Jena MacDonald

Therapy for ADHD, Autism, Masking & Neurodivergent Burnout

Neurodiversity-Affirming Therapy for Teens & Adults

Jena supports neurodivergent teens and adults exploring ADHD, autism or AuDHD, including those recognizing their neurodivergence later in life. Shaped by both lived and clinical insight—including her own journey through queer identity, religious deconstruction, and a later autism diagnosis—she understands the exhaustion that can come from years of masking, sensory overwhelm, burnout, and trying to function in environments that were not designed with your needs in mind.

Jena's approach is compassionate, curious, and neurodiversity-affirming. Therapy can offer a place to understand how masking, sensory needs, executive functioning, identity, and years of trying to meet neurotypical expectations may be contributing to exhaustion or disconnection from yourself. Together, you can explore ways of living that better honour how your brain works, what you need, and who you are.

Who Jena Supports

Jena works with teens and adults who may have spent years feeling different, misunderstood, or exhausted by trying to meet expectations that don't fit how they experience the world. Her clients often include:

Neurodivergent Teens & Adults: Supporting autistic, ADHD and AuDHD clients navigating masking, sensory overwhelm, executive functioning challenges, emotional regulation, and neurodivergent burnout.

Women Exploring ADHD or Autism Later in Life: Support for women questioning or recognizing neurodivergence in adulthood and beginning to make sense of lifelong patterns through a new lens, including masking, burnout, relationships, sensory needs, and identity.

LGBTQ+ & Gender-Expansive Individuals: Affirming therapy for clients exploring sexuality, gender identity, belonging, relationships, and the experience of navigating environments where they may have learned to hide or question parts of themselves.

Individuals Healing From Religious Trauma: Supporting clients navigating religious shame, spiritual deconstruction, identity, family or community expectations, and the process of rebuilding a relationship with their own values and autonomy.

Young Adults Navigating Identity & Transition: Support through post-secondary life, changing relationships, academic or career pressure, identity development, and the overwhelm that can come with figuring out adulthood while learning what actually works for you.

Whether you're beginning to question whether ADHD or autism may explain parts of your experience, recovering from years of masking, exploring your identity, or rebuilding after religious shame, Jena offers a space where you don't have to perform, explain away your needs, or make yourself easier for others to understand.

Behind the Bio: The Human Behind the Therapist

(Because yes, therapists are humans too—coffee-loving, podcast-bingeing, deep-feeling humans!)

Comfort Food Favourite: Nothing beats Mom’s homemade chicken soup.

A Highly Recommended Read: The Giver stands out as a timeless favourite. It explores memories, grief, forgiveness, connection, and the profound importance of emotions.

A Go-To Way to Unwind: Crochet, knitting, and curling up with a good book and a big cup of herbal tea are top choices for relaxation. Creative outlets like Lego building, diamond painting, and other hands-on crafts also help soothe the nervous system.

Articles by Jena MacDonald

Jena writes about autism in women, ADHD, AuDHD, masking, autistic burnout, rejection sensitivity, religious trauma, LGBTQ+ mental health, and what it means to build a life that honours a neurodivergent nervous system.

Most Read Articles:

What is Rejection Sensitivity?

Masking in Women: The Hidden Cost of High-Functioning Coping

High-Functioning Anxiety in Women: When Success Hides Chronic Stress

Back-to-School Support for Parents of Autistic Teens and Young Adults

Why Relationships Can Feel So Confusing for Autistic Women