ADHD therapy for women in Denver
For the woman who read one article about ADHD in women and felt thirty years of her life click into place.
Girls learn early to hide the chaos: to mask, overwork, and apologize. That's why so many women aren't diagnosed until their thirties or forties, often right after a big life change breaks the systems that were holding everything up. I'm Mariana Vivas, LCSW, and this is a large part of my Denver practice, by telehealth across Colorado, in English o en español.
ADHD therapy at a glance
- Who it's for
- Adult women with ADHD: diagnosed, late-diagnosed, or strongly suspecting
- What we work on
- Burnout cycles, shame, perfectionism, emotion regulation, systems that fit your actual brain
- What this isn't
- Not medication management or formal testing; I refer well for both
- Format
- Telehealth anywhere in Colorado, or walk-and-talk in Denver
- Cost & insurance
- Insurance billing through Headway; estimated cost shown before booking
- How to start
- A free consultation call; schedule through Headway
Diagnosed late, or not yet
A late ADHD diagnosis can land in two waves. First: Oh. There was a reason. Then sometimes: Wait… so why did I spend twenty years thinking I was lazy? There can be real grief underneath a late diagnosis: for report cards about “not living up to your potential,” years spent calling yourself dramatic or disorganized, or elaborate systems built from shame rather than understanding how your brain works.
Therapy isn't about forcing yourself into systems that were never designed for how your brain works. We can look at the beliefs you've developed about your struggles and build routines, expectations, and supports that are more realistic and sustainable.
ADHD burnout
ADHD burnout often follows a familiar pattern: a deadline creates urgency, adrenaline carries you through an intense push, and the exhaustion arrives once the pressure is over. The cycle can repeat when you are constantly compensating, masking, and relying on systems that take enormous effort to maintain. For many women, this is compounded by work, relationships, caregiving, and the mental load of keeping daily life running.
Rest is important, but lasting change may also require adjusting the expectations, routines, and supports that keep leading back to exhaustion. Therapy can help us look at those patterns and build a more sustainable way of functioning.
The high-functioning disguise
From the outside you're the reliable one. Inside there's deadline panic, a 2 a.m. list, and a low hum of dread about the ball you've surely dropped somewhere. Perfectionism and people-pleasing are common ADHD adaptations in women. They were survival strategies once, and they cost more every year.
The goal isn't to lower your standards. It's to stop paying for them in fear.
ADHD after having a baby
Some women recognize their ADHD for the first time after having a baby. The structures that used to keep life together, such as sleep, routines, work schedules and alone time, can change overnight, while the amount of planning, remembering, anticipating and switching between tasks suddenly explodes. If motherhood made strategies that used to “work” stop working, that doesn't necessarily mean you've suddenly become bad at managing your life.
This sits at the intersection of my two specialties; the motherhood side lives on the postpartum therapy page.
What therapy does here, and what it doesn't
I'm a therapist, not a prescriber, and I don't provide formal ADHD evaluations or medication management. If either would be useful, I'll tell you and help you figure out where to go.
What we can work on is the part that doesn't disappear when someone hands you a diagnosis: emotional regulation, shame, perfectionism, burnout, relationships, routines, boundaries and the mental load. Medication can be incredibly helpful for some people. Therapy can be incredibly helpful too.
Common questions
I don't have a formal diagnosis. Can I still come? expand_more
Yes. You don't need to arrive with paperwork proving you're “ADHD enough” to talk about what you're experiencing.
I don't provide formal ADHD testing, so if an evaluation becomes important, I'll help you identify appropriate resources.
Do you prescribe ADHD medication? expand_more
No. I'm an LCSW, not a medication prescriber. If you'd like to explore medication, I can help you connect with an appropriate medical provider.
Isn't ADHD coaching enough? Why therapy? expand_more
Coaching can be really useful for organization, accountability and practical systems.
Therapy becomes especially helpful when ADHD is tangled up with anxiety, shame, perfectionism, trauma, relationships, burnout or years of believing your struggles were character flaws.
Do you take insurance? expand_more
Yes, through Headway. You see your estimated cost before booking. For out-of-network plans, there's a benefits checker on the insurance FAQ.
Other areas of focus
You've been compensating long enough.
Start with a free consultation call. Bring the suspicion, the diagnosis, or the burnout, whichever arrived first.
Mariana Vivas, LCSW · Licensed in Colorado · Page reviewed August 2026