Julie Legg speaks with psychotherapist Karen Dwyer-Tesoriero, who specialises in adult ADHD, complex trauma, and attachment. With over 25 years in social work and psychotherapy, Karen brings both professional expertise and lived experience to the conversation after discovering her own ADHD later in life through her son’s diagnosis.

Together, they discuss powerful overlap between ADHD and trauma, particularly how negative childhood messaging can evolve into legacy burdens that shape adult identity, attachment styles, perfectionism, and people-pleasing. Karen unpacks how rejection sensitivity can be mislabelled as personality disorder, how masking impacts women especially, and how internalised “I’m not good enough” narratives quietly drive anxiety and depression.

Key Points from the Episode:

• Discovering ADHD later in life through a child’s diagnosis
• Masking in women and the “talks too much” childhood narrative
• ADHD and complex trauma: where they overlap
• Rejection sensitivity vs borderline personality misdiagnosis
• How negative childhood messages become “legacy burdens”
• Perfectionism and people-pleasing as trauma responses
• Attachment styles in ADHD relationships
• The role of nervous system regulation in healing
• Using EMDR and Internal Family Systems to untangle beliefs
• Why “normal” and “perfect” don’t actually exist
• Building evidence for “I am good enough”
• A daily mantra: Dare to believe in yourself

Links:

• WEBSITE: https://www.kdtesorierolcsw.net/
• INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/kdtesorierolcsw
• FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/kdtesorierolcsw.net/
• LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-dwyer-tesoriero-lcsw-emdr-certified-411316a1/

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ℹ️ DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or ADHDifference. Read More