Focus

My focus is on supporting teens, adults, and familias, who are Neurodivergent (ND), which includes a focus on Autistics, ADHDers, 2e (Twice Exceptional= Gifted + Disabled), diagnosed, self-diagnosed, or newly discovered. I firmly believe in embracing intersecting identities such as race, culture, neurotypes, sexuality, and gender.

My work and approach to therapy and coaching are not behavioral-focused but focused on our unique internal experiences and processing, and are always trauma-informed, with the nervous system in mind, which honors our needs as neurodivergent people. Distressing behaviors are due to our unique underlying experiences, and having an understanding of these experiences will naturally ease them.

Together, we will figure out how experiences such as masking, unmasking, sensory differences, alexithymia, burnout, meltdowns, the double empathy problem, PDA, RSD, Anxiety (related to Autistic/ADHD experiences), and other neurodivergencies manifest in your life and how to empower and advocate for yourself. I will be your guide in understanding your unique brain chemistry while considering intersecting identities and environmental factors.

Lived Experiences I Bring

I bring lived experience, such as experience as a parent of an AuDHDer, experience working with ND individuals and families as a psychotherapist, my own life experiences, acquired knowledge and research, education, and over 10 years working in social, educational, and mental health settings. As an AFAB and mother, I also bring my experiences of how being Autistic and ADHD affects how we experience pregnancy, hormones, and being a parent. Also, as a person with chronic illnesses, I bring my experience with how my neurodivergence affects how I experience them. As an AFAB, cisgender, Mexican-American with Mexican Indigenous ancestry (I grew up on the border of Mexico, south Texas area), I am also aware of how being ND and female is experienced within culture.

My Approaches and Influences

My work is influenced by the neurodiversity-affirming movement, which means that I view Autistic and ADHD neurotypes as natural variations of the human mind and not as a disease or disorder. What that means is that you are not viewed as having deficits and needing to be fixed, cured, or treated. While taking on a strength-based approach, I will also affirm all the experiences and challenges of being neurodivergent in a world not made for us. I work through a lens of social justice and the disability model and with cultural humility.

My approach and work are collaborative, holistic, person-centered, trauma-informed, and influenced by attachment theory, expressive arts, experiential therapies, somatic processing, and mindfulness. You are seen as the expert in your life and always with competence. As a marriage and family therapist, I also have a systemic perspective, which means I have an understanding of how different parts of your life are connected.

I am dedicated to creating accessible, anti-oppressive, decolonized spaces and supporting marginalized communities who have not been included in traditional evidence-based practices. These practices have limitations and have caused harm that has led to long-term effects and PTSD. NDs have been harmed due to the deficit-based, pathologizing, and ableist systems.

*Feel free to fidget, stim, bring your comfort item, turn off the camera, use the chat box, or do whatever makes you comfortable being yourself. Your body naturally knows what it needs to do to self-regulate and focus!