All I ever heard growing up was that I could handle anything. “You’re so capable. You’re so smart. You’re so talented.”
In school, I was truly in my element. My teachers always said that I was “a pleasure to have in class,” my grades were fantastic, I had lots of friends and a supportive family - I was thriving by all accounts. Everyone expected that I would take off like a rocket ship after graduation and frankly, I did too.
Then I graduated, and suddenly there were no more syllabi, class schedules, or A+ grades. There were no more midterms and finals weeks where I could push myself to the brink and then recover for a full week in bed (with the inevitable post-finals cold).
I was floundering.
I didn’t understand what was happening or why everything that had always made me successful in the past was no longer working. All I ever heard was that I could handle anything
– but if I'm so capable, smart, and talented, what is going on with me now?
Why did it seem like my peers were all adjusting to their new lives just fine, while I was suddenly feeling anxious, burnt out, exhausted, and unproductive. All of the skills that helped me pass tests and ace classes felt completely useless in this new, unstructured world.
Am I just lazy? What is wrong with me?!
Dr. Brooke Bluestein
If you were also a stellar student who always did well in school, you probably never had to put a ton of thought into it. You were succeeding at the one thing you were expected to succeed at and it just came naturally. You never really had to think about what comes next – or even what you want in life. What makes you happy? What do you want to do with your time? How do you want to treat yourself and others? You always did what you were supposed to do, and all the positive feedback kept you from having to pick your head up and look around at all the options available. The path you were on suited you just fine - until it didn’t.
Now you’re looking around, realizing that something has to change because you’re miserable.
It can be a truly painful, disorienting experience to no longer feel exceptional when success always came so naturally in the past. When you are “a pleasure to have in class,” you can avoid learning important life skills that others had to develop to merely survive in situations where you always thrived.
No one - no teachers, parents, mentors, not even me - can tell you exactly what needs to change for you to feel happy again. But even if I can’t tell you what to do, I can help you figure it out.
You need a therapist who knows how to work with your exceptional (or maybe even twice-exceptional) brain.
You need a therapist who will set your brain up for success - rather than encouraging it to over-intellectualize, overanalyze, and overthink things. You can’t reason your way out of this; if you could, you would have done it already.
You know what it takes to succeed. You know what it takes to achieve. You know what it takes to meet goals. Now, let’s use all of those skills - all of the things that you've always used to be successful - to learn how you can live a happy, fulfilling life. Not the life that others told you would make you happy, but the kind of life that genuinely feels good to you.
You've already done so much hard work to get to where you are now. You have achieved so many things. Now it's time to settle in and actually enjoy your life.
Let’s get to work!
ADHD
Assessments and Coaching
ADHD can affect individuals of all ages, impacting their daily lives, relationships, and overall success. It can manifest in that stereotypical “bouncing off the walls” kind of way. Or it can look totally different and get missed until people find themselves in a new situation or phase of life when the symptoms become too big to mask.
Getting an accurate diagnosis is the first step towards unlocking the tools and strategies you need to manage and thrive with ADHD.
It's important to recognize that ADHD is not just a childhood condition; it can persist into adolescence and adulthood, impacting various aspects of a person's life. If you’ve been wondering if you have ADHD, I can help you find clarity once and for all.
For those of us who are already diagnosed, next comes the joy of learning how to interact with our neurodivergent brains. Thankfully for you, my special interest is ADHD and my brain gets excited teaching others how to work WITH their brains, rather than try to mask their symptoms.
FAQs about Dr. Brooke Bluestein
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University of Chicago Master of Arts in Social Science
Doctorate of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology (Ph.D.) from Michigan State University
APA Accredited Internship at Veterans Affairs Medical Center Orlando FL
Postdoctoral training at Neuropsychology Associates, LLC, Michigan
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ADHD
Anxiety
Twice-Exceptional
Gifted and talented
LGBTQ folx
Life Transitions -
ACT
ADHD Coaching
CBT
DBT-Informed -
I am an avid animal lover! I have two rescue dogs - Ivy and Ziggy - and a rotating crew of foster dogs, cats, and kittens. My house is always full of fur, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
If I weren’t a psychologist, I would be a musician. I have played piano since I was tall enough to reach the keys, and I had to decide between majoring in psychology or piano performance in college. I know I made the right choice for me, but I still play as often as possible on my beloved Steinway upright that used to be a practice piano at Music Hall.
My ultimate goal is to turn my entire home into a greenhouse. I am well on my way with over 200 plants, the oldest of which is a golden pothos that I’ve had for more than 20 years and has lived with me in nine different homes across four states.