A Neurodivergent Clinician With CAPD

My work as a psychotherapist is deeply informed by my own lived experience as a neurodivergent individual with Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD), a type of learning disability.

Neurodivergence refers to neurologically based differences that affect how people think, process information, communicate, and experience the world. These differences can significantly impact education, relationships, self-esteem, and mental health. CAPD is one such condition, and it has shaped both my life and my clinical approach.

What Is Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD)?

Central Auditory Processing Disorder is a learning disability in which the brain has difficulty processing auditory information. A person with CAPD can physically hear sounds and speech, but the brain does not consistently organize or interpret them accurately. This can make spoken language confusing, delayed, or overwhelming—especially in fast-paced or noisy environments.

CAPD is still not fully understood, and its causes remain unclear. What is known is that it can affect multiple areas of life, including academic performance, communication, attention, and emotional regulation.

Children and adults with CAPD often experience challenges such as:

• Difficulty following spoken directions

• Trouble understanding speech in noisy environments

• Academic struggles with reading, spelling, or learning

• Difficulty sustaining attention or processing rapid speech

• Frequently asking for repetition or clarification

• Feeling easily overwhelmed or misunderstood

(Johns Hopkins, 2006)

Because of these challenges, individuals with learning disabilities like CAPD are at higher risk for anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and low self-esteem. This is something I know not only professionally—but personally.

My Personal Experience With a Learning Disability

As a child, I experienced frequent ear infections and a head injury, both of which may have contributed to my CAPD. I struggled with speaking, reading comprehension, focus, and attention from an early age. In school, I was placed in resource rooms, separated from my peers, and often felt isolated and misunderstood.

Despite the best intentions of teachers and family, very few people truly understood what I was experiencing. Like many children with learning disabilities, I internalized a sense of frustration and shame, which eventually turned into anger.

Living with an undiagnosed and unsupported learning disability was traumatic. I worked significantly harder than my peers just to keep up, struggled socially, required silence to concentrate, and had difficulty with memory and organization. I experienced depression, anxiety, dissociation, rage, addiction, and periods of suicidal risk. At the time—particularly in the 1980s—schools offered limited support, leaving my parents overwhelmed and frustrated.

From Learning Disability to Professional Purpose

Everything began to change in high school, when I transferred to a smaller private school that offered individualized attention. For the first time, I felt supported in a way that allowed me to learn and grow. I went on to attend college, graduate from a top university, complete graduate school, and pursue post-graduate training in psychotherapy. This journey required years of personal therapy, self-reflection, and persistence. It was not easy—but it was transformative.

Today, I practice as a psychotherapist in New Jersey, teach part-time at a university, and collaborate with colleagues worldwide. While I’ve learned how to compensate for CAPD, it remains part of my life. More importantly, it has become a source of empathy, insight, and clinical strength.

How My Experience Shapes My Work as a Therapist

My neurodivergence allows me to connect deeply with clients who feel different, misunderstood, or left behind. I know firsthand what it’s like to struggle silently, to work harder than others, and to question your own abilities.

Through years of compensating for CAPD, I’ve developed an exceptional ability to listen—not just to words, but to what lies beneath them. I often attune to emotions, patterns, and unspoken experiences that clients may not yet be aware of themselves.

My approach is grounded in:

• Deep empathy

• Authenticity and transparency

• Practical, real-world strategies

• A willingness to explore new ways of being

• Appropriate use of humor to create safety and relief

  
  

Clients often tell me they feel understood in ways they haven’t before. My goal is to help people create space for self-acceptance, resilience, and meaningful change.

A Message of Hope

If you are living with a learning disability—or supporting a child or loved one who is—you are not broken. Being different does not mean being limited. With the right support, it is possible to build a fulfilling, successful life.

I am far from perfect, but I have embraced who I am. CAPD does not define me entirely, but it has profoundly shaped the therapist I’ve become. If you’re looking for a therapist in New Jersey and New York who truly understands both the clinical and human side of these challenges, you’re not alone—and help is available.