Tobi Carter, Licensed Clinical Social Worker

On paper, youre the one who has it figured out. Youre the reliable friend, the high-achieving professional, the person who holds the logistics of life together. But internally, you are running a marathon just to stay at the starting line. The core of the struggle isn't that you aren't "doing enough." Its that youre doing too much just to feel "normal." For someone navigating both neurodivergence and trauma, the "problem" often looks like this: " Youve spent so long adapting your natural communication, sensory needs, and boundaries to fit a neurotypical world that youve lost the ability to hear your own gut feeling. You don't just doubt your decisions; you doubt your very perception of reality. " Things that others seem to brush off (a sharp tone, a bright room, a change in plans, etc.) land on your nervous system with a thud. Because youve been told youre "too sensitive," you suppress the reaction, which leads to a quiet, vibrating burnout that nobody else can see. " You feel a deep, confusing loyalty to people or systems that don't actually support you. Youve learned that "safety" means being useful, being quiet, or being "easy," and the thought of advocates for your own needs feels like an existential threat. " Your trauma isn't always a single event; sometimes its the cumulative weight of a lifetime of being told your natural way of being is "wrong," "dramatic," or "too much." The result? You feel like an alien in your own life. You are tired of translating your internal world for people who don't speak your language, and youre even more tired of apologizing for the space you take up.

I also provide neuro-affirming and trauma-informed diagnostic assessments to help individuals understand how their pattern appears in their daily lives.