Most trauma therapy assumes your brain should work like everyone else's. We don't. We understand that neurodivergent nervous systems process threat differently—often more intensely. That's not a flaw; it's biology. Our approach honors your unique wiring while helping you build genuine safety.
Your Survival Skills
Aren't Symptoms.
They called your hypervigilance a "disorder." They called your anxiety "irrational."
They were wrong. Those are the skills of a survivor.
It's Time to Honor Your Adaptations.
The traditional mental health system looks at a person who survived a hostile environment and calls their adaptations a "disorder." It pathologizes the very strategies that kept them alive.
We reject this entirely.
Your hypervigilance, your anxiety, your numbness, your "overreactions"—these aren't symptoms of brokenness. They're the skills of a survivor. They're the brilliant, logical, neurobiological adaptations of a nervous system that learned to navigate a world that wasn't safe.
Here, we don't just "treat" trauma. We stand in awe of the resilience it took to get here →. And we use the science of the nervous system → to help you finally feel safe in your own body.
Start Here: Core Frameworks.
These are the foundational concepts that underpin everything we do. Before diving into specific techniques, understand the science of your own survival.
What Even IS Trauma?
Our foundational manifesto deconstructing the gatekeeping myth of 'big T' trauma and validating the profound impact of chronic invalidation.
The Polyvagal Primer
Why your nervous system is the key to everything—and why 'just relax' has never worked for you.
Anxiety & Depression
These aren't separate 'disorders'—they're often two sides of the same dysregulated coin. Here's the science.
The Science Behind Healing.
We're not making this up. These aren't "woo-woo" concepts dressed up in clinical language. This is the cutting-edge neuroscience of trauma and recovery—the research the mainstream system is still slow to integrate.
Polyvagal Theory
Why your nervous system is the key to understanding everything.
The Window of Tolerance
The map of your nervous system's capacity—and how to expand it.
Neuroplasticity
Your brain can literally rewire itself. Here's the proof.
Epigenetics
How healing yourself can change your family's biological legacy.
Default Mode Network
The neuroscience of rumination and where your brain goes at rest.
Somatic Experiencing
Why your body holds the key to trauma release.
Ready for the full research library? Explore the Science Hub →
Deeper Dives from the Library
Neurodivergent Burnout
A Guide To Burnout: Your Body Is Not a Machine
Burnout is a physiological state of nervous system collapse, not a personal failure. The masking-to-burnout pipeline is linear — more masking, more damage....
Neurodivergent Experience
The Crushing Labor of Masking: A Neurodivergent Guide
Masking isn't 'acting normal.' It's a three-stage survival process with real neurological costs. A field manual for coming in from the cold....
Therapy & Coaching
Parent's Guide to the Fit Check: The First Call
Co-regulation is the mechanism that builds secure attachment. Your child's nervous system borrows stability from yours — that's why we start with you....
The Enlitens Method
Therapy at Enlitens Isn't a Talk Show. It's a Workshop.
The therapeutic alliance predicts outcomes. Traditional 'talk show' therapy forces neurodivergent clients to mask — our workshop model doesn't....
Assessment & Testing
No 8-Month Wait: Our Flexible Assessment Process
Your child is in crisis and the system says wait 8 months. That's negligence. A guide to faster, therapeutic assessment in St. Louis....
Assessment & Testing
Why Autism & ADHD Testing Costs $3,500 (And How to Pay)
Where the money goes, why insurance denies coverage, and how to navigate the 'superbill shell game' for ADHD and autism testing reimbursement....
Getting Started
Executive Function-Affirming: Our Missed Appointment Policy
Research confirms: ADHD is an Executive Function Disorder, not a Behavior Disorder. Punishing missed appointments punishes neurology, not attitude....
The Science
ADOS-2 Has a 34% False Positive Rate: The Crisis
The ADOS-2 'gold standard' has a 34% false positive rate and 11% item bias by race and sex. Why single-test assessment fails — and what to demand....
Assessment & Testing
How to Use Your Brain Guide to Change Your Life
You got your assessment results. Now what? A practical guide to turning self-knowledge into real change — without getting stuck in analysis paralysis....
Neurodiversity
The AuDHD Experience: Gas Pedal and Brake at Once
Your last-minute cancellation wasn't flaky — it was your nervous system's act of self-preservation. The neuroscience of AuDHD's internal tug-of-war....
Assessment & Testing
Affirming Autism Assessment for Your Teen
Your fear that an 'affirming' assessment will be 'soft' and won't hold up at school? That myth is keeping your teen from the accommodations they deserve....
