ADHD & Autism Therapy in California

Neurodivergent-affirming online therapy for adults throughout California.

Maybe you've spent years being told you're too sensitive, too intense, too distracted, too quiet, too much—or somehow not trying hard enough.

Or maybe you've become exceptionally good at appearing like you're managing everything while privately feeling exhausted by how much effort it takes.

Raising Consciousness provides individualized, neurodivergent-affirming psychotherapy for ADHD and autistic adults throughout California.

Therapy shouldn't require you to become someone else.

Many neurodivergent adults have spent years trying to function within expectations that weren't designed with their brains in mind.

You may have developed elaborate systems to stay organized, learned to mask traits that other people responded negatively to, pushed yourself through sensory or social overwhelm, or blamed yourself when strategies that seemed easy for everyone else didn't work for you.

Therapy can be a place to understand how your brain works rather than constantly measuring yourself against how you think it should work.

Therapy for adults with ADHD

ADHD can affect much more than attention.

For adults, it may show up in organization, time management, motivation, emotional regulation, relationships, work, household responsibilities, or the exhausting cycle of procrastination followed by urgency.

You may know exactly what needs to be done and still struggle to begin it. You may alternate between periods of intense focus and periods when seemingly simple tasks feel impossible to initiate.

Therapy can help you better understand these patterns, develop strategies that fit the way you actually function, and address the emotional experiences that can develop after years of struggling with expectations.

Therapy for autistic adults

Autistic adults come to therapy with widely different experiences, strengths, support needs, identities, and goals.

Therapy may involve exploring sensory needs, masking, burnout, relationships, communication, boundaries, emotional regulation, identity, transitions, or the experience of navigating environments that frequently expect neurotypical ways of functioning.

Our goal is not to teach you how to appear less autistic.

Therapy can instead provide space to better understand yourself, identify what supports you, explore what has been difficult, and build a life that makes greater room for the way you experience the world.

Work can be one of the places neurodivergence shows up most clearly.

For many neurodivergent adults, difficulties at work aren't simply about motivation or capability. The fit between a person and their work environment can affect executive functioning, sensory regulation, energy, communication, and the ability to sustain employment over time.

Therapy may include exploring concerns such as obtaining or maintaining employment, workplace acclimation, burnout and masking, executive-functioning barriers, communication at work, identifying accommodation and support needs, or recognizing which environments are more sustainable for you.

When vocational concerns are a significant part of treatment, we may also use structured clinical assessment to better understand how your strengths, needs, energy, interests, and experiences interact with your work environment and use that information to guide treatment planning.

You don't need a childhood diagnosis to belong here.

Some adults recognize their neurodivergence much later in life.

Perhaps ADHD or autism wasn't identified when you were younger. Maybe you learned to compensate, mask, achieve, or quietly struggle. You may be questioning whether neurodivergence explains experiences you've had for years, or you may already have a diagnosis and be reconsidering your life through that new understanding.

Therapy can provide a place to explore what neurodivergence means to you without requiring you to arrive with all of the answers.

Important: Raising Consciousness provides psychotherapy. Individual clinicians may not provide formal psychological or neuropsychological testing for ADHD or autism. If diagnostic assessment is what you're seeking, we can help clarify whether an outside assessment may be appropriate.

What can neurodivergent-affirming therapy help with?

Therapy may address experiences such as:

Executive functioning difficulties
Procrastination and task initiation
Emotional overwhelm
Sensory needs and overstimulation
Masking
Autistic or ADHD burnout
Social and relationship difficulties
Boundaries and people-pleasing
Self-esteem and chronic self-criticism
Anxiety
Depression and mood concerns
Identity and late diagnosis or self-discovery
Trauma and difficult past experiences
Creating routines and strategies that actually fit you

The focus depends on what is affecting your life—not on completing a predetermined list of neurotypical behaviors.

Neurodivergence and trauma can overlap.

Sometimes it's difficult to separate the effects of neurodivergence from the effects of years spent being misunderstood, criticized, excluded, overwhelmed, or expected to function differently.

