We came to this work for a reason. Some of us were inspired by someone who helped us, some to be the person we wished we had, and some were the people that our friends came to when they needed support, and that felt good.

Our job is harder than you thought during grad school when you were full of hope and altruism, but somewhere along the line, you became a hypocrite with a very dark sense of humor. Ugh, I can hear the shame. Look, our job is tough and takes an emotional toll, if you are neurodivergent, this toll is more like a fine.

• It’s harder for you to leave work during work time hours, especially if you work from home.

• You struggle to be emotionally available to your family and friends because the mask is just too heavy to wear, and you are simply burnt out.

• You tell your clients to journal, meditate, practice mindfulness, and gratitude, but can’t bring yourself to do those things, because you still need to write notes.

• You struggle to eat nutritious foods because your brain craves carbohydrates. That’s actually chemical. You can look it up (but seriously, do you really want to? You know you are just going to end up on socials).

• You live on the edge of overwhelm and one more thing, like the dog sniffing in one spot too long, or the kids taking forever to tie their shoes, even though you know it is good for them (blah blah blah), whatever, it’s simply too much.

• Every day you help people live authentically but you struggle to live it yourself.