The Science
Masking vs. Social Anxiety: A 2025 Study Draws the Line
Is it autistic masking or social anxiety? A 2025 study proves they're statistically distinct constructs. Why this changes everything about your diagnosis....
The Science
Your Brain's Unique Fingerprint: A WashU Study 2026
Tired of your child being compared to a 'neurotypical baseline'? A WashU precision mapping study proves the average brain is a statistical fiction....
Getting Started
You've Been Burned Before. Here's How We Prevent It.
Physiological synchrony correlates with outcomes. Your 'gut feeling' about a bad therapist isn't anxiety — it's your nervous system detecting the gap....
Therapy & Coaching
Trust Your Gut. Always. (Our "No Hard Feelings" Promise).
The therapeutic alliance can be measured through physiological synchrony. Your gut feeling isn't vague — it's processing biological data in real time....
Therapy & Coaching
You Weren't Resistant to Therapy. You Had Bad Therapy.
'Treatment-resistant' is a system failure label, not a diagnosis. Bottom-up approaches are essential — talk therapy alone is insufficient for trauma....
The Science
The Biology of Anxiety: A 2025 Study Proves Its Real
A 2025 Nature Communications study proves anxiety has a measurable biological signature. Your brain chemistry is not a character flaw....
Trauma Recovery
Bottom-Up Therapy: When You Can't Talk Out a Panic Attack
Cognition-oriented therapies alone are insufficient for trauma. Bottom-up, body-based interventions are essential when your nervous system is hijacked....
The Science
The Chemical Imbalance Myth: How Marketing Failed Us
The chemical imbalance myth was debunked by a 2022 umbrella review. The real science — inflammation, HPA axis — and why your story matters more....
Trauma & Healing
Cognitive Walk Through
Read the full guide...
Assessment & Testing
We Don't Test You. We Collaborate With You.
A psychological assessment shouldn't be a cold interrogation. How collaborative assessment works — and why your 'wrong' answers are the most valuable data....
Therapy Philosophy
You're the Expert. We Have the Map. Let's Collaborate.
Your nervous system evaluates safety without conscious awareness. A hierarchical therapist triggers defense — not healing. We collaborate instead....
Assessment
From Diagnosis to Accommodations: Your User Manual Guide
Post-diagnosis, individuals hit a 'support cliff.' This guide bridges from your diagnosis to the college and workplace accommodations you deserve....
Therapy & Coaching
You're Not a Checklist: A Team Approach for Complex Brains
Interdisciplinary teams surface 'hidden' dilemmas that single-discipline teams miss. For complex brains, siloed care isn't insufficient — it's dangerous....
Burnout
It's Not Imposter Syndrome. It's Neurological Data.
Dopamine signals prediction errors. Your brain allocates energy based on perceived reward — and corporate busywork generates zero signal....
Crisis Intervention
Four Years in the ER: How Crisis Shaped Our Approach
Environments without psychological safety trigger fight-flight-freeze. My ER years forged a crisis approach built on co-regulation, not containment....
Trauma & Healing
Default Mode Network
Read the full guide...
Assessment & Testing
Your Experience is Not Up for Debate.
Diagnostic invalidation is real. A guide for those terrified an assessment will deny their reality — your experience is never up for debate....
Trauma & Healing
Double Empathy Problem
Read the full guide...
The Science
Emotion Dysregulation as Biological Strength: 2025 Study
A study proves what survivors know: emotion dysregulation can be a biological adaptation to trauma — a strength, not a disorder. The science agrees....
Trauma Recovery
Emotional Numbness Isn't Empty. It's a Power Outage.
Alexithymia creates a disconnect between high arousal and low self-reported experience. The numbness isn't absence of emotion — it's overload protection....
Parent Guides
Empathy Slows Aging: A 2025 Study on Compassion
Storytelling is a primary adaptation for prosocial behavior. Compassion isn't a 'soft skill' — it's biological armor embedded in their cells....
Trauma Recovery
Epigenetics & Trauma: You Can Rewrite Your Code
Epigenetic changes from trauma are self-sustaining — but neuroplasticity is lifelong. Your code can be rewritten. You are the software developer....
Executive Function
Your Brain's CEO is Burnt Out: Executive Dysfunction
Stuck on the couch, drowning in shame while laundry piles up? You're not lazy — your brain's CEO is burnt out. The neuroscience behind why and what to do....
Executive Function
Executive Function at Home: A Parent's Guide
You hold it together all day, then come home paralyzed. This isn't a moral failing — it's executive function collapse. Here's why and what helps....
