About Kristen McClure, LCSW | ADHD Therapist for Women
Neurodivergent-affirming therapist, advocate, and writer
How I Got Here
I didn't set out to specialize in ADHD. I got here because I kept noticing something that didn't sit right.
Early in my career, I was working with girls — in juvenile justice, in school-based mental health programs, in clinical practice. I kept seeing the same pattern: bright, struggling, frequently written off. Girls who were inattentive, overwhelmed, and emotional in ways that didn't match what clinicians were trained to look for. They were being diagnosed with anxiety, depression, or behavioral problems. ADHD was rarely on the table.
I started asking why.
My personal life sharpened that question. Watching my stepchildren navigate an educational system that consistently misunderstood their neurodivergent brains — and seeing firsthand how much damage that misunderstanding does — made this more than a professional interest. I have lived experience with neurodivergence myself. So do people I love — friends, family, and loved ones whose lives have shaped how I understand what it actually means to move through the world with a neurodivergent brain. I know what this looks like from the inside, not just from the other side of a clinical office.
That combination — clinical observation and personal understanding — is what shapes how I work.
What I Know After 31 Years
I've been a Licensed Clinical Social Worker for 31 years. I've worked with anxiety, OCD, depression, and trauma across many populations and settings. I've built school-based mental health programs in underserved communities in Charlotte, NC. I've created foster care programs, child advocacy centers, and support groups.
But the work I return to — the work that matters most to me — is ADHD in women.
Women with ADHD are among the most undertreated, most misdiagnosed, and most exhausted people I have encountered in three decades of clinical practice. They are not broken. They are misunderstood. There is a significant difference, and it changes everything about how therapy should work.
I am a member of APSARD, CHADD, ADDA, and the ADHD Coaches Organization. I teach at UNCC Charlotte. I stay current with the research because the research is still catching up to what women have been describing for years.
My Approach
My work is explicitly neurodivergent-affirming. I am not deficit-based or disease-model focused.
That means I don't approach ADHD as a disorder to be managed into compliance. I approach it as a nervous system that works differently — one that needs the right environment, the right support, and a therapist who actually understands how ADHD operates in women's lives.
My framework is built around five areas: self-awareness, self-compassion, self-accommodation, self-advocacy, and self-care. The goal is not symptom reduction. The goal is a life that fits who you actually are.
Beyond the Therapy Office
I write for an audience of nearly 8,000 readers across several Substack publications:
Flourish: A Newsletter for ADHD Women — community, framework, and emotional support for ADHD women
The Curious Therapist — clinical thinking, research, and honest reflection on neurodivergent mental health
ADHD Kids Affirmed — neurodivergent-affirming support for parents raising ADHD kids
Writing is part of how I do this work. It is where I think out loud about what the research says, what my clients teach me, and what the mental health field still gets wrong about ADHD — especially in women.
Who I Work With
I work with adult women in North Carolina and South Carolina via telehealth. Most of my clients are navigating late ADHD diagnosis, burnout, RSD, anxiety, or the particular experience of having been misunderstood for most of their lives.
I work with women who finally have a name for something they've carried for decades — and are figuring out what to do with that.
I work with women who are done being told they just need to try harder.
Work With Me
I have limited availability. If you are in North Carolina or South Carolina and would like to explore whether we are a good fit, please reach out.
Email: kristenlynnmcclure@gmail.com
You can also find me on Psychology Today →
Kristen McClure, MSW, LCSW | Telehealth for women in NC and SC | $110/session | Most BCBS plans accepted
