way that feels more compassionate, steady and authentic… and not in a cheesy way but in a way where you know who you are and how to show up in full force.
When Neurodivergence Meets Anxiety, Trauma & Burnout
Neurodivergence doesn't exist in a vacuum, and can't be experienced as separate from the expectations and demands of the world we are currently existing in.
As time goes on with the pressure needing to function enough to build relationships, pay rent, build the life you want (while also not fully knowing why it feels so hard), you may also be living with anxiety, depression, trauma, attachment wounds, relationship difficulties, chronic stress or burnout. It's easy for these experiences to become intertwined over time, making it difficult to know where one thing ends and another begins.
Years of masking or adapting can be exhausting. Repeated experiences of being misunderstood can affect how you see yourself and how safe you feel with other people. Everyday situations that continually ask you to override sensory, emotional or relational needs can contribute to overwhelm.
On top of that, we still experience difficult experiences just like everyone else… losses, breakups, life transitions and traumatic events all still exist and shape us too, often in unique ways.
Counselling can help us look at the whole picture: your brain, your body, your relationships, your history and the many factors you're navigating. We will make sure to hold them with care together.
Following Your Lead
There isn't one right way to approach counselling in general, and that's especially true as a neurodivergent person.
Depending on where you are at when you start, we can focus on finding language and stories that capture more of your identity. Our time might also be spent chatting about and exploring relationships, emotional regulation, burnout or learning how to advocate for what you need.
Following your lead, counselling may help you:
Find language and stories that capture more of your whole identity
Explore the history and origins of expectations you've carried
Understand how past experiences may be connected to present challenges
Become more aware of emotional cues and what your body may be telling you
Explore meaningful and supportive relationships
Identify what works best for you and advocate for your needs
Unpack shame connected to who you are or how you've learned to function
Develop strategies and tools for navigating change
Explore opportunities for growth without assuming you need to become someone else
The direction of the work can evolve, shift and be molded to change as you do!
It’s Common to Land Here After Already Having Been to Counselling That Didn't Quite Feel as Good As You Hoped.
Regardless of whether the intention was good, if you've landed here, it's likely you've been to counselling where you felt like you were being asked to function in ways that didn't make sense for you, or just didn't work even if you tried, particularly if you didn't yet know that you were neurodivergent, and neither you nor your counsellor had that context.
The right person matters, but patience and understanding also can really make a difference to your experience. A neurodiversity-affirming approach can offer a starting point that is able to take your ways of processing, communicating, relating and regulating into consideration without reducing you to a label.
If you've had a difficult experience with counselling before, you can tell us about it when you reach out. It may help us understand what you're looking for this time.
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Yes we do! Reach out to our intake team to connect you with a counsellor who might be a good fit, or take a peek at our couples & relationship counselling page for more information on how we work.
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Some counselling and support (not all) can measure you against neurotypical expectations without meaning to, pushing toward more "typical" ways of communicating, organizing, or coping.
Neurodivergent-affirming counselling starts from a different place: your brain works differently, not wrong, and the work is about supporting that, not correcting it and exploring who you really are. -
That's common, and particularly if you didn’t know or think you were neurodivergent at the time, or if it was with someone who didn’t have a lot of knowledge about neurodivergence, it's often because the approach wasn't built with a neurodivergent brain in mind, even when the intention was good.
If counselling before left you feeling like you were being pushed toward "typical" ways of doing things, or like you tried what they were suggesting but still felt stuck or even frustrated, let us know, so that we can attempt to give you a different experience. -
Yes. We support both late diagnosed women and men who are making sense of ADHD or autism later in life, including the impact of masking, expectations, relationships, self-understanding and the experiences that may have led to a later diagnosis.
Frequently Asked Questions About ADHD & Autism Counselling
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Not as a standalone service, we're counsellors, not coaches, which means we focus on your whole experience and rather than a narrow focus on behaviours, skills, and getting yourself to do the thing!
That said, many of our counsellors do weave in practical skills and strategies when they're useful.
Historically, a lot of ADHD support out there has focused on fixing executive function. We are careful to ensure that these are always in service of what actually matters and important to you, not productivity for its own sake. We're just as interested in the shame and unrealistic expectations that tend to build up around it, the sense that you should be able to do things a certain way, and what it's like to finally let go of some of that that. -
We don't offer formal testing or diagnosis ourselves, but we're happy to refer you to someone who does if that's a direction you want to explore.
What we do offer is space for the curiosity that often comes before that decision: unpacking what you're noticing, sorting out whether a formal diagnosis actually matters to you personally, and if it does, working through integration and the "now what?" that often follows. -
Actually the majority of our counsellors who work with neurodivergent clients specialize in working with adults (or youth/young adults.) We know that how neurodivergence is being recognized, diagnosed and supported now is very different than it was even 5 years ago, so whether you were diagnosed as a child or were late diagnosed, especially as a woman or there is a lot to potential explore, unpack and integrate in terms of who you are and your relationship with yourself and with the world - we’re here for it!
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Yes, several of our counsellors work with the overlap between ADHD and Autism, not just one or the other. AuDHD is definitely not just a combo of both but creates its own strengths and challenges, which we are happy to explore and support you with.
RCC (They/Her)
Collaborative · Authentic & Human · Gentle Warm & Validating · Welcomes Humour · Challenges Clients · Client-Led · Skills & Tools · Mind-Body · Insight & Patterns · Emotional Focus
LAUREN’S BIO & BOOKING →
Lauren brings a collaborative, open and human presence to counselling. They allow time for you to settle in without pressure, and become comfortable, with space for harder and deeper conversations once trust is built. Lauren brings lived experience as a longtime performer and artist, queer and neurodivergent person, and brings social justice, compassion and body acceptance into her work. The strives to create a space where each person can be fully themselves without the need to filter or hide who they are.
SPECIALTIES Neurodivergence · LGBTQIA+ · Anxiety & Panic · OCD · Depression · Burnout · Attachment · Family Relationships · Inner Child Work · Life Transitions
APPROACHES Somatic · DBT · IFS · Fat Liberation & Body Acceptance · Mindfulness · Anti-Oppressive · Narrative · Emotion Focused · Attachment-Focused · ACT · Trauma Informed · Sex Positive · Neurodivergent-Affirming