Life feels harder than it seems like it should.
Neurodivergent-affirming therapy in North Carolina for adults navigating ADHD, Autism, sensory overwhelm, burnout, and the transition into motherhood.
A neurodivergent-affirming therapist providing online therapy for women across North Carolina. I work with neurodivergent women, or anyone who has felt othered, navigating ADHD, Autism, sensory overwhelm, and the emotional intensity or pregnancy, postpartum, and parenting.
Hi! Welcome to Otherwise Counseling
I’m Sara Alexander, LCSWA
I provide a space for clients to find calm, clarity, and a different way forward. A place for sensitive and neurodivergent women to explore their nervous systems without masking, shaming, or forcing themselves to live or parent the “right” way…whatever that is.
Many of the women I work with are thoughtful, sensitive, deeply feeling…and completely exhausted.
The sensory overload never really stops. Their body feels like it’s on high alert from the moment they wake up to bedtime (and usually throughout the night too).
Sometimes naming feelings is impossible. By the time they realize they’re upset, they’re already shutting down or melting down.
Sometimes pregnancy and motherhood intensifies everything. Smells are stronger. Tastes unbearable. But worse, their own body suddenly feels unfamiliar and threatening.
Once kids are in the mix, anxiety, sensory overload, and burnout get in the way of the kind of parent they want to be. They feel like they’re failing. Or at least failing the version of motherhood everyone seems to expect.
Before coming to therapy, clients might be worried they won’t be understood. They might struggle to communicate what they are experiencing in a way that makes sense to another person. They might wonder, “Will this be another dismissive provider passing off their symptoms as ‘normal’?”
They might think they just need to deal with it and feel deep shame that they can’t do life as easily as other people. They feel they can’t handle it, they are too much, or they aren’t enough.
Like these clients, you deserve to feel confidence and a peaceful steadiness in life. You deserve to feel free from the shame of what you “should” be and feel proud of the amazing human you are. You deserve to be seen, accepted, and held.
You’re not broken. Your nervous system is overworked.
I’m here to help.
Therapy that fits your brain and body
Therapy for my clients isn’t about fixing. It’s about helping their brain and body work with them, not feel like it’s fighting against them.
Here’s how we’ll work together:
Find calm without masking. Learn ways to settle your body without having to hide what you feel or pretend you’re fine.
Make sense of the chaos. Untangle what’s anxiety, what’s sensory overload, and what’s just life, so you know what to respond to and what to release.
Build trust in your own way of parenting. Instead of fighting to meet some invisible “good mom” standard, we’ll create routines that actually work for your brain and family.
Grow real self-compassion. The kind that lets you be gentler with yourself when you drop the ball, melt down, or need a break.
Create small, doable changes. No giant life overhauls. Just practical steps that help you feel a little steadier each week.
Otherwise Counseling is about knowing there is always another way to live, parent, and be with yourself. Together, we’ll find the one that works for you.
Feeling ready to take the first step?
Schedule a free 15-minute video consultation to see if we feel like a good fit. I’ll check in about what your needs are and what lead you to seek therapy now. I’ll give you a quick run-down of the logistics of working together and then tell you a bit about what to expect from doing therapy with me. You’ll also have the chance to ask any questions that will help you make a decision that feels right.
