FAQs

Dr. Burnett is the only openly-autistic and neurodiversity-affirming psychologist in MA who provides therapy and testing for adults. She is also licensed in CA and WA, and while there are several other psychologists she recommends in these states, they are few and far between. Currently, there are only ~60 neurodiversity-affirming assessors in the USA.

Unsurprisingly, many high-masking adults are rightfully-hesitant to pursue diagnosis or start therapy due to fears of invalidation, wasted money, and profound disappointment. While the neurodiversity movement has led to rapid self-discovery and empowerment for countless neurodivergent adults, the psychology field has serious limitations in meeting their needs.

If you are interested in working with Dr. Burnett, you are encouraged to join her non-binding Waitlist ASAP. You will not be asked to commit to starting treatment or paying a testing deposit until an opening is available and you formally-agree to start working with her.

Additionally, Dr. Burnett will be hiring and training other neurodiversity-affirming clinicians in MA, and her waitlists ask if you would like to be notified when they have openings.

See the Resources page for other therapists and assessors who might be able to help in the meantime.

Dr. Burnett is a neurodiversity-affirming trauma specialist operating from Boston, MA who has advanced training, lived experience, and a strong commitment to putting in the time and energy needed to ensure her clients feel deeply-seen and truly-understood. She gets to the root of your struggles while readily-integrating wisdom spanning from neuroscience to the psychoanalytic depths.

If you work with Dr. Burnett in weekly psychotherapy, you are expected to make much more progress in less time than if you were to work with a therapist who is not well-versed in neurodiversity-affirming approaches, or who solely-provides surface-level interventions (e.g., CBT). Dr. Burnett strives to help her clients experience deep transformation that breaks generational cycles and leads to more empowered and fulfilling lives.

If you are seeking a psychological assessment, Dr. Burnett’s unique testing process tends to be much more accurate, affirming, and truly helpful than what most psychologists currently provide. Far too many neurodivergent adults have spent thousands of dollars on invalidating and inaccurate assessments that instill self-doubt and perpetuate suffering by relying on simplistic explanations and outdated stereotypes. You deserve to work with a psychologist who values lived experience and has the nuanced understanding of high-masking autism and ADHD to get it right.

Neurodiversity-affirming therapy and assessment should be accessible to everyone. Unfortunately, doctoral-level programs are incredibly-expensive, ongoing costs for continuing education and small business ownership are high, and it takes intensive work to provide accurate and affirming services outside of the pathology paradigm.

Dr. Burnett is committed to increasing access to lower-cost, neurodiversity-affirming care by expanding her practice, providing consultation to other therapists and assessors, developing presentations for wider audiences, and engaging in online advocacy.

Dr. Burnett does not work directly with any health insurance companies and is considered an “out-of-network” provider. This is to ensure that clients receive specialized services that work best for them rather than the insurance companies, who often significantly limit the number of sessions allowed, interventions used, or tests administered, while requiring substantial, detailed paperwork and phone calls to repeatedly “prove” your need for services. They only allow services to be billed for certain mental health diagnoses that may not fit your circumstances, and they regularly read clients’ clinical documents that contain highly-personal information about your history and session content.

Your privacy would be significantly reduced, and the energy Dr. Burnett puts into thinking about your case and providing attentive care would instead be funneled into frequent “fights” with insurance companies.

If out-of-network care is inaccessible at this time, see the Resources page for how to find providers who take your insurance or offer lower-cost services. If your health insurance plan includes out-of-network benefits for mental health services, you may be able to receive partial reimbursement for therapy or testing with Dr. Burnett after your deductible is reached. See the next FAQ below for more information.

Dr. Burnett cannot guarantee that you will receive reimbursement from your insurance company, but she is happy to provide the detailed receipts (i.e., superbills) needed for you to try. Unfortunately, due to the high frequency of insurance “errors,” delayed processing of claims, and inconsistent information they tend to provide, she does not recommend starting therapy or receiving an assessment from her if you would be relying on insurance reimbursement for financial security.

However, many health insurance plans provide partial reimbursement for out-of-network costs. This is much more common for PPO plans than HMO plans, but any amount that is reimbursed is likely to be much lower than initially perceived due to insurances setting low “allowable amounts” for mental healthcare. Most state-funded plans do not provide these benefits. Some insurance companies refuse to reimburse for adult testing costs due to not believing it is “medically-necessary.”

