Human beings are wired for connection. People need to be seen and celebrated to thrive. I want my relationship with my clients to be a place where they feel safe enough to be vulnerable. It can be scary to look at yourself honestly and as a therapist I strive to create a safe container for my clients to be able to do this important work. Many counselors focus on helping clients grow their “window of tolerance.” As an autistic person, I know a lot of us have been expected to tolerate a huge amount of distress in our lives. Many of us have already developed huge windows of tolerance to survive. My goal as a counselor isn’t to help my clients tolerate more distress, it is to help them find ways to decrease the amount of distress in their lives. So much of the distress we experience stems from masking, both externally and internally. Trying to be someone you’re not is exhausting and traumatizing, yet so many of us do it without even realizing. This seems to be especially true for queer and neurodivergent people. I want to help my clients understand, honor, and celebrate their authentic selves!