Women & ADHD Zoe Darazsdi: Mental health stigma & neurodivergent self-advocacy
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Jan 9, 2023 Zoe Darazsdi is a neurodivergent mental health counselor and disability rights activist who specializes in supporting autistic and ADHD individuals. In this engaging conversation, she discusses the stigma faced by neurodivergent clients in therapy and the critical need for neurodiversity training among clinicians. Zoe highlights how common therapies can fail during emotional dysregulation and encourages reframing perceived 'flaws' as strengths. She advocates for self-advocacy, community support, and the importance of understanding neurodivergent experiences in therapeutic settings.
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Self-Identification When Assessment Is Inaccessible
- Zoe explains she self-identified as autistic after a therapist's casual remark and extensive self-education.
- She emphasizes assessment barriers and the value of self-identification when formal evaluation is inaccessible.
Diagnoses Are Not Crystal Clear
- Zoe highlights DSM limits and overlapping traits between autism and ADHD that blur rigid diagnostic boundaries.
- She argues behaviors often reflect information-processing differences rather than clear separate disorders.
Listen Before Applying Normed Interventions
- Therapists should listen openly instead of applying neurotypical-normed interventions to neurodivergent clients.
- Validate executive dysfunction as brain processing limits, not moral failure or low motivation.