Therapy & Coaching
You Understand the "Why." Now You Need the "How."
You've done the deep work in therapy, but daily life is still chaos. You don't need more talk — you need a toolkit. Executive function coaching explained....
Executive Function
This Isn't About Your Mother. It's About Your Monday.
Tired of your week being a mess? This isn't therapy. It's a practical guide to building the systems and tools you need to get the job done. Just focus....
Executive Function
The Wall of Awful: Why You Can't Click the Button
That paralysis right before you click 'schedule'? It's not weakness. It's your nervous system doing its job. A guide to the Wall of Awful and through it....
Executive Function
You Don't Need Another Planner. You Need a System.
Is your home a graveyard of empty planners and failed apps? You're not lazy — you're a scientist. The data is clear: neurotypical tools don't work for you....
Neurodiversity
Feeling Like a Failure? That Gut Feeling Is Data.
Interoception — your body's internal monitoring — is the physiological basis for emotion. That gut feeling isn't a moral verdict. It's neurological data....
Getting Started
If You're Looking for a Blank Slate, I'm Not Your Therapist.
Prediction errors drive learning and memory updating. A therapist who only echoes your patterns can never trigger the mismatch your brain needs to change....
Our Team
Our Founder is a Therapist First.
Protecting clinician wellbeing reduces burnout and compassion fatigue. Our practice protects the therapist's nervous system to protect yours....
Getting Started
The Fit Check: You're the One Interviewing Us
Masking your symptoms to 'perform' for a therapist is the exact pattern that made you need therapy. Your only job on this call is to be yourself....
Getting Started
The 15-Minute Vibe Check: A No-BS Guide to the First Call.
Physiological synchrony between client and therapist predicts outcomes. The 'vibe check' isn't a gimmick — it's the most evidence-based first step....
Therapy Philosophy
Our Goal is to Work Ourselves Out of a Job.
Co-regulation precedes self-regulation. Therapy isn't a life sentence — it's the workshop where your young adult learns to self-regulate....
Trauma Recovery
The Goal Isn't to Silence the Alarm. It's to Trust It.
Trauma restructures the brain to prioritize survival. The real goal isn't happiness — it's recalibrating your alarm system to trust yourself....
Neurodiversity & Trauma
Healing When the Trauma Is Still Happening: A Guide
Allostatic load drives breakdown. How to heal when the trauma is ongoing — a neuroscience-backed guide for co-parenting warriors still in the storm....
Getting Started
Paying for Therapy Shouldn't Be Awkward. We Fixed It.
ADHD is an Executive Function Disorder. A context switch from vulnerability to payment depletes the regulation you spent an hour building....
Neurodivergent Experience
How We Use The Brown Ef A Scales
Read the full guide...
Neurodivergent Experience
How We Use The Sensory Profile
Read the full guide...
Cost & Insurance
The Insurance Shell Game: Therapy vs Assessments
The single greatest barrier to diagnosis is the prohibitive financial cost. Your insurance company isn't broken — it's working exactly as designed....
The Science
Racism's Biological Footprint: Intergenerational Trauma
A 2025 Biological Psychiatry study proves systemic racism leaves a measurable epigenetic footprint on the next generation's DNA. The science is in....
Trauma & Healing
Interoception Explained
Read the full guide...
Parenting
Is It ADHD or Just Being a Kid? A Parent's Guide
Your kid builds LEGO universes for hours but can't focus on homework? This isn't a behavior problem. The neuroscience of the ADHD paradox explained....
Neurodiversity
This Isn't a Demolition. It's a Renovation.
A late ADHD or autism diagnosis after divorce isn't demolition. It's the missing blueprint explaining your survival — a guide to rebuilding....
Therapy & Identity
Beyond the Rainbow Sticker: What "LGBTQIA+ Affirming" Actually Means.
Epistemic injustice causes mental health inequities — compounded by intersectionality. 'Affirming' is not a feeling. It's a measurable clinical competency....
Our Philosophy
Why We Say 'LVL 99': A Nod to Mastery, Not a Joke.
100+ hours of specialized training. Ongoing supervision. A commitment to knowing neurodivergent brains better than anyone. This is our training standard....
Trauma & Healing
Memory Reconsolidation Therapy
Read the full guide...
The Enlitens Method
Let's Talk About Meds (Without the Bulls*hit).
Adult ADHD treatment requires long-acting medication AND skill-based therapy. Meds got you halfway; here's the other half....
Therapy & Coaching
Why Your Therapist Should Have an Opinion: Our Approach
The relational model is the single most robust predictor of outcomes. A therapist with a pulse beats a blank screen every time. Here's how we work....