For some people, therapy therefore includes both understanding neurodivergence and processing painful experiences associated with it.

When appropriate, trauma-focused approaches such as EMDR or parts work may be incorporated into treatment alongside neurodivergent-affirming therapy.

Explore EMDR Therapy

Explore Parts Work Therapy

What does neurodivergent-affirming therapy look like?

There isn't one correct way to participate in therapy.

Some clients process by talking. Others need time to think before responding, prefer more structure, want direct questions, benefit from visual or concrete explanations, or communicate differently depending on stress and energy.

Therapy can be adapted accordingly.

Depending on your needs and goals, treatment may incorporate approaches such as ACT, CBT and DBT-informed strategies, parts work, EMDR, somatic interventions, and mindfulness-based approaches.

The approach should serve the person—not require the person to adapt to the approach.

Online ADHD & autism therapy throughout California

Raising Consciousness provides psychotherapy through telehealth for clients located throughout California.

Telehealth can also reduce some of the demands involved in traveling to and navigating an unfamiliar therapy office, allowing you to participate from your own private environment.

Insurance and private-pay options are available. Coverage depends on your individual plan and the clinician providing treatment.

View Insurance & Fees

You don't have to perform your way through therapy.

You can show up with unfinished thoughts, complicated feelings, different communication needs, and uncertainty about exactly what you're looking for.

We'll start there.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a formal ADHD or autism diagnosis to start therapy?

No. You do not need a formal diagnosis to begin therapy or explore how neurodivergence may be affecting your life. Some clients have been diagnosed for years, some were identified later in adulthood, and others are still exploring whether ADHD or autism may help explain their experiences.

Do you work with adults who were diagnosed with ADHD or autism later in life?

Yes. Discovering or understanding neurodivergence later in life can bring relief, validation, questions, and sometimes grief. Therapy can provide space to reconsider past experiences through a new lens while exploring identity, masking, relationships, burnout, work, and daily functioning.

Can therapy help with ADHD or autistic burnout?

Yes. Therapy can help identify the demands contributing to burnout, recognize patterns of masking or chronic overextension, and develop more sustainable ways of navigating responsibilities, relationships, sensory needs, work, and recovery.

The goal is not simply to become more productive. It may also involve understanding what your mind and body need in order to function more sustainably.

Can therapy help with executive functioning?

Yes. Executive functioning difficulties can affect starting tasks, organization, time management, transitions, working memory, prioritization, and completing tasks even when you know exactly what needs to be done.

Therapy can help identify where these difficulties are showing up and develop strategies that work with your individual patterns rather than relying on one-size-fits-all systems.

Can therapy help with difficulties at work?

Yes. Neurodivergence can affect workplace functioning in many ways, including executive functioning, communication, sensory needs, masking, burnout, workplace relationships, and finding an environment that is a sustainable fit.

Therapy can provide space to better understand these patterns and explore strategies, supports, boundaries, accommodations, and changes that may improve functioning and well-being at work.

Is your approach neurodivergent-affirming?

Yes. Neurodivergent-affirming therapy recognizes neurological differences without automatically treating those differences as deficits that need to be eliminated.

Treatment is individualized and may focus on reducing distress, improving functioning, understanding your needs and strengths, developing supportive strategies, and creating a life that is more sustainable for the way you experience the world.

Can EMDR be used with neurodivergent clients?

EMDR may be incorporated when clinically appropriate for clients working through trauma or distressing experiences. Treatment is individualized, and therapeutic approaches can be adapted to a client's communication style, processing needs, sensory preferences, and goals.

Do you provide ADHD or autism assessments?

Raising Consciousness provides psychotherapy and does not currently provide formal psychological or neuropsychological testing for ADHD or autism. When formal assessment is appropriate, clients may be referred to a qualified assessment provider.

Is therapy available throughout California?

Yes. Raising Consciousness provides psychotherapy through telehealth to clients located throughout California.

Looking for neurodivergent-affirming therapy?

Tell us a little about what you're looking for and we'll help determine whether Raising Consciousness may be a good fit.

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