Therapy for Late-Identified Autistic Adults

Explore what it means to finally have a name for your lifelong experiences, without shame, guilt, or judgment.

Receiving an autism diagnosis in adulthood can feel like a relief, a grief, and a revelation all at once. In therapy, we make space for all of that.

• Deconstruct internalized ableism and myths you may have absorbed about autism

• Grieve lost time or misdiagnoses with compassion, not self-blame

• Reclaim your lived experience—your traits were real even before the diagnosis

• Talk openly about what this new lens shifts in your self-concept, relationships, or identity

• Find words and frameworks that help you feel seen

Identify what’s truly you vs. what you’ve done to survive in neurotypical spaces. Practice slowly dropping the mask in safe, intentional ways.

Unmasking is not about ripping everything away at once. It’s about curiosity, choice, and liberation.

• Explore the coping strategies you've used to fit in, stay safe, or succeed

• Notice how masking affects your energy, emotions, and identity

• Learn to recognize when you’re masking without judgment

• Practice showing more of your authentic self—bit by bit, in spaces that feel safe

• Make space for play, creativity, and connection outside of performance

Learn strategies tailored to your sensory needs, communication style, executive functioning profile, and emotional regulation.

Therapy isn’t just talk, it’s a place to try things out, find what works, and build systems that support you.

• Develop sustainable routines that honor your energy patterns

• Get support with sensory regulation and planning sensory-friendly days

• Learn communication scripts, boundary-setting strategies, or advocacy tools

• Use visuals, timers, external organizers, or other supports without shame

• Explore emotional regulation methods that actually make sense for your brain

Make sense of your history, especially the parts shaped by being misunderstood, dismissed, or praised for your ability to "pass."

When you've spent a lifetime trying to be "normal," burnout can feel inevitable—but it’s not the end of your story.

• Understand autistic burnout and how it differs from other types of exhaustion

• Explore how people-pleasing, perfectionism, or dissociation may have helped you cope

• Process the pain of being overlooked, misdiagnosed, or pathologized

• Untangle your worth from your productivity or ability to perform

• Rebuild your sense of self from a place of truth, not adaptation

Whether you're changing careers, deepening relationships, or simply adjusting routines, we’ll center your needs as an autistic person first.

Transitions can be especially overwhelming—but they also hold the potential for deep alignment and growth.

• Clarify your needs, preferences, and non-negotiables during change

• Work through anticipatory anxiety and support nervous system regulation

• Practice communication tools for navigating boundaries and expectations

• Design transitions that reduce sensory and cognitive overwhelm

• Build scaffolding that helps you feel secure, supported, and grounded

Build a life around your rhythm (not one based on masking or overcompensating). Together, we’ll make space for rest, fun, and connection that feels real.

You don’t have to spend your life chasing “normal.” You get to choose what living authentically looks like.

• Celebrate your special interests, sensory joys, and unique perspective

• Build community with other neurodivergent people (if that feels good to you)

• Practice rest as a radical, necessary part of life

• Redefine success on your own terms

• Make room for joy that doesn’t require fitting in