ADHD & Neurodivergence
What if the problem isn't that you're bad at being a person—but that you've spent years trying to operate like a person whose brain works differently than yours?
I offer ADHD and neurodivergent-affirming online therapy for adults throughout Colorado who are struggling with executive functioning, overwhelm, emotional regulation, relationships, self-esteem, or years of feeling like they should somehow be doing life better.
The goal isn't to make your brain more “normal.”
It's to understand how it actually works—and figure out what helps.
Why Is This So Hard When It Seems So Easy for Everyone Else?
Maybe you've asked yourself that question a million times. You know what you need to do. You might even know exactly how to do it. And yet you're staring at the email you haven't answered for three weeks, surrounded by the supplies from the hobby you were obsessed with last month, wondering why you can accomplish incredibly complicated things but somehow cannot make the dentist appointment.
ADHD isn't simply an inability to pay attention. It can affect starting tasks, switching between them, estimating time, remembering things that aren't directly in front of you, regulating emotions, tolerating boredom, organizing your environment, managing competing priorities, and maintaining routines even when you desperately want them.
When those struggles have been interpreted as laziness, irresponsibility, selfishness, or lack of discipline for long enough, they can also fundamentally change how you see yourself.
Understanding ADHD Isn't the Same as Excusing
This distinction matters.
An ADHD-affirming approach doesn't mean:
“That's just how my brain works, so there's nothing I can do about it.”
And it doesn't mean:
“If I tried harder, I'd finally function like everyone else.”
There's a lot of room between those two extremes. We can acknowledge that something is genuinely harder for your brain without turning difficulty into a character flaw. Then we can get practical. What supports actually help? What environment does your brain function better in? Which expectations are unrealistic? Where do you need accommodations or different systems? And where is there a skill you genuinely want to strengthen?
Understanding yourself isn't an excuse to stop growing. It's information about how to grow.
ADHD Shows Up in Relationship Too
Executive functioning doesn't magically stop mattering because another person is involved. Forgetting something important can feel like not caring. Needing space can look like rejection. Emotional intensity can escalate conflict quickly. Differences in planning, cleanliness, time, communication, sex, attention, or follow-through can become loaded with meaning. And if you're already sensitive to disappointing people, relationships can become a place where you're constantly monitoring whether you've done something wrong.
We'll look at the pattern underneath the conflict—not simply decide that the person with ADHD needs a better planner.
For clients navigating unconventional relationship structures, I also offer polyamory and ENM therapy, where we can explore how attention, attachment, time, boundaries, jealousy, and multiple relationships interact.
FAQs:
Do I need an ADHD diagnosis to work with you?
No. Therapy doesn't require you to prove that you have ADHD before we can work on executive functioning, overwhelm, emotional regulation, shame, or patterns that are making your life harder.
Do you provide ADHD testing or diagnosis?
Therapy and formal psychological testing are different services. I can help you explore symptoms and patterns, understand how they're affecting your life, and discuss whether pursuing a formal evaluation might be useful, but I don't provide comprehensive psychological testing.
Is ADHD therapy basically productivity coaching?
No. We may absolutely work on practical things like organization, routines, task initiation, or time management when they're important to you. But therapy can also address the emotional and relational pieces: shame, self-esteem, perfectionism, anxiety, avoidance, attachment, identity, emotional regulation, and the years of experiences that shaped how you understand yourself.
Maybe You Don't Need to Try Harder
Maybe you need to understand why it isn't working. Therapy can help us separate what you want to change from what you've been told you should do—
and build support around the things that genuinely matter to you.
Let's figure out what actually works for you.
Not sure whether this kind of therapy fits what you're dealing with? Email me.
© 2026. All rights reserved.
Michelle Hansen, MSW, LSW
Colorado Licensed Social Worker
Clinical supervision: Becky Zal-Sanchez, LCSW (CSW.09923198)
Specialized training in Discernment Counseling and divorce recovery