You weren't the kid who couldn't sit still. You were the kid who figured out how to mask, compensate, and perform competence — and carried that exhausting act into adulthood. The ADHD tax is real. So is the cost of paying it for decades without knowing why.
High-achieving ADHDers rarely fit the stereotypes. You compensated. You worked twice as hard to produce results that felt effortless to neurotypical peers. You used anxiety, perfectionism, and sheer willpower to function — and called it trying hard enough.
A late identification reframes all of that. But it also destabilizes the identity you built around it. Who are you without the coping mechanisms? What does sustainable feel like when you've been running on cortisol and hyperfocus?
That's the work.
This is not about hacking your dopamine or better time management. It's about understanding why you've been so exhausted — and building a life that doesn't require you to constantly override your nervous system.
We don't optimize your output. We examine the cost of what you've been doing — and build a more integrated, sustainable way of existing in your own beautifully wired brain.
Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria hits ADHDers differently — and decades of being called lazy, scattered, or "too much" leaves a real residue. We work through the internalized shame, not around it.
Finding out you're an ADHDer at 30, 40, or 50 changes the story. We work through what it means to rebuild your sense of self — and grieve the version of you who didn't have the language.
ADHD is a nervous system and dopamine difference, not a motivation problem. We address the overwhelm, task paralysis, time blindness, and shutdown cycles — not just the surface behaviors.
Dropping the performance without destabilizing your job, relationships, or sense of competence. Unmasking is a gradual, careful process — not a switch — and it deserves real support.
Masking as an ADHDer and masking as a queer person often happen simultaneously. The weight of both deserves space. Queer neurodivergent clients are a significant part of this practice.
I know what it's like to be told you're smart enough to try harder — when trying harder was already everything you had.
— George Goldston, LMFT · ADHDer · he/him
I'm an ADHDer myself. My own neurodivergent experience shapes how I practice — not as a liability to hide or a credential to perform, but as a grounding. I understand the hyperfocus highs, the ADHD tax, the RSD spirals, and the specific grief of late identification from the inside.
That means less time explaining basics. More time doing actual work. You won't have to translate yourself for me.
Book a Free ConsultationPrivate pay. No insurance. Superbills available for OON reimbursement. Licensed in NC, OR, WA & SC.
Hiking sessions at Umstead State Park, Raleigh — or online via secure telehealth.
Most clients notice a meaningful shift around 12 sessions. Identity integration takes longer than symptom management — and it's more durable.
Free 15-minute consultation
A low-pressure call where we both figure out if this is a good fit. You can ask anything. No sales energy, I promise.
Intake sessions (2–3)
I ask a lot of questions about your history, masking patterns, nervous system, and what's bringing you here. Unhurried and thorough.
Ongoing work
We build the therapeutic relationship and start the real integration work — shame cycles, RSD, unmasking, nervous system patterns, identity.
Between-session resources
Science-backed readings and activities relevant to your specific work. Not generic neurodivergent handouts — actual useful things.
Ready to understand your brain instead of constantly fighting it? Let's find out if we're the right fit.