Navigating Late-Diagnosed ADHD, Executive Dysfunction & Workplace Masking
If you were diagnosed with ADHD later in life, or strongly suspect you have it, you have likely spent years compensating through sheer willpower, perfectionism, and anxiety. For high-achieving professionals and creative adults in Vancouver, late-diagnosed ADHD often presents as a silent struggle: performing well on the outside while experiencing constant internal exhaustion, time blindness, and executive dysfunction behind closed doors.
Traditional productivity advice often fails neurodivergent brains because it forces you to fit into neurotypical frameworks. Trying harder at strategies that don't match how your brain processes dopamine, focus, and energy only leads to shame and burnout.
As a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) in Vancouver, I provide neurodiversity-affirming therapy designed to help you drop the exhausting workplace mask, build tailored executive function systems, and embrace how your unique brain works.
Common Challenges We Work Through
ADHD impacts far more than just attention span; it affects emotional regulation, energy levels, and self-worth.
Key Areas We Address:
Executive Dysfunction & Task Paralysis: Overcoming difficulty starting tasks, prioritizing demands, and managing chronic procrastination without self-criticism.
Time Blindness & Planning: Developing practical, low-friction systems to estimate time, manage schedules, and meet deadlines sustainably.
Workplace Masking & Burnout: Unpacking the heavy cognitive toll of overcompensating to hide ADHD traits in professional environments.
Emotional Dysregulation & Rejection Sensitivity: Managing intense emotional spikes, anxiety around perceived failure, and rejection sensitivity dysphoria (RSD).
Imposter Syndrome & Self-Shame: Deconstructing years of internalized messages that labeled your neurodivergence as laziness or a lack of discipline.
Therapeutic Approaches to Neurodivergence
I combine evidence-based therapeutic models tailored specifically to your cognitive style and lifestyle:
Neurodiversity-Affirming Therapy: Validates your lived experience as a natural brain variation rather than a defect, focusing on accommodations and self-compassion over "fixing" you.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) Adapted for ADHD: Identifies negative thought loops surrounding productivity, failure, and perfectionism while building practical behavioral strategies.
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT): Helps you disengage from self-critical thoughts, accept your cognitive strengths and limits, and take action aligned with your core values.
Somatic & Nervous System Regulation: Teaches you how to identify sensory overload, manage physical restlessness, and recover from dopamine depletion.
What ADHD Therapy Focuses On
Understanding Your Brain: Learning the neurobiology behind your specific ADHD profile so you can work with your nervous system instead of against it.
Building Tailored Systems: Creating personalized, low-barrier tools for task organization, energy management, and routine building that actually fit your life.
Healing Internalized Shame: Transforming the narrative around past struggles and unlearning the compulsion to overperform to prove your worth.
Navigating Relationships & Work: Improving communication, boundary-setting, and accommodation requests with partners, employers, and colleagues.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a formal medical diagnosis to start ADHD therapy?
No. Whether you have an official diagnosis from a psychiatrist, an informal assessment, or are self-identified and exploring neurodivergence, we can immediately begin working on practical strategies and self-understanding.
Is ADHD therapy covered by extended health insurance in BC?
Yes! As a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC), my services are covered under most extended health plans in British Columbia. Following each session, you will receive an itemized receipt with my RCC credential number to submit to your provider for reimbursement.
How is ADHD counselling different from ADHD coaching?
While ADHD coaching primarily focuses on immediate daily skills and accountability, clinical counselling addresses both practical strategies and the deeper psychological factors such as: emotional regulation, trauma, anxiety, workplace masking, and self-esteem.
Ready to Work With Your Brain Instead of Against It?
You don't have to navigate executive dysfunction or burnout alone. Take the first step toward a more compassionate, sustainable relationship with yourself.
Session Fee: $170 per 50-minute individual session
Format: In-person (Vancouver) and Online Video Counselling across BC
