Therapy in Washington, DC

Living as a neurodivergent person means navigating a world that often misunderstands, stereotypes, or dismisses your experience. Your identity—across neurodivergence, race, gender, sexuality, culture, and more—is a vital part of who you are. In therapy, you deserve to be met with full acceptance, understanding, and respect for all the ways you live and show up in the world.

I offer therapy that centers your neurodivergent identity and acknowledges how it intersects with other parts of yourself—like race, ethnicity, ability, class, relationship style, and spirituality. This intersectional approach means we see the whole picture of your life, not just one piece. It’s about recognizing the unique challenges and strengths that come from living at these crossroads.

Why Intersectional Neurodivergent-Affirming Therapy?

Neurodivergence doesn’t exist in isolation—it intersects with other identities that shape your experiences of joy, resilience, and trauma. For example:

• Being Black and autistic can mean facing both racism and ableism.

• Being neurodivergent and queer may bring complex challenges around communication and safety.

• Growing up in environments that pathologize or dismiss your neurodivergence can create conflicts between self-acceptance and societal or familial expectations. This often brings internalized stigma, attachment wounds, and pressure to “mask” or change yourself to fit in.

When therapy honors all these parts of you, it creates a deeper, more authentic space for healing.

Healing Trauma in Neurodivergent & Intersectional Contexts

Many neurodivergent people carry wounds from experiences like:

• Being misunderstood, invalidated, or punished for neurodivergent traits

• Discrimination or violence related to race, gender, neurodivergence, or sexuality

• Internalized stigma and shame shaped by societal oppression

• Trauma linked to sensory overload, bullying, or institutional neglect

• Historical and ongoing systemic injustices that impact mental health

Trauma doesn’t just live in the mind—it also lives in the body and shapes how we relate to ourselves and others. My approach integrates trauma-focused care with somatic and Gestalt therapy tools, helping you reconnect with your body’s wisdom, notice what’s alive in the present moment, and gently transform old wounds into new strength.

Why My Approach Is Especially Powerful for Neurodivergent-Affirming Therapy

My therapy blends Gestalt, somatic awareness, polyvagal-informed practices, mindfulness-based stress reduction, Adlerian therapy, and Zen Buddhism-informed perspectives into a unique whole designed to support your full humanity. Here’s how these approaches work for you:

• Gestalt therapy centers on your present-moment experience, helping you discover how you fill your awareness—not by emptying the mind, but by exploring thoughts, feelings, and sensations with gentle curiosity. This honors your authentic self and helps break free from internalized stigma or shame.

• Somatic awareness invites you to reconnect with your body’s signals—an essential tool for healing trauma stored in the body and rebuilding safety when identity has been threatened.

• Polyvagal-informed techniques support nervous system regulation, helping you move out of fight/flight/freeze responses into states of connection and calm. This is especially helpful when you face chronic stress from sensory overwhelm or social marginalization.

• Mindfulness-based stress reduction practices cultivate grounding and compassion for yourself, allowing you to witness difficult emotions without being overwhelmed or reactive.

• Adlerian therapy introduces the powerful idea of community feelings—the deep sense of belonging that comes from knowing you are connected to others like you across time and space. Seeing people like us in the past, present, and future helps us feel integral to life in the cosmos, grounding us in meaning and connection beyond isolation. This sense of belonging and shared humanity is a cornerstone for healing and empowerment.

• Zen Buddhism-informed therapy is rooted in the philosophy of being fully alive right now—radically accepting the present moment as it is—and supporting psycho-spiritual growth that emerges from training our awareness. This approach invites you to live with openness and compassion, even amid uncertainty or pain, deepening your connection to yourself and the world.

Together, these approaches create a healing environment that supports embodiment, self-trust, resilience, and community connection—all crucial for navigating complex intersections of identity and trauma.

What Makes This Blend Unique?

Many therapy approaches focus primarily on talk therapy or cognitive work alone that often aren’t a great fit with neurodivergence. Many of my clients have shared that past therapy that focused on thoughts felt like they were being forced to learn a new way to think. They’ve shared that therapy with me is radically different; instead of staying in thoughts, we move to the body and let it guide us toward what is truly alive. My work integrates mind, body, and relational experience in a way that:

• Honors how your truth lives in your body; thoughts can often get confused.

• Uses trauma-informed care that understands systemic oppression’s deep impact.

• Is explicitly neurodivergent-affirming and intersectional—acknowledging how identities interact.

• Combines evidence-based and experiential tools to promote lasting change.

• Creates space for joy, play, and authentic self-expression alongside healing.

This means therapy isn’t just about “surviving” — it’s about reclaiming your vitality and living fully as your whole self.

What You Can Expect in Therapy With Me

• A safe, nonjudgmental, neurodivergent-affirming space where all parts of your identity are honored

• Support for navigating stress and trauma related to intersecting identities and systemic oppression

• Tools to build self-trust, body awareness, emotional regulation, and connection

• A focus on your lived experience and unique path toward healing

• Collaboration in setting goals that matter to you — whether that’s managing sensory overwhelm, healing from trauma, improving relationships, or reclaiming joy and resilience

Therapy for Individuals, Relationships & Neurodivergent Constellations

I offer therapy not just for individuals, but also for people in relationships or chosen family systems—including polycules, queerplatonic partnerships, and neurodivergent family units.

If you’ve ever felt like your relationships don’t “fit the mold,” you’re not alone. Many neurodivergent people experience connection in ways that don’t align with dominant models—and that’s not a problem to fix. It’s a difference to honor.

I work with:

• Individuals navigating burnout, sensory overwhelm, masking, or identity shifts

• Partners building communication tools that fit how your minds actually work—not how they “should”

• Friendships, families, & neurodivergent constellations working to improve repair, co-regulation, and mutual care

• People exploring nontraditional relationships who want support untangling shame or internalized norms

We slow things down and notice what’s happening between you—not to pathologize, but to understand what your system needs to feel safe, seen, and heard.

There’s no need to perform or “get it right” in therapy. You get to show up in your full truth, with all your stims, tangents, pauses, info-dumps, and brilliance intact.

Whether you're processing a rupture, learning to unmask, or just trying to figure out how to be together in ways that feel good, we move at your pace and listen to what your nervous systems are asking for.

This is relationship therapy that makes space for your wiring, your identities, and your whole self.

You Are Not Alone

Whether you’re learning to embrace your neurodivergence, navigating identity shifts, healing from past wounds, or simply seeking a therapist who truly “gets it,” I’m here to walk with you. Your story is important, your pain is valid, and your healing is possible.

Ready to Start?

Contact me for a free 15-minute consultation. Let’s see if this feels like the right fit for you.

Email me at Glen@GestaltGlen.com, call me at 202-922-5747, or visit GestaltGlen.com to schedule your call today.