If you are interested in learning more about what your out-of-network benefits might entail, you are encouraged to call the phone number on the back of your insurance card and ask the following:

1a) Do I have out-of-network benefits for behavioral healthcare provided via telehealth by a licensed psychologist (PhD) located in zip code 02116?

If asked, Dr. Burnett’s NPI is 1952705022.

If you do have these benefits, they will likely say something like “yes, 80% will be reimbursed after your deductible,” or more cryptically, “yes, you will pay 20% co-insurance.”

1b) Is this a percentage of your “allowable amount” / “usual and customary rate?”

If so, they will usually not tell you what this rate actually is until after your claim is processed, but it is typically much lower than the full cost of the service.

2a) Can you confirm that the following telehealth CPT codes would be covered?

Individual psychotherapy:

90834-95

90837-95

Psychological testing:

90791-95

96136-95

96137-95

96130-95

96131-95

2b) Is there a limit to the amount of weekly therapy sessions I am able to claim, or is there is a maximum number of testing hours/units that you will consider covering for autism and/or ADHD testing?

If they do cover testing, they often limit it to ~6-8 units, which is unfortunately much less than what it takes to do a comprehensive and accurate assessment.

3) Would I need to receive prior authorization before starting these services?

If your insurance plan requires “prior authorization” for testing, it is honestly unlikely to be approved, since Dr. Burnett uses more progressive and accurate measures than the norm.

4) What is my annual deductible, how much of it is left, and when does it reset?

Confirm that you would not receive any reimbursement until your deductible is met, and ask if partial amounts from out-of-network claims would go toward the deductible in the meantime.

5) What is the quickest way to submit out-of-network claims for reimbursement?

Most insurance companies will require you to fill out their claim form and mail it to them alongside your superbill, but some are providing a way to do this through your online member portal.

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Note: Therapy and testing costs must be paid in full at time of service. If you decide to submit superbills in the hopes of receiving partial reimbursement, be aware that Dr. Burnett must provide a diagnosis code, which will become part of your permanent medical record. Some insurance companies will also request to see your therapy notes or testing report to prove “medical necessity,” and if you do not feel comfortable providing this in order to protect your privacy, you will likely not be reimbursed.

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For more information, see ZenCare’s guides on the advantages of out-of-network care, and further instructions on how to use your benefits.

Dr. Burnett has several sliding scale therapy slots, but they are currently full. As Divergent Pathways expands, more neurodiversity-affirming therapy will be available at lower costs.

Traditional psychological assessors are usually limited to ~6-10hrs of testing and report-writing time (total), which tends to decrease the quality of reports and increase the likelihood of misdiagnosis. Dr. Burnett’s comprehensive testing process takes ~30-40hrs to complete. Testing fees are as low as possible for the work needed to provide truly-affirming and corrective testing experiences.

See Resources for referrals to lower-cost, sliding scale, or in-network treatment options.

No, because Dr. Burnett’s relational and depth-oriented style of therapy depends on frequent, consistent meetings to build a solid therapeutic relationship and get to the root of your struggles. Bi-weekly sessions tend to become more superficial and have a “catching up” vibe that is not as effective for real, lasting change.

While Dr. Burnett understands that it may seem more financially-wise to spread out the time between therapy sessions, she believes that you would make much less progress, and spend more money in the long-run, than if you commit to weekly therapy at the outset.

Yes! Research shows that telehealth is as effective as in-person services for most mental health treatment. Meeting with Dr. Burnett from the comfort and privacy of home can help you feel safer to explore more vulnerable content, naturally cuts down on masking tendencies, saves you time and energy, reduces the amount of stress experienced before getting to therapy or assessment meetings (e.g., driving, traffic, finding parking), and allows you to access high-quality, neurodiversity-affirming care that might not be available nearby. Telehealth makes it easier to prioritize your wellbeing during these wild and stressful times.

However, if you are struggling with severe, life-threatening mental health symptoms or do not have access to a safe place for sessions, an in-person clinic with 24/7 crisis services and wrap-around care would likely be a better fit for your current needs.

