Most people were taught to think of “neurodivergence” as a deviation from the norm. A problem to manage or a set of traits to fix. But that story has always been too small for the people living inside it.
MINDS Mapping offers a new way forward.
MINDS stands for Misunderstood, Intersectionally Neurodiverse, and Silenced—a term my colleague Dr. Amy Rodriguez Tackett and I developed to more accurately describe the lived experiences of people whose ways of sensing, processing, feeling, and being have never truly been centered in our culture. MINDS offers a more accurate and empowering alternative to the term neurodivergent, which implicitly positions one way of being—the neuronormative way—as the ideal against which all differences are measured.
Rather than pathologizing difference, MINDS reframes neurodiversity as a natural, valuable expression of human variation that becomes vulnerable only when it is misinterpreted, unsupported, or forced into neuronormative molds.
Why This Framework Matters
Our entire society was built around one narrow way of thinking, communicating, relating, and moving through the world. When your brain or body operates differently, you’re often told—directly or indirectly—that you are the problem. But the truth is: Most distress MINDS individuals experience is not rooted in their neurobiology, but in chronic misunderstanding, misattunement, and environments that force conformity.
Understanding this shifts everything.
It means you’re not “too much,” “too sensitive,” “too intense,” or “too different.” You’re simply responding exactly as a human nervous system responds under constant mismatch or misattunement.
The Heart of MINDS Mapping
MINDS Mapping is a neuroaffirming therapeutic assessment process designed to help adults understand:
But the process doesn’t end with understanding—it opens the door to transformation.
Together, we begin mapping out a more sustainable way of living that honors your nervous system rather than fighting against it. We develop tools and strategies that work with your body’s rhythms. We explore ways of shifting from surviving to truly thriving, from masking to authentic expression, from self-doubt to self-trust.
This collaborative process will guide you to rediscover your natural pacing, needs, gifts, and preferences. You'll learn what supports regulation, what drains it, and what environments allow you to feel most yourself. And piece by piece, you can begin building a life that feels authentic, spacious, and fully aligned with who you truly are beneath the survival adaptations shaped by expectation and the pressure to fit in.
Through this process, people often say they feel like they’re “meeting themselves for the first time.” Many describe it as profoundly transformative—sharing reflections like “I’m seeing myself in ways I never have before,” or “This finally makes sense of my entire life.” And that’s the point.
Why Understanding Yourself Is Transformative
When you finally see your patterns through a lens of regulation—not pathology—you gain:
Self-understanding is not indulgent. It is the foundation of healing, acceptance, and authentic connection.
You Were Never Broken
MINDS is more than an acronym—it’s a movement toward truth.
A truth that says:
You are a whole human being with a unique sensory, emotional, and neurobiological signature—and you’ve always deserved environments, relationships, and mirrors that honor that truth.
Welcome to a new lens.
Welcome to a more accurate map of yourself.
Welcome to your MINDS Mapping journey.
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