Natalie Furdek: Licensed Professional Counselor
I accept autistic and ADHD clients exclusively (including those who suspect they might be, and those who have self-diagnosed)
Online Counseling
As a life-long Texan, I understand distance! That’s one of the reasons I’ve chosen to provide online-only counseling services. I’ve been licensed as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC #17569) since 2002, after receiving my Masters Degree in Education/Community Counseling from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. I’m currently off the Caprock in Texas, and my roots lie in areas of the state that often lack quality counseling services. It is my goal (and passion) to serve neurodivergent Texans, who, for whatever reason – be it convenience, pricing or distance – have chosen to give online counseling a try.
Experience and Methods
I have worked with a wide and inclusive range of clients on issues such as trauma, depression, substance use, stress and anxiety, gender and sexual identity, and many others. Understanding how these conditions impact the neurodivergent person can help that person achieve even more healing.
My approach is client-centered, which means that I believe that the therapeutic relationship between counselor and client is the most important aspect of therapy. I am neurodivergent myself and this allows for a unique therapeutic rapport with neurodivergent clients who have not felt well-understood in the past. Beyond that, my tools are cognitive behavioral in nature, with a heavy emphasis on mindfulness skills and understanding polyvagal theory. All are evidence-based approaches for autistic and ADHD clients.
Autism and ADHD as Neurodivergence
In 2021, I became a Certified Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinical Specialist (CASDCS) after learning about the unique ways in which females and non-binary folks experience being autistic. In 2022, I expanded this education to include a specific certification as an ADHD-Certified Clinical Services Provider (ADHD-CCSP) to add as many tools as possible for improving executive function and understanding motivation in both Autism and ADHD.
The two certification programs focused primarily on the “pathology” of these conditions as described by the medical model. However, in my work, I embrace the neurodiversity model and enjoy teaching neurodivergent clients (autism, ADHD, etc.) about this concept because of the healing that it can bring. The neurodiversity movement views these “conditions” as normal ways of existing as human, not as something “pathologically wrong” with a person. A counselor must choose their approach (as both of these models cannot both be correct), and I’ve chosen the neurodiversity model (with a caveat that I stay aware of, indeed certified in, mainstream teachings on the matter).