By Emily Linder, LPCC-S | Calibrations Counseling & Consultation A client sat in my office last month and said something that stopped me cold: "I've been unmasking for six months now. I'm finally being myself. And I don't like who that person is." She'd spent three years in therapy working toward this moment. Learning about her autism. Understanding her need to mask. Slowly letting the performance drop. And now that she was finally being authentic, she discovered she didn't a

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 I said yes to hosting Thanksgiving dinner even though the thought made my stomach turn. Yes to a networking event I knew would leave me depleted for days. Yes to taking on an extra project at work when I was already drowning. And then I went home and cried in my closet because I couldn't figure out why I kept doing this to myself. This was three years into knowing I was autistic and had ADHD. I'd done therapy. I

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