Therapy & Coaching
Teaching Your Therapist? Find a Neuro-Affirming One
Epistemic injustice directly causes mental health inequities. If you're teaching your therapist about your brain, you're in the wrong room....
Neurodiversity & Parenting
Your Brain at 15 vs. 45: Neuro-Affirming Teen Care
Autism and ADHD challenges evolve in the teen years. The PFC-amygdala wiring is established in adolescence — and the support transition at 18 is critical....
Burnout
Burnout Partner Guide: In the Blast Radius
Co-regulation is one of the most energy-intensive tasks a human can perform. Your burnout as a partner isn't weakness — it's resource bankruptcy....
Child Assessment
This Isn't a Test. It's a Conversation Disguised as Play.
Worried assessment will traumatize your child? A guide to the neuroscience of neuroception — how we create biological safety that unlocks authentic data....
Assessments
Our Reports Aren't a Label. They Are a Lever.
Terrified a diagnosis will box your child in? You're right to be. We don't write labels — we build dimensional levers that break the box open....
Neurodivergent Experience
The Human Chameleon: Your Brain's Different Manual
You're not a fraud. You're a brilliant anthropologist exhausted from fieldwork in a foreign culture. The neuroscience of why 'passing' costs so much....
Neurodiversity
Worried You're Faking It? You're Almost Certainly Not
That fear of faking your neurodivergence? It's proof you're not. Why your support needs are valid — no matter what they look like from the outside....
Accommodations & Advocacy
How to Talk About Your Brain in a Job Interview
Girls and women mask ADHD at high cost. A guide to translating neurodivergent strengths in job interviews and advocating for accommodations....
Neurodivergent Experience
Masking & Burnout: Curating Your Story After Late Diagnosis
You're not a liar. You're a survivor. Every mask was a brilliant adaptive tool. A research-backed guide to reclaiming your identity after late diagnosis....
Trauma & Growth
You Are the Center: Healing Neurodivergent Relationships
Masking consequences are overwhelmingly negative. People-pleasing isn't kindness — it's a trauma response your nervous system learned. Untwist it....
Neurodiversity & Therapy
You Don't Need Another Generalist. You Need a Specialist.
Diagnostic Overshadowing is rampant — autism missed as BPD, OCD, or anxiety. Your child's labels are receipts for a system that stopped looking too soon....
Trauma & Healing
Neuroplasticity & Trauma: Building New Neural Roads
Neuroplasticity is lifelong — your brain changes at any age. 'Can't teach an old dog new tricks' is a lie. Here are the blueprints for new roads....
Neurodivergent Experience
Neuroscience Of Executive Function
Read the full guide...
The Science
There Is No 'Normal' Brain. A New Study Just Proved It.
A 2025 study of 289 newborns proves brain connectivity is as unique as a fingerprint from birth. The 'normal brain' used to judge your child? Fiction....
Neurodiversity & Parenting
My Kid, My Expertise: Why the System Fails Parents
A 2025 study confirms the system fails when it ignores parents. Research shows parental 'resistance' is historically significant — not difficult....
Neurodiversity & Parenting
You Didn't Give Them Trauma. You Gave Them Tenacity.
Epigenetics proves genes are potential, not destiny. You didn't pass down trauma — you provided the biological buffer that changes their gene expression....
Neurodiversity & Parenting
You're Not Overreacting. You're Paying Attention.
Told you're overreacting about your child? Your nervous system evaluates risk unconsciously. Parental instinct is backed by neuroception science....
Relationships & Self-Advocacy
A Translation Guide for Parents Who Don't Get ADHD
Your parents don't believe in ADHD? Communication breakdown is mutual — the Double Empathy Problem. A guide to using science as your translator....
Trauma & Healing
Polyvagal Theory Explained
Read the full guide...
Cost & Insurance
Anatomy of a "Cash Grab": How to Spot a Predatory Assessment Practice.
The ADOS-2 and standard diagnostic tools are fundamentally biased. A $4,000 assessment on a biased test isn't expertise — it's a tax on desperation....
Assessment & Testing
Your Brain Isn't a Puzzle — It's a Misread Map
Been to multiple therapists but still feel misunderstood? Know there's more to the story? The choice between a label for them and answers for you....
Assessment & Testing
What a Real Brain User Manual Actually Looks Like
Tired of reports listing your 'deficits'? We are too. How our strengths-based Brain Guide works — designed for you, not your insurance company....
