RCC,MACP.
About Shay Villa
Registered Clinical Counsellor (#26831)
Hi, I'm Shay.
Does your brain never stops and somehow you still cannot get anything done. You can think of a hundred things at once and still forget to eat lunch.
You cannot finish anything. You have seventeen unfinished projects, a notes app full of ideas you never acted on, and a to-do list that just makes you feel worse. You are late to things even when you tried to be on time. You lose things constantly. You have been called smart your whole life and you still cannot seem to get it together and you are so tired of it.
Nobody mentioned ADHD. Or if they did, you did not fit the picture they painted.
It might look like 37 tabs open in your browser and in your head. It might look like avoiding one email for three days because it feels weirdly impossible. It might look like lying awake replaying a conversation, wondering if you said something wrong. You are just exhausted from trying to function like everyone else.
I specialize in working with women with ADHD, especially those who found out later in life, in their twenties, thirties, or beyond. The ones who were told they were too smart, too organized, too functional to have it. Who got handed anxiety or depression instead and spent years trying to fix the wrong thing.
We slow things down and actually look at what is going on for you specifically, because ADHD does not look the same in everyone. We figure out where you are getting stuck, why certain things feel impossible when they should not, and what your brain actually needs to follow through. We build strategies around your real life, not a version of your life where you have unlimited time and energy. And we work on the part nobody talks about enough, the years of thinking you were the problem.
You stop losing entire afternoons to doing nothing but also not resting. You can make a decision without it taking everything out of you. You follow through on the small things, the email, the phone call, the appointment you kept putting off. You feel less like you are constantly catching up and more like you are actually living your life
Clinical Hours
Wednesdays: 1pm– 7pm
Fridays: 1pm – 7pm
Thursdays: 10am-5pm (Virtual)
Specialties
ADHD (diagnosed or self-identified)
Neurodivergent adults
Procrastination & paralysis
Low self-esteem & rejection sensitivity
Modalities
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Person-Centered Therapy
Solution-Focused Therapy
Gottman Couples Therapy
Education
EMDR (2026)
Beyond the Bio
Because therapy is human & so are we.
Being Out in Nature
I love to paddleboard, hike and be lounge on the beach with a good book.
My favourite cuddly buddy to watch a movie with.
My Cat: Tuna
Favourite Place to Travel
Bali, Indonesia. I loved exploring the waterfalls, eating the local cuisine, and experiencing the culture.
Who I Work With
-
You are smart. You know what you should be doing. That somehow makes it worse. The gap between knowing and doing feels humiliating. You have probably tried planners, productivity systems, podcasts, and pure willpower. You do not need another system. You need support that understands executive functioning.
-
Getting diagnosed brought relief and grief. Relief that there is an explanation. Grief for how hard you were on yourself. You are re-evaluating your whole identity, your relationships, your career. This is a space to untangle that.
-
From the outside you look capable. Inside, you are anxious, overstimulated, and terrified of dropping the ball. You replay meetings. You overprepare. You crash at the end of the day. You want to feel competent without feeling constantly on edge.
How I Work
I draw from a range of approaches depending on what you actually need.
-
Helps you understand how your thoughts influence your emotions and behaviour. If your brain constantly tells you that you are behind, failing, or not enough, we work directly with that.
-
Means you are not judged, rushed, or talked over. You set the pace. You are the expert on your life. My role is to guide and support, not control.
-
Keeps us from getting stuck in endless processing. We identify small, realistic steps that create momentum. Change does not have to be dramatic to be meaningful.
All of my work is neurodiversity-affirming. That means I do not see ADHD as something to eliminate. We work with your brain, not against it.
What to Expect in Sessions
-
Sessions are structured but flexible. You do not need to prepare anything. If you forget what you wanted to talk about, we figure it out together. If you go off on a tangent, that is allowed. We follow what matters.
-
We look at what is happening in your thoughts and gently challenge the ones that are keeping you stuck. We break big, overwhelming problems into small, doable steps. We focus on what is already working and build from there.
-
In our sessions, you can expect honesty, clarity, and compassion. I will meet you where you are, not where you think you should be. We’ll talk things through in a way that makes sense. You’ll always know what we’re focusing on and how it connects to your goals.
Are you feeling stuck in old patterns or overwhelmed by the demands of relationships, work, or your own expectations?
Are you hoping for change but find yourself weighed down by anxiety, confusion, or emotional exhaustion?
FAQs
If you are asking “Why can’t I just do it?” you have probably tried motivation, guilt, and self-lectures already. Executive functioning is not about intelligence or willpower. It is about how your brain initiates tasks, regulates emotion, and processes reward. When we understand what is actually happening, we can build strategies that work instead of relying on shame.
Why can’t I just get myself to do things?
1
Why do I feel so overwhelmed by small tasks?
2
Small tasks are rarely just small tasks. They carry decisions, perfectionism, fear of doing it wrong, and the pressure of already feeling behind. Your nervous system reads that as threat. That is why your body freezes. We work on calming the nervous system first, then breaking tasks down in a way your brain can tolerate.
Why do I take criticism so personally?
3
If criticism feels like it confirms your worst fear about yourself, that makes sense. Many adults with ADHD grew up getting more negative feedback than their peers. Your brain learned to scan for it. That sensitivity is protective, not dramatic. We work on separating feedback from identity so one comment does not spiral your whole week.
Why do I feel like everyone else is coping better than I am?
4
You are comparing your inside to their outside. The people who look organized and calm are also struggling with something. ADHD especially can be invisible. A lot of my clients say, “I look high-functioning but I am barely holding it together.” You are not alone in that.
What if I start therapy and do not follow through?
5
That fear makes sense, especially if follow-through has been hard in other areas of your life. Therapy is not something you can fail at. If consistency is hard, we talk about it. If you forget homework, we adjust. The process adapts to you.
