Neurodivergent-affirming psychology for teenagers in Brisbane
I’m a Brisbane-based psychologist in Stafford, working with young people from 12 years and up — ADHD, Autistic, or AuDHD — with support from parents and carers. I work directly with the young person, and I do not offer formal assessments. A formal diagnosis isn’t necessary to start. Standard daytime and evening sessions available — including after-hours.
Book OnlineWhat neurodivergence can look like in a teen
In young people neurodivergence often shows up as a “spiky cognitive profile” — sometimes called twice exceptional, or “2e”: genuinely excellent in the areas that light them up, and stuck on things that look like they should be easier. The teen who writes a novel for English but can’t read an analogue clock; who can talk for an hour about their special interest and freeze when asked to start their homework. That gap between ability and day-to-day functioning is one of the most common things I see, and it’s frequently misread as not trying.
Neurodivergence is a broad umbrella — it also takes in dyslexia, dyscalculia, intellectual disability and more. The presentations I work with most often are:
ADHD
Executive function — planning, starting, remembering — is still developing well into the twenties. A difference in capacity, not in ability or intelligence. ADHD comes in three presentations (inattentive, hyperactive-impulsive, or combined) and can range from mild to severe. Working with ADHD →
Autism
Including the young people who mask all day at school and come apart at home — who present as “fine” to teachers and melt down the moment they’re safe. Autism shows up across sensory experience, communication, and thinking style, and looks different in every young person. Working with autism →
AuDHD
The autistic-and-ADHD combination, where two sets of needs pull in opposite directions: routine and novelty, rest and stimulation, all at once. Having one of these diagnoses makes the other more likely. Working with AuDHD →
Some teens get missed altogether — often girls, often quietly anxious, camouflaging and perfectionistic. Evidence increasingly recognises these as differences in how a brain is wired, not deficits to be corrected.
Alexithymia and interoception. Many neurodivergent teens find it hard to read their own internal signals — noticing hunger, tiredness, or a feeling building until it’s suddenly huge — a mix of interoception (sensing the body) and alexithymia (naming emotions). A lot of our work is tuning into those signals earlier, so big feelings don’t seem to come from nowhere.
You don’t need a diagnosis to start
Some families arrive with a diagnosis already in hand; many are on a waitlist. Plenty are simply wondering — the pieces are starting to line up, but nothing is confirmed. Support doesn’t have to wait for a diagnosis. National guidance on autism support is clear that a young person’s needs, not a completed assessment, should drive the help they receive.
I offer therapy, not assessment. I don’t diagnose ADHD or autism. If a formal assessment is what your family needs — for school supports, medication pathways, or NDIS — a paediatrician, psychiatrist, or assessing psychologist is the right referral, and I’m glad to provide support during that process.
The teens who get missed
Some young people don’t get diagnosed early, because they don’t look the way the stereotype says they should. They’re often described as sensitive — they feel a great deal: their own emotions, bright lights, loud sound, the emotional weather of everyone around them. Contrary to a stubborn myth, autistic young people are frequently deeply empathetic, sometimes overwhelmingly so.
It often runs on a cycle: a stretch of doing everything, everywhere, all at once — followed by a crash. Days in bed, headaches, disrupted sleep, mornings where school feels difficult. What gets labelled “school refusal” is often a nervous system that has simply run out of capacity. When that budget runs dry, the overwhelm has to go somewhere: for some it turns outward as big emotion or a need to escape; for others it turns inward — going quiet, withdrawing, shutting down. Both are the same underlying thing: a nervous system past the edge.
If your teen is in crisis right now. This page describes ongoing therapy, which isn’t the right first step for a young person who is actively unsafe or in acute distress. If you’re worried about their immediate safety, please contact your GP, present to your nearest emergency department, or call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (both 24/7). We can begin the longer work once things are steady.
Why being neurodivergent can be hard on a young person
It may be two things happening at the same time.
Being neurodivergent in a world built for neurotypical brains is itself stressful — the daily friction of social expectations that don’t fit, sensory environments that overload, and the sting of rejection when you keep missing cues no one explained. And research indicates neurodivergent young people are also more likely to encounter significant adverse experiences. The two feed each other: a nervous system already working hard, struggling to process big stressors.
