About Dr. Montague
I believe neurodivergent people experience a form of cultural oppression where they constistenly receive the message that they're not good enough the way they are and have the pervasive experience of being misunderstood which has an accumulative traumatic impact on the lives of Autistic adults. Over the past decade, I have specialized in working with neurodivergent adults who are diagnosed later in life. I have come to understand the profound emotional suffering someone with an autistic neurotype experiences, and the role that social isolation and trauma has had on one's desire to have social relationships, ability to engage in these relationships effective and ultimately the loneliness, depression, anxiety, and the pain of not getting it right that so many Autistic adults endure.
Many of the adults that I have worked with have had previous experiences with mental health and medical professionals that have been painful, and often they leave the interaction feeling misunderstood or judged. For many, they have lived their lives undiagnosed or misdiagnosed and have had difficulty understanding their own behavior, thoughts and feelings as well as their interactions with the social world. I relate to, and empathize with, this struggle. It is my hope that your experience with me will be different.
Education and experience
- Bachelor's Degree (BS) in Psychology - Ball State University
- Master of Arts (MA) in Child, Couple and Family Therapy - Antioch University Seattle
- Doctorate of Clinical Psychology (PsyD) - Antioch University Seattle
- Autism Spectrum Disorders Certificate - Antioch University New England
I completed my Doctoral pre-internship at the University of Washington CARE clinic, where I gained experience working with neurodivergent children, adolescents and adults and their families. Through this work I noticed how the many of those I worked with suffered some form of trauma, and the effects of this trauma in combination with neurological differences were manifesting in my clients lives in such a way that it furthered their daily suffering, social isolation and affected their desire and ability to engage with others. It became clear that the social world of neurotypicals (NTs) was confusing, anxiety provoking, and seemingly unfair and cruel for my clients on the autism spectrum.
Motivated to further understand how relational trauma impacted the lives of my clients, I pursued a Doctoral Internship at the Fremont Community Therapy Project, a clinic that specializes in trauma. Throughout this time I continued to observe that human beings suffer, and heal, in relationship. I saw the beauty and pain in human connection and began to understand that many people on the autism spectrum desire social relationships, yet the trauma and pain of past experiences inhibited their expression of these desires and ultimately their motivation to seek out human relationships.
Professional affiliations
- American Marriage and Family Therapy Association - Clinical Fellow
- American Psychological Association - Full member
- Autism Society of America