Katie Richardson Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy with Katie

My style

I strive to live my values of authenticity, connection, inclusion, safety, and flexibility through my practice. I am strongly influenced by disability advocacy, intersectional feminism, and human ethics.

I adhere to professional ethics as it relates to the wellbeing of my clients; however, I am mindful that other parts of professionalism, e.g., formal attire, are rooted in colonialism, racism, and capitalism. Due to this and my history in child and youth work, I am pretty relaxed as a clinician. I do my best to minimize the power differential within the therapeutic relationship. That means you’ll certainly never see me in a suit, and I’m not going to interrogate you or insist on a specific direction.

I offer a friendly, flexible, accommodating, educational, tailored approach to suit your needs and personality. I strive to maintain my practice in a way that feels neurodivergent-affirming (sometimes called ‘neuro-affirming’), trauma-informed, culturally-responsive, and socially-just.

As with our values, I believe neuro-affirming is a direction, not a destination. Just like we never arrive at “west”; we continue to travel that way as best prepared (most informed) we can.

Therapeutic Modalities

I provide integrative therapy within a neuro-affirming framework, composed primarily of the following evidence-based modalities:

– Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
– Emotion-Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT)
– Relational therapies (IPT, PCT, psychodynamic)

I also have training in CBT, DBT, IFS, and more. I do not provide the traditional/formal CBT “change your thoughts” approach as it is quite dated, and recent research is suggesting that Autistic/ADHD brains are less likely to respond favourably to it. I much prefer the “third wave” approaches that focus on learning to accept our thoughts without being consumed by them.

Inside my Scope of Practice

These are the areas I actively seek out ongoing continuing education and training in:
– ADHD
– Autism (“ASD” levels I & II)
– Attachment
– Healthy interpersonal boundaries (relationship dynamics)
– Healthy intrapersonal boundaries (self-care)
– Bereavement/grief, including complicated or ‘prolonged’ grief
– Trauma (PTSD, C-PTSD)

The following concerns and comorbidities are also within my scope of practice:
– General anxiety (GAD)
– Major depression (MDD)
– Social anxiety (SAD)
– Impact of chronic pain/illness/physical disability
– Burnout; short or long term disability; return-to-work support
– Mild-moderate OCD
– Phobias
– Bipolar II
– Anger or emotional regulation issues
– Parenting, especially with neurodivergent or medically exceptional kids
– Personal growth/identity-exploration
– Perimenopause/menopause/PMDD
– Post-partum anxiety and depression
– Life transitions
– Marital or romantic relationship distress (individual only)
– Family conflict (individual only)

ADHD Support

I provide the follow types of support for ADHD:
– Validated ADHD screenings
– Evidence-based psychoeducation as it relates to ADHD, its treatment, comorbidities, and ways it can be accommodated
– Evidence-based information about ADHD medications available in Canada, what life can be like when they’re working, and what side effects might look like (*** Please note: while I have extensive and ongoing training on ADHD medications from CADDRA, this is not to be confused with individual medical advice. I cannot make suggestions or recommendations specific to YOUR medical needs because I am not a medical doctor.)
– Guidance and support finding formal assessment that is right for you
– Symptom/needs assessment.
– ADHD-affirming behavioural strategies to improve executive functioning in a way that feels in line with your needs and values (e.g., healthy PACING)
– Strategies to modify your environment to suit your brain
– Local and online community resources
– A space to process the grief of late diagnosis
– A space to process internalized ableism (guilt/shame)
– A space to process secondary or comorbid conditions like anxiety, depression, social anxiety, trauma, etc.
– With your consent, collaboration and advocacy with your doctors or other health care professionals
– Provided I know you well enough, a letter for your workplace, LTD caseworker, or OSAP application, etc., if needed for accommodations (I may charge a fee for this)
– Family or partner psychoeducation sessions

What about ADHD coaching?

People seeking support for ADHD can initially show up in different mental spaces. Often ADHD’ers seeking therapy are in a place of struggle, even rock-bottom burnout, or are experiencing relational distress in many areas of their life and need to do some deep self-concept-related work with someone who uses an ADHD-informed and ND-affiriming lens. On the other hand, ADHD’ers seeking coaching specifically usually come in feeling like their relationships are okay and they are able to get by, but they want to make things easier so they can thrive.

I might suggest a therapist starts from the inside out and a coach works from the outside in. Often people I work with eventually shift into coaching-like work with me, or it is sprinkled in throughout our work together. However, I do not consider myself an ADHD coach.

A stand-alone ADHD coach will not do the deep emotional work, but they will teach you new executive functioning strategies and help you find ways to tweak your environment; it is primarily behavioural work. They will also usually have more frequent contact with you than I can provide. I am not against this, and sometimes I even refer clients to coaches once they are doing well emotionally and specifically want to zero in on behaviour.

Ultimately it depends on your needs. If you are doing relatively okay and looking specifically for coaching (i.e., for someone who won’t ask you details about your feelings or overall mental well-being) a standalone ADHD coach might be a better fit. Try as I might, I just can’t turn off the therapist in me.

Autism Support

I provide the following types of support for autistic brains (please see the ADHD Support tab for more because there is a lot of overlap I didn’t rewrite here):
– Evidence-based psychoeducation from affirming sources
– Exploration of how AuDHD traits show up, why it is often difficult for clinicians to diagnose, and how existing support for autism and ADHD may not be suitable for an AuDHD brain
– Major focus on exploring and reducing internalized ableism
– Major focus on self-empowerment, self-advocacy, and securing independence (as desired, when appropriate)
– Autistic burnout and self-care support
– Sensory profiling
– PDA support and resources
– Differentiation of anxiety and autistic dread
– Exploration of pacing to address the impact of the ‘all-or-nothing’ brain in daily life
– Community/social-network building support
– Communication/relationship support from an affirming lens (informed by the social model of disability and double-empathy problem)
– Guidance toward and through affirming ASD assessment, if desired
– Guidance and support in parenting and advocating for an autistic child
– Support finding clinicians who can sign off on the DTC, OAP, or other government documentation
– Building awareness of financial support opportunities like the passport program and RDSPs
– Workshop/program resources
– Referrals to other sorts of ND-affirming clinicians as needed (nutritionists/dietitians, OT’s, psychologists, etc.)

*** Clients under 18 please note that I am an OAP-approved clinician.

Outside my Scope of Practice

The following issues are OUTSIDE of my scope of practice, which means it is not ethical for me to see you for these issues specifically and I will probably refer you to a “higher level of care” (psychiatrist/psychologist) or clinician that specializes in the given issue.

– Autism with high support needs
– Bipolar disorder I (AKA manic-depressive disorder)
– Dissociative identity disorder (DID)
– Schizophrenia
– Active psychosis
– Severe substance use disorder
– Severe OCD
– Eating disorders
– Sleep-related disorders
– Sexual disorders
– Learning disabilities (as a focus of treatment, specifically. I am aware most ADHD/Autistic brains also have LDs)
– Formal assessment of any kind
– Diagnosis of any kind
– Couples therapy (at this time)
– Family therapy (at this time)

Please note there is room for nuance here: if, for example, you have bipolar disorder I or schizophrenia, but you have appropriate psychiatric support and it’s not the primary reason you are seeking treatment, I’d still be happy to have a consultation.

If there is something you’re wondering about that’s not anywhere on this list, feel free to shoot me an email and we can discuss!

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