“Why Does Everyone Else Seem to Have the Manual?” Therapy for Neurodivergent Adults Who Feel Like Aliens at Work
Professional. Competent. Socially Confused.
You show up. You overthink. You get praised for your work ethic and attention to detail. You’re the “rock” on your team. The dependable one. The one who never quite understands how others are… so chill?
Meanwhile, internally, your day looks like this:
Hyper-analyzing your tone in an email you reread 9 times
Having a small existential crisis over spontaneous small talk
Forgetting lunch because you hyperfocused for six hours straight
Wondering if everyone else actually understands what’s happening, or if they’re just faking it better
You’re not lazy. Or broken. Or weird.
You’re probably neurodivergent. And you’re tired of pretending not to be.
“I Thought It Was Just Me.”
If you’ve ever left a meeting and immediately replayed your every sentence in your head like a post-game analysis…
If you’ve ever Googled “why am I like this” while also completing a 26-tab research deep dive in record time…
If you’re constantly toggling between being too much and not enough...
Welcome. You’re not alone. And you don’t need to keep “fixing” yourself.
How Neurodivergence Actually Shows Up at Work
Whether you’ve been formally diagnosed or just suspiciously relate to every ADHD and autism meme on the internet, there’s a good chance you’ve experienced:
Masking: the exhausting art of performing “normal”
Burnout: because masking is, in fact, a full-time job
Perfectionism: because you’ve learned to compensate through overachievement
Sensory overload: fluorescent lights, noise, hot-desking, all of it
Social confusion: team lunches, happy hours, ambiguous “feedback”
Time distortion: either 3x speed or full executive dysfunction mode
And the kicker? Most people don’t see it. Because you’ve gotten very good at passing.
But the cost? Is that you feel like you’re constantly cosplaying a functioning adult.
What Neurodivergent-Affirming Therapy Actually Does
At Sunburst Psychology, we work with neurodivergent adults in Seattle and Bellevue—people who’ve spent their lives performing their personalities like a part-time role and now just want a place to be.
Our therapy is:
Identity-affirming (no, we’re not here to make you “act more normal”)
Culturally and socially attuned (because being neurodivergent and BIPOC and an immigrant and a perfectionist is... a lot)
Focused on deconstructing internalized ableism, not reinforcing it
Interested in your actual needs, not just your coping mechanisms
We support late-diagnosed autistic adults, ADHD professionals, multiply neurodivergent clients, and folks who don’t even have a label—just a long-standing hunch that they’re different, and deeply tired of hiding it.
What We Actually Talk About in Therapy
No worksheets. No fake empathy. Just the stuff that actually matters:
“Why do I feel like I’m performing all day?”
“I’m exhausted, but I can’t stop over-functioning.”
“Is it burnout or just how my brain works?”
“Why do I feel ashamed for needing things?”
“How do I unmask without self-destructing my career?”
“How do I stop spiraling every time I get vague feedback?”
“Can I please stop apologizing for being different?”
You don’t need to learn how to be less of yourself.
You need a therapist who knows how to hold all of you.
Why This Matters (And Why Now)
Because every day you spend pretending is a day you lose energy you could be using to live your actual life.
Because masking is a form of survival—but you deserve more than survival. You deserve support.
Because you’re already doing the hard part. We just help you make sense of it.
Looking for neurodivergent adult therapy in Seattle or Bellevue?
We see you. You don’t have to decode your personality for us. We speak fluent neuro-spice.
Schedule a consultation with Sunburst Psychology.
Come as you are: intense, brilliant, sensitive, spiraling, hyper-focused. We’re ready.