This is a large part of why I hold both lenses together — working with a young person’s neurodivergence and stressful life events, rather than treating either in isolation.
Your teen is the client
When the client is your teenager, a few things shape how the work runs:
The therapy is the teen’s space
The content of sessions stays confidential between us.
You’re kept in the loop where it counts
That confidentiality isn’t absolute — matters of safety, and the broad goals of therapy, are discussed early.
We work with the nervous system, not against it
I draw on a young person’s special interests to build regulation skills and therapeutic rapport.
A word on Gillick competence. As young people mature, they can take on more of the decisions about their own care — a principle known as Gillick Competence, or the “mature minor.” Where a teenager understands what therapy involves, they can consent to it and have a genuine say in how it runs, including what stays private — held alongside their safety and your role as their parent.
Alongside the neurodivergence
Rarely does a young person arrive with just one condition. I also work with what tends to travel alongside:
Specific learning disorders
Dyslexia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia — differences in reading, numbers and writing that are themselves forms of neurodivergence and often sit alongside ADHD and autism.
Anxiety
Including the school-attendance struggles.
Depression
The low, flat, burnt-out states that may be a major depressive disorder or burnout.
OCD
Intrusive thoughts and the checking or rituals that build up in an attempt to manage anxiety.
Sleep
The body-clock and routine difficulties that often come with a neurodivergent nervous system.
Chronic health & pain
The fatigue, POTS, and hypermobility/EDS presentations that co-occur with neurodivergence.
Screens & gaming
When phone, game or device use needs rebalancing against sleep, school and connection.
Immersive online worlds
A rich imaginative or online life that needs balancing against other priorities a young person wants for themselves.
Identity
Including gender-diverse and LGBTQIA+ young people, who are warmly welcomed. This is an affirming space.
My approach
I draw on several evidence-based approaches and weave them together in response to what your teen brings. Brief descriptions below — fuller pages linked.
DBT
Practical tools for riding big emotions, tolerating distress, and steadying relationships. Skills-based and concrete, which tends to land well with teens.
ACT
Working out “who am I” and “what actually matters to me” — values, identity and age-appropriate autonomy. This is the core task of adolescence.
EMDR
An evidence-based therapy used in the treatment of trauma; evidence suggests it may reduce the emotional charge attached to difficult memories.
Schema Therapy
For the long-standing self-beliefs — “I’m too much”, “something’s wrong with me” — that neurodivergent kids absorb before anyone offers a kinder explanation.
Parts Work
Used when there’s internal conflict or a sense of different “parts” pulling in different directions — helpful for making sense of competing inner voices and bringing them into conversation rather than collision.
Are we the right fit?
This work is best suited to young people who can attend consistently and are seeking ongoing therapy rather than a one-off session or assessment. I don’t conduct ADHD or Autism assessments — therapy only. If that’s what your family needs, your GP can guide you toward an assessment service.
I’m not currently the right fit for young people in acute crisis or with active safety concerns. These situations are better held by services with the resources to support them well. Under-twelves I’m glad to refer to a child psychologist better suited to that age.
I work with young people from 12 upward across Brisbane, with in-person sessions in Stafford — including after-hours options for families who can’t make weekday daytime.
Supporting an adult instead? See my neurodivergent adults page →
Visiting the practice
My consulting room is at Soul Shine Collective on Stafford Road, in Brisbane's inner north — a local neurodivergent-affirming space, easy to get to from across Brisbane's north. The clinic is a short drive from Stafford Heights, Kedron, Everton Park, Gordon Park, Grange, Alderley, Chermside, Nundah, and Clayfield, with off-street parking available. Evening sessions are available Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday — for families who can't make weekday daytime hours.
In-person is usually the better fit for teens, though Telehealth across Australia is available where it’s needed.
After-hours availability →Book your appointment
Online booking via Zanda. Standard (50 min) and Longer (80 min) sessions available — including evening appointments Tuesday to Thursday. Longer sessions are recommended for EMDR and neurodivergent clients who benefit from extra regulation time.
Book Online