Episode 109: "If I Could Do It, I Would": Executive Dysfunction and Late-Diagnosed ADHD
Jessica Hazard is a therapist in New York City who spent years working in public health before working for her own private practice. She worked at school-based health centers, and community health clinics. She was also the clinical director at an agency serving young people who had been commercially sexually exploited.
She got diagnosed with ADHD at 41, after spending years working with ADHD clients and thinking, "Wait, why do I relate to everything they're saying?"
In this episode, Jessica talks about the grief that came with late diagnosis ("What would my life have looked like if I had known this?"), the "lazy" narrative and executive dysfunction, ADHD piles and moral failure, the overlap between ADHD and autism, why therapy boundaries were designed to protect therapists (not clients), and how her own neurodivergence makes her a better therapist for neurodivergent clients.
We also talk about the harm of evidence-based models that weren't tested on neurodivergent people, why she tells all her teenage clients about her own ADHD, and why self-esteem is the real issue, not the way neurodivergence shows up.
Find Jessica Hazard:
Alma profile: Jessica Hazard
Private practice in New York City (licensed in NY)
Works with adolescents and adults who have experienced trauma
Insurance accepted
Mentioned in this episode:
ADHD piles
The "lazy" narrative
Rejection sensitivity
The overlap between ADHD and autism
Resources:
Learn more about high-masking, late-diagnosed autism: Instagram @neurokoryous
Unmasking Retreats: koryandreas.com/retreats
