By Emily Linder, LPCC-S | Calibrations Counseling & Consultation A client came to therapy with a question that surprised both of us: "I know I need to unmask. But I don't know who I'm unmasking toward. Who am I supposed to become?" She'd spent months recognizing her autistic traits, understanding her need to mask, beginning to let the performance drop. But all of that work was about what to stop doing. Stop forcing eye contact. Stop suppressing stims. Stop pretending to be so

By Emily Linder, LPCC-S | Calibrations Counseling & Consultation For most of my twenties, I was the friend who organized everything. Weekend trips, group dinners, birthday celebrations, impromptu happy hours. I was always saying yes and constantly creating opportunities for people to gather. Everyone knew me as social, outgoing, the connector who brought people together. I was exhausted all the time. But I thought that was just normal adult tiredness. Then I got my autism dia