AUDHD MASKING + UNMASKING | PROs +CONs | Late Diagnosed | Authentic + Congruence Identity. My experiences so far!

In this deeply personal episode on AuDHD masking and unmasking, I explore the pros and cons of camouflaging as a late-diagnosed autistic + ADHD woman and what it truly means to rediscover your authentic, congruent identity after diagnosis.
If you’ve received a late Autism diagnosis, ADHD diagnosis, or identify as AuDHD and feel confused, grieving, angry, or unsure who you are beneath decades of people-pleasing, perfectionism, trauma responses, burnout, anxiety, or breakdown, this conversation is for you. I share my lived experience of masking, the mental and physical toll of long-term camouflaging, why unmasking can shift relationships (and sometimes lead to loss), and how to begin reclaiming your true self with self-compassion, nervous system awareness, and emotional safety.

🌸 This channel supports late-diagnosed neurodivergent women navigating identity shifts, self-acceptance, boundaries, CPTSD recovery, self-parenting, and authentic living post-diagnosis.
If you are questioning who you are when you stop managing how you’re perceived, and are ready to explore unmasking safely and intentionally, you are not alone here🌷Subscribe for unmasked chat about AuDHD, mental health and self-actualisation 🌷

Contact: clare@theactualisingwoman.co.uk for requests, feedback, questions and stories for the show

☕Girl needs COFFEE! Please donate ANY amount, so that I can do this full time?! Thank you!
https://buymeacoffee.com/theactualisingwoman

🎧Check Out!!...ADHD + ASD Sounds - Our Sound Podcast for ASD, ADHD & AuDHD-ers. For Regulation, Focus, Sleep + Study. Available on Apple & Amazon Music https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adhd-+-asd-sounds/id1791537814

Clare Llewellyn-Bailey: Counselling psychotherapist, podcaster, empty-nester, and AuDHD-er!!

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PART 2. In this episode I'm outlining: 1. what actualisation means. 2. what it means to become a fully functioning person and 3. what does that mean for me in REAL terms? What changes do I need to make regarding self-development, what do I need more of, less of, to be able to live with psychological, financial and geographic FREEDOM?!

REFERENCE: Carl R Rogers ‘A Therapist’s View of Psychotherapy – On Becoming a Person', 1961 pg 191-192, pg 168-176

The Actualising Woman 🪴 is a raw, unfiltered diary of life after my late diagnosis of ASD & ADHD (AuDHD) and a mental breakdown at 58 🌸 I share my journey of living unmasked, rebuilding a congruent identity, and creating a life that truly fits ME, inspired by Carl Rogers’ Theory of Actualisation.
This channel is about growth, self-acceptance, and becoming a fully functioning, authentic, neurodivergent woman, and I hope my journey supports others walking a similar path 🌱

If YOU are navigating late-diagnosed ADHD, autism, or AuDHD 🌼, or rebuilding after a breakdown, you’ll find community, understanding and hope here 🌺Subscribe for unmasked chat about AuDHD, mental health and self-actualisation 🌷

Contact: clare@theactualisingwoman.co.uk for requests, feedback, questions and stories for the show

☕Girl needs COFFEE! Please donate ANY amount, so that I can do this full time?! Thank you!
https://buymeacoffee.com/theactualisingwoman

🎧Check Out!!... STUDY SLEEP SOOTHE - Our Sound Podcast for ASD, ADHD & AuDHD-ers. Available on Apple & Amazon Music

Clare Llewellyn-Bailey: Counselling psychotherapist, podcaster, empty-nester, and AuDHD-er!!

Support the show

PART 1. In this one, I'm talking about (well... rambling on, really) a lightbulb moment I had in May 2022, which I've never got out of my head. A long term dream. BUT, it seems that it's only now that I'm ready for it to come to fruition. Why? Because certain experiences needed to be experienced first, for me to gain clarity about why the dream happened in the first place... Hindsight eh!

This plan of action, I'm hoping, will provide me with the sensory, social and financial security I have always needed, without realising. And only now, after my dual diagnosis of AuDHD, do I understand why I was always in such a miserable pickle, living the way I have been living!

The Actualising Woman 🪴 is a raw, unfiltered diary of life after my late diagnosis of ASD & ADHD (AuDHD) and a mental breakdown at 58 🌸 I share my journey of living unmasked, rebuilding a congruent identity, and creating a life that truly fits ME, inspired by Carl Rogers’ Theory of Actualisation.
This channel is about growth, self-acceptance, and becoming a fully functioning, authentic, neurodivergent woman, and I hope my journey supports others walking a similar path 🌱

If YOU are navigating late-diagnosed ADHD, autism, or AuDHD 🌼, or rebuilding after a breakdown, you’ll find community, understanding and hope here 🌺Subscribe for unmasked chat about AuDHD, mental health and self-actualisation 🌷

☕Girl needs COFFEE! Please donate ANY amount, so that I can do this full time?! Thank you!
https://buymeacoffee.com/theactualisingwoman

Contact: clare@theactualisingwoman.co.uk for requests, feedback, questions and stories for the show

🎧Check Out!!... STUDY SLEEP SOOTHE - Our Sound Podcast for ASD, ADHD & AuDHD-ers. Available on Apple & Amazon Music

Clare Llewellyn-Bailey: Counselling psychotherapist, podcaster, empty-nester, and AuDHD-er!!

Support the show