Dr. Burnett strives to create testing experiences that are collaborative, therapeutic, validating, and truly helpful. She conducts testing via telehealth, and her comprehensive reports are written from a neurodiversity-affirming lens that seeks to empower rather than "pathologize," although she also speaks to struggles and support needs within the context of neurotypical majority culture.

Along with lived experience as an autistic ADHDer, she brings a background in neuropsychology, psychoanalytic theory re: personality dynamics and defenses we use to survive trauma and oppression, a strong social justice orientation and attention to cultural dynamics, and specialized training in trauma/ gaslighting/ manipulation across individual and collective levels that adds depth and nuance to her conceptualizations.

In addition to your main referral question (e.g., autism), Dr. Burnett will be assessing and screening for common misdiagnoses/co-occurring experiences like ADHD, dyspraxia, anxiety/depression, OCD, bipolar disorder, eating disorders (including ARFID), C-/PTSD, dissociative disorders, and BPD/other personality disorders.

Testing with Dr. Burnett is a good fit for adults who are seeking self-understanding and deep insights into their development and current experiences, formal documentation of diagnoses to share with other providers, workplace accommodations, recommendations for affirming psychological, psychiatric, and medical care, and more congruent daily-living and self-care strategies. Academic accommodations for college courses may also be suggested depending on your program’s requirements (see other FAQ).

Your final report is designed to give a full and accurate clinical picture of your experiences, which often includes how secondary “disorders” developed on top of unsupported neurodevelopmental differences and painful relational/cultural dynamics.

If you are interested in working with Dr. Burnett, be sure to get on her non-binding testing Waitlist. Approximately 1-3 months before an opening, she will reach out to you to see if you would like to formally-book testing. If so, you will schedule your full testing day and receive intake documents and a background questionnaire to complete. If you have access to prior psychological evaluations, you will be invited to share them with Dr. Burnett.

Closer to the testing day, you will receive numerous clinical measures to complete, alongside detailed instructions. You will have the opportunity to share any comments/insights that come up for you during that process. Dr. Burnett will then review and score all of these measures before your testing day, where you will meet for ~5-8 hours on Zoom (secure, healthcare version) for in-depth clinical interviewing. Frequent breaks are provided throughout the day, with a longer break for lunch in the middle.

If you are currently prescribed stimulant medication, you can take it during the testing day, since you will not be doing the traditional timed tasks that miss most high-maskers and are not required for diagnosis. Even on stimulants, Dr. Burnett can detect the thought and communication patterns common in high-masking autistic and/or ADHDer adults.

Since collateral information is a standard part of assessments, you will also be asked if you have a partner or close friend who can provide observations of your current struggles via brief questionnaires, and it is also ideal if you have a caregiver/relative who can provide some information on your childhood history (although this is not required if it feels unsafe or is not possible). If you are currently working with another provider who knows you well, Dr. Burnett will likely request some information from them about your work together.

Regarding these outside perspectives, Dr. Burnett is hoping to see “something” that corroborates the experiences you describe, but she does not fully expect it due to her understanding of masking and the inaccurate stereotypes that often cloud others’ perspectives. If their observations are unhelpful, but Dr. Burnett believes that you are autistic and/or an ADHDer based on other test data, she does not tend to highlight their opinions much in the report. Instead, she will emphasize the dynamics that increased your need to mask and made it harder for you to feel empowered in your true self. Overall, Dr. Burnett always prioritizes the data from your in-depth meeting with her over the quantitative testing measures and outside opinions.

Within 1-2 weeks after your testing day, you will meet with Dr. Burnett for a 50 minute feedback/integration session, where she will share her full clinical conceptualization, provide initial recommendations and nuanced insights, and provide space for you to ask questions.

Approximately 1 month from your feedback session, you will receive a full draft of your written report, and you will be asked to review it for any biographical errors. Dr. Burnett is also open to adjusting wording that feels confusing or uncomfortable, as long as it does not change her overall conceptualization. You will then receive a finalized version of your full report that you can share with other providers (if desired). To help preserve your privacy, you will also receive a brief letter with the limited information needed to request workplace accommodations. If you are planning to seek reimbursement from your insurance company for out-of-network testing costs, you will also receive your superbill at this time.

