NEUROQUEER THERAPY
Words matter. Sometimes they simply describe who we’ve always been.
The word neuroqueer was developed and popularized by autistic scholar, writer, and activist Nick Walker. While different people use it in different ways, it offers language for understanding the ways neurodivergence and queerness often intersect—not simply as identities someone happens to hold, but as deeply interconnected ways of experiencing and moving through the world.
For some people, neuroqueer describes being both neurodivergent and queer. For others, it describes the ways neurodivergence itself can be a form of queering social expectations—challenging assumptions about communication, relationships, gender, identity, productivity, or what it means to be “normal.”
There isn’t one correct definition. Like many communities, the language continues to evolve.
I identify as neuroqueer because it reflects my own lived experience as a queer, gender-fluid, neurodivergent therapist. It also reflects the lens through which I understand many of my clients’ experiences—not as separate categories to be treated individually, but as interconnected parts of whole people.
In therapy, this changes the questions we ask. Instead of asking, “How do we help you fit better into the world?” we may ask, “What kind of world allows you to exist more fully as yourself?”
Instead of assuming difference is a problem to solve, we become curious about how environments, expectations, trauma, sensory experiences, relationships, and systems shape your nervous system.
That doesn’t mean every struggle comes from society. Nor does it mean pain isn’t real. It means we don’t begin by assuming you are what’s broken.
Many of the people I work with have spent years wondering why life feels harder than it seems to for everyone else. They’ve learned to mask. To apologize. To over-function and question their own perceptions.
Sometimes they arrive in therapy convinced they’re “too much.” Or “not enough.”
A neuroqueer perspective invites a different possibility. Maybe your nervous system has been making sense all along. Maybe the problem isn’t your humanity. Maybe it’s the environments that repeatedly asked you to abandon parts of yourself in order to belong.
My goal isn’t to convince you that every part of life should feel easy. It’s to help you understand your nervous system, your relationships, your identity, and your strengths with greater compassion and curiosity.
Whether you identify as neuroqueer or have never heard the word before, you don’t need to adopt any particular label to work with me. What matters is that therapy becomes a place where more of you is welcome.
If you’re looking for a neuroqueer therapist in Seattle or anywhere in Washington through telehealth, I’d be honored to see if we’re a good fit.
The term neuroqueer was developed and popularized by autistic scholar and educator Nick Walker. This page reflects my own understanding and application of the concept in my clinical work and is not intended to represent the full range of meanings used within the neurodivergent community.
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Neuroqueer is a term developed and popularized by autistic scholar Nick Walker. While there isn’t one universally accepted definition, it generally describes the intersection of neurodivergence and queerness, or ways neurodivergence itself can challenge conventional expectations about identity, communication, relationships, and society.
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Not at all. Many of my clients identify as neurodivergent, LGBTQIA+, both, or neither. The neuroqueer perspective informs how I think about identity, nervous systems, and relationships, but you don’t need to use any particular label to benefit from therapy.
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No. Neuroqueer is not a diagnosis. It’s a framework and identity term used within parts of the neurodivergent community to describe experiences that don’t fit neatly into traditional categories.
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A neuroqueer approach begins from the assumption that differences are not inherently deficits. Rather than asking how to make you appear more “normal,” therapy focuses on understanding your nervous system, reducing unnecessary shame, increasing self-understanding, and building a life that better fits who you are.
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Yes. I provide secure online therapy for adults throughout Washington State.
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We’ll spend about 15 minutes talking about what brings you to therapy, what you’re hoping for, and whether we seem like a good fit. If it feels like a good match, we’ll talk about next steps.