The Science
Ghost of Puberty: How Teen Stress Shapes Adult Biology
Teen stress leaves a biological footprint. A 2025 study proves puberty timing — physical and perceived — shapes cellular health 14 years later....
Our Philosophy
The Rebellious Academic: Science Against a Broken System
The therapeutic alliance predicts outcomes across ALL therapy modalities. Our rebellion is the most scientifically sound position available....
Our Philosophy
Why We Quote "Clerks" in a Therapy Session.
Client-generated metaphors beat therapist-imposed ones. Your 'weird' interests aren't distractions — they're the most direct pathway in....
Self-Advocacy
You're Not Making Excuses. You're Revealing the Cost
Masking causes exhaustion, burnout, and identity loss. For helpers, your burnout isn't weakness — it's the predictable cost of unrevealed labor....
Neurodiversity
The Neurodivergent Hangover: A Sensory Processing Guide
Your nervous system has documented sensory gating differences. You can 'pass' in a loud world, but you pay for it later. The sensory hangover explained....
Therapy & Coaching
This Isn't a Life Sentence. It's a Boot Camp.
Coaching should make itself obsolete. A manifesto against endless therapy. Our coaching is a short-term boot camp to give you skills — not a life sentence....
Cost & Insurance
We Don't Need to See Your Pay Stubs. We Trust You.
Neuroception detects safety subconsciously. Forcing you to 'prove' financial struggle is a neuroceptive threat triggering the shame you're healing....
Cost & Insurance
Sliding Scale Therapy: Support You Deserve
Emotional safety is a non-negotiable prerequisite for healing. Financial transparency isn't a 'nice policy' — it's a clinical intervention....
Neurodiversity
Why Your Social Battery Dies So Fast: A Neuro Guide
Your social battery is real — a measure of finite cognitive resources drained by three neurological forces: sensory gating, masking, and hypervigilance....
Neurodivergent Experience
Social Skills Training Alternative
Read the full guide...
Therapy & Coaching
Yes, Bring Your Stuffed Animal to Therapy. Seriously.
Trauma healing requires 'bottom-up' approaches that regulate the body's physiology. Your comfort object isn't childish — it's clinical infrastructure....
Cost & Insurance
The Superbill: Get Your Money Back from Insurance
The prohibitive cost is the greatest barrier to diagnosis. The superbill is your weapon to claw back the money the system owes you....
Trauma Recovery
You Do Not Owe Us Your Trauma.
Forcing a trauma narrative before safety is established can strengthen fear pathways. You don't owe anyone your story. Our safety-first approach....
Neurodiversity & Parenting
Talking to Kids About Therapy (Without the Weird)
Worried therapy will be scary for your child? Co-regulation is the biological foundation. A practical, strengths-based script for the conversation....
Parenting
Teen Anxiety as Signal, Not Sickness: A Case Study
Masking is a 3-stage process with negative consequences. What if your teen's anxiety is the cost of camouflage, not a disorder? A deep dive case study....
Cost & Insurance
Does Insurance Cover Telehealth? Let's Verify Together
ADHD is an Executive Function Disorder. The insurance company's confusing portal is a direct tax on your most impaired capacity. We handle it....
Assessment & Testing
Assessments Built for Your Couch: Telehealth Guide
Terrified to turn on your camera? Don't clean up. Your 'chaos' is valuable clinical data, and telehealth assessment is accurate....
Executive Function
The Neuroscience Of The Aha
Read the full guide...
Common Questions
The "big T vs. little t" gatekeeping is clinical violence. Chronic invalidation IS trauma. Growing up in a world that constantly told you your perceptions were wrong, your reactions were "too much," your needs were burdens—that leaves deep marks on your nervous system. You don't need a catastrophe to have PTSD symptoms.
Because your nervous system doesn't care about your insights. Talking about trauma while your body is in fight-or-flight can actually deepen the wound. We prioritize body-first, bottom-up regulation—using Polyvagal-informed approaches to establish physiological safety BEFORE we touch the story.
Real healing is absolutely possible. The science of neuroplasticity shows us that your brain can literally rewire itself. The science of epigenetics shows us that healing yourself can change the biological legacy you pass down. This isn't just symptom management—it's biological remodeling.
Your body remembers what your mind forgets. Trauma lives in the nervous system, not just in narrative memory. You don't need a coherent story to heal—you need to learn the language of your body's signals and respond to them with safety. We work with somatic experience, not just storytelling.
Most therapy treats trauma as something to "get over." We treat it as a record of your resilience—and your adaptations as brilliant survival strategies that simply need updating for a safer present. We're not here to fix you. We're here to help you reclaim your own neurobiology.