No. Dr. Burnett does have a background in neuropsychology, but her assessments are not “neuropsychological,” as only licensed neuropsychologists (who completed specialized neuropsychology postdocs) are technically-permitted to provide assessments with that title. However, many clinical psychologists often use this term anyway, which can be confusing.

If you are told to pursue a “neuropsychological assessment,” this is usually referring to the traditional method of testing that includes performance-based tasks that measure various aspects of your cognitive functioning (e.g., IQ) and academic performance under timed conditions. While Dr. Burnett has extensive experience with these measures and can integrate your prior results during 2nd-opinion testing, she does not typically use them in her current assessments since they tend to under-represent the struggles of most high-masking adults, contribute to the high frequency of unhelpful and invalidating testing experiences, and are not required for diagnosis (source).

Instead, Dr. Burnett uses her time with you to administer the most affirming measures available and to conduct in-depth clinical interviewing to truly understand your lived experiences. The testing services she provides are best understood as “comprehensive clinical assessments.”

While Dr. Burnett’s style of testing provides formal diagnoses and access to resources like medication and workplace accommodations, if you are referred by someone for a “neuropsychological assessment,” you are encouraged to ask them if they are requiring you to get a full work-up of your cognitive abilities. This is typically needed if medical/ neuropsychological conditions like strokes or traumatic brain injuries (TBI) could be affecting your memory or executive functioning.

A full neuropsychological evaluation may also be a better fit if you suspect that you have learning disabilities like dyslexia, dysgraphia, or dyscalculia that you need definitive clarity on. Since learning disabilities are more common in autistics/ADHDers, Dr. Burnett will often assign these types of diagnoses “provisionally” (if indicated), but she cannot “confirm” them through her current testing battery.

If you are a college student who is seeking academic accommodations for classes, some schools require full neuropsychological evaluation that “prove” your need for extra time through cognitive measures, although this is becoming less common. However, if you suspect that you will need academic accommodations for standardized testing or high-stakes board exams (e.g., GRE, LSAT, MCAT), you are typically required to have a full neuropsychological evaluation and are encouraged to pursue testing with a more traditional assessor.

See the FAQ below for more information on academic accommodations.

Academic accommodations for college courses can usually be provided through Dr. Burnett’s testing process, but some programs are stricter in their requirements for disability documentation and require more traditional neuropsychological evaluations to “prove” your need for extra time or other supports through measurement of your cognitive functioning and academic performance under timed conditions.

If you are a college student seeking academic accommodations, Dr. Burnett will reach-out to your program’s disability office to ask if her services meet their requirements before you formally-book testing with her. You will see a place to indicate if this is needed on her Waitlist form. While most programs are expected to confirm that Dr. Burnett’s assessments fulfill their criteria for disability documentation, all schools view recommendations by a psychologist as “suggestions,” and they will require you to meet with their disabilities office to discuss your specific struggles and support needs before they will provide accommodations. Your written report will provide a solid foundation for this meeting with them, and Dr. Burnett will help empower you for self-advocacy during your testing process.

As noted in the FAQ above, Dr. Burnett’s style of assessment typically does not meet requirements for securing accommodations on standardized testing or high-stakes board exams (e.g., GRE, LSAT, MCAT).

Dr. Burnett knows how much it hurts to finally realize life-changing things about yourself, only to have them dismissed during an expensive evaluation by a professional. While self-diagnosis is valid in the autism community, it can be hard to shake the imposter syndrome when you're someone who cares a lot about the truth and have already been invalidated.

While Dr. Burnett cannot guarantee any particular diagnoses, she is much more likely than most psychologists to identify autism and/or ADHD if they’re there, and if she doesn’t believe they are, she is committed to providing a helpful conceptualization that answers why you have been struggling in a nuanced way.

Dr. Burnett‘s testing process is different than most, as she uses the most affirming measures available and spends extensive time in conversation with you to truly understand your lived experiences. She integrates her training in traditional psychological assessments with her advanced clinical skills and expertise on trauma to create testing experiences that are holistic, therapeutic, collaborative, and truly-helpful. She is aware of the strengths and weaknesses of quantitative measures and takes all outside perspectives with a grain of salt.

