Benjamin Lyons
I am a clinical mental health counselor, psychometry specialist, and certified specialist in ADHD and Autism serving clients virtually throughout Illinois and Missouri. My goal and focus is to provide services designed to identify and support adult experiences of ADHD, Autism, and PTSD/C-PTSD in Queer people, women and AFAB folx, POCs, and others who have gone unseen and unsupported. I approach the therapeutic process as a partnership - I am the mental health expert, and you, the client, are the expert on you. Through the combination of our expertise and resources, we can work together to improve your wellness.
My goal and focus is to provide services designed to identify and support adult experiences of ADHD, Autism, and PTSD/C-PTSD in Queer people, women and AFAB folx, POCs, and others who have gone unseen and unsupported.
First session
The first session is a conversation about what brings you to therapy, the tools we'll use in our work, and our respective roles in our work together. The primary goals of this session are to 1) ensure you have a clear understanding our process and what to expect as well as 2) ensure I have a clear understanding of where you are at and how we got here.
Strengths
At the core of my professional identity is what Dr. Carl Rogers called "unconditional positive regard" for my clients. Whoever you are, whatever your history, however you arrived at therapy - you are deserving of respect and I am glad you're here.
Ideal clients
Most of my clients have known something is off for a long time. Perhaps it's a persistent challenge to finish projects, a tendency to double-book yourself, or an inability to read a room. Maybe it's the sense that you're working a lot harder than the people around you to make the same progress. What recent research tells us is that up to half of adults with ADHD and and up to two-thirds of those with Autism don't know it. That means a lot of people have been missed, particularly people who don't fit the stereotype of a boy who can't sit down or is obsessed with trains. I am one of those folks who went undiagnosed with ADHD and Autism until age 35. My work is centered on supporting other adults finding themselves later in life to identify what's going on and how to make things better.
Treatment methods
Feminist
Exploring our intersections of power and vulnerability, culture and values, norms and expectations are all a vital part of understanding our context, the "water we swim in". Understanding our context helps us understand how we've gotten to where we are and what we need to make change.
Attachment-based
Attachment patterns and needs are a guide to our experience of trust and needs for connection. It's when patterns and needs don't align that we find ourselves unable to make the connections we desire. Through understanding what led to our current attachment patterns, we can then figure out how to pursue new ones.
Trauma-Informed Care
The oldest parts of our brains are highly sensitive to possible threats, looking for danger and trying to keep us safe. What we think of as the "normal world" is vastly different than life even a century ago and much of it is incredibly threatening to a part of our brain that is thousands of years "out of date". This stress on our system often results in trauma or vulnerability to traumatic events. Understanding our vulnerabilities helps us build safety and find support.
Mind-body approach
Research suggests that between 40 and 60% of our emotional experience is directly related to physical sensations, while the rest is how our brain makes sense of those sensations. The mind and body are not separate systems, they are collectively part of the whole that is our self. To care for one, we have to consider the other.
Location
Virtual sessions