The Practice Name

The name of this practice, Divergent Paths Counseling, has many different meanings that are relevant to the way that I practice healing as a therapist.

• Divergent Paths first and foremost means what it says: I love to work with humans who want to take a path that diverges from what the U.S. capitalist, consumerist, neuronormative, patriarchal, and heterosexist culture has laid out for them

• It also refers to pathways in our brain: Neurodivergent folxs most likely have different patterns of pathways in their brains than neurotypical folxs (you can google images of Temple Grandin's brain to see what I mean)

• The word 'path' also comes from my Contemplative Psychology orientation, the main modality that I work from. 'Path' refers to the path quality inherent in any healing journey - we don't jump from A to Z in one therapy session. We learn about ourselves, process things, and then spend time being that 'new' person for a while before we can journey on to new healings. That is the (healing) path.

• Divergent Paths also has meaning on the training-side of things. Most therapists have been trained to think of neurodivergent folxs, and especially autistic folxs, as people in need of 'fixing' or 'taming' to fit into the bounds of the systems I mentioned above. Therapists too have a chance to take a "divergent path" when they train themselves in neurodiversity-affirming care for the neurodivergent folx they work with.

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The Logo

• I based the image in my logo off a yoga neuron sticker I love that lives on the outside of my computer. Mine is a meditating neuron!

• The little lines sticking out from the neuron's head, arms, and legs have a double meaning. They are both dendrites (the parts of a neuron that connect it to other neuron's) and diverging paths!

• The neuron is meditating to represent the contemplative origins of Divergent Paths Counseling. My own meditation practice is the foundation of my work as a contemplative therapist.

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​The Website

• First things first, I had to make sure the website wasn't too overstimulating for folxs, while also making sure it was accessible to people with low vision or color blindness.​​

  • Many autistic and other neurodivergent folxs find bright colors and high contrast (e.g. between the text and the background behind it) to be overstimulating, anxiety-provoking, and sometimes physically painful.

• I used the WebAIM Contrast Checker to make sure the colors on this website were accessible for the largest number of people possible, while also prioritizing the neurodivergent/autistic folxs I serve.​

• • For low vision and colorblind people, you want the contrast to be at least 4.5:1​

  • However, for sensitive folxs, you want to minimize contrast. So, ideally, the contrast between words and the background throughout your website is a little bit greater than 4.5:1 to accommodate the most people.

  • (For example: Although you might not be able to tell, the default color of the text on this website is not black but a darkish green. Compared to black, dark green helps minimize the contrast for sensitive folxs while maintaining enough contrast for low vision/colorblind people.)

• ​Color Theory: Different colors evoke different responses in neurotypical and sensory neurodivergent folxs alike, so best to choose calming colors for those whose magical gift of sensitivity allows them to feel the energy of the colors strongly!

  • For example: I chose earth tones and blues for my website. These are shown to have a calming effect on people's nervous systems.​

  • Yellow was shown in at least one study to be the least preferred color for autistic men and boys, so stay away from this color if you're wanting to serve ND folxs!

• If you're curious to learn more, you can read more about creating accessible websites that, as a bonus, will be better websites for just about everyone!