Dr. Burnett’s deep and integrative lens is unique, as most psychological assessors don’t have a strong therapeutic angle, and most therapists aren’t trained in testing. And as an autistic ADHDer herself, she is especially-skilled at seeing and attuning to your authentic self beneath the mask.

Unfortunately not. Dr. Burnett’s training focused on therapy and testing for adults, which is a different skillset.

However, she is familiar with neuropsychological testing measures for children/teens, so she is able to understand your childhood testing records if you share them with her during your adult testing process.

See Resources for referrals to providers who specialize in working with children/teens and organizations/trainings that might be helpful.

Dr. Burnett is not currently offering supervision to pre-licensed clinicians, although this may change at a later time (i.e., largely depending on whether telehealth supervision is permitted per licensure requirements). She is currently providing consultation services to licensed clinicians who remain ethically and legally responsible for their clinical work.

NO.

ABA is akin to “conversion therapy” and has been shown to correlate with PTSD in autistic people (Kupferstein, 2018). Its tenets are based upon abusive tactics of coercion and behavioral techniques that emphasize compliance and do not seek to understand the reasons WHY autistics are struggling. It inherently gaslights autistic children and teaches them to mask, which disconnects them from their intuition and true feelings. While it has been touted as the “gold standard” for treatment, this is largely due to corporate power rather than effectiveness (DoD, 2020). ABA is a tool of social oppression, mirroring values of neuronormativity and “productivity at all costs.”

However, Dr. Burnett does not fault parents who were convinced to enroll their children in ABA, as many were unaware or did not have access to alternative options. She also recognizes that teaching autistic children how to “fit in” can be important for their survival (e.g., Black autistics are more likely to be killed by police). She deeply hopes that the neurodiversity movement and increased social justice empowers autistics to finally be safe enough to live authentically.

Autism Speaks is considered a hate group by the #actuallyautistic community. It is responsible for instilling oppressive narratives into cultural consciousness through years of anti-autistic propaganda. Donations rarely help autistic people and are mostly-used to perpetuate stigma and fear, while lining the pockets of non-autistic board members.

See the Resources page for advocacy organizations that provide neurodiversity-affirming education and are worthy of your support.

No, and Dr. Burnett is honestly appalled that this concern is even a “thing.” Autistic children grow into autistic adults, and the vast majority have received very little help. Societal stigma, ignorance, discrimination, and systemic ableism disempowers autistic adults and creates added minority stress, while they are already struggling to navigate spaces that are not built for their sensory needs or communication styles. Research suggests that 1 of 5 outpatient adults might be autistic (source), and it is imperative that they learn about their brain differences in an affirming way and finally receive access to support.

Most previously-undetected autistic adults struggle with significant mental health concerns and feel perpetually “broken” without understanding why their efforts in treatment have not been truly helpful. Autistics are 7x more likely than non-autistics to die by suicide overall, while autistic women are 13x more likely to die by suicide than non-autistic women (source). Over 90% of autistic women have been sexually-assaulted, often before adulthood (source). And since autism is genetic, helping autistic adults to discover their true selves and heal from pervasive trauma empowers them to break generational cycles of ableism and become healthier parents for their children, who are also more likely to be autistic.

Dr. Burnett laments that she felt the need to include this, but the stigma is real, and even if you consciously-know that this is a ridiculous question, you have likely internalized long-disproven narratives that autistic people are “cold,” “unfeeling,” “don’t have empathy,” and “don’t care about other people.” These myths could not be further from the truth.

Autistic strengths often include deeper processing, hyper-sensitivity to others’ emotions, heightened pattern recognition, attention to detail and nuance, valuing justice and accuracy above “fitting in,” grounded authenticity and honesty, and continuous learning about special interests (e.g., psychology, autism, trauma).

Dr. Burnett is grateful to finally be living as her true self, and she is excited to help you do the same. Her lived experience of painful invalidation enroute to diagnosis solidified her calling to help right the wrongs of the field, and her healing journey after a lifetime of masking required her to engage in extensive inner work. She has gone deeper than most clinicians in learning about topics ranging from neuroscience to the shadowy, Jungian depths.

Read this article for more information on the stigma that autistic healthcare professionals face (excerpt: “Therapists, psychologists and nurses who are autistic say it has made them better at their jobs, but that misconceptions about the condition are forcing them to keep their diagnosis a secret”).