Trusted Neurodivergent Therapist in Des Moines, Iowa

Introduction

You’ve spent years trying to fit into a world that wasn’t built for your brain. Maybe a teacher called you “too much.” Maybe a manager said you weren’t “trying hard enough.” Maybe you sat across from a therapist, told them everything, and walked out feeling more alone than when you walked in.

You’re not too much. You’re not broken. You’re neurodivergent, and you deserve care that actually sees you.

At Holistic Resources Clinic, we don’t treat autism, ADHD, or other neurotypes as problems to solve. We see them as natural variations in how a brain is wired, each one carrying its own strengths and its own set of challenges. Our approach is trauma-informed, identity-affirming, and rooted in a real understanding of what neurodivergence looks like across a lifetime, not just a textbook.

Whether you’re pursuing a formal diagnosis, ongoing therapy, or both, you work directly with Dr. Christina Stai, a licensed psychologist who specializes in high-masking adults, late-diagnosed individuals, and kids who never quite fit the stereotypes clinicians were trained to look for.

Here, there’s no waitlist stretching into next season. No pricing hidden behind a phone call. No handoff to an associate you’ve never met. Just a sensory-friendly space, transparent costs, and a provider who actually listens to your story, the whole of it.

Ready to stop explaining yourself and start understanding yourself? Let’s begin.

Book Your Free 20-Minute Consultation with Dr. Christina Stai

Meet Dr. Christina Stai: A Neurodivergent-Affirming Psychologist in Des Moines

Dr. Christina Stai is a licensed clinical psychologist (Psy.D.) with over a decade of experience in neurodivergent-affirming and trauma-informed care. She founded Holistic Resources Clinic because Des Moines needed something that didn’t exist yet: one place where neurodivergent children, teens, and adults could get both diagnostic testing and ongoing therapy from the same doctoral-level provider, without being bounced between offices or left waiting for months.

Her training runs deep. Advanced coursework in autism and ADHD assessment across every stage of life. Trauma-focused modalities like EMDR and somatic work. Ongoing consultation with leaders in the neurodiversity movement, because this field moves fast and she refuses to fall behind. She’s a member of the Therapist Neurodiversity Collective and the American Psychological Association, and she regularly presents on the intersection of neurodivergence and complex trauma.

Her philosophy is simple: you are the expert on your own experience. Her job is to bring the tools, the insight, and the safe relationship that helps you build a life that feels sustainable, not one that asks you to keep masking who you are.

When you book with Dr. Stai, you’re not getting handed off to an intern or a rotating associate. You’re getting her, session after session.

💡 Expert Tip: When choosing a therapist, look for someone who uses identity-first language (“autistic person”) and respects your self-identification. That’s a real signal of neurodiversity-affirming practice, not just a buzzword on a website.

What Is Neurodivergent-Affirming Therapy? (And Why It Matters)

If you’ve been in therapy before, you may have run into an approach built around fixing your social skills, reducing your “problem” behaviors, or teaching you to cope with a world that was never designed for you. Neurodivergent-affirming therapy flips that entirely.

In this framework, we start from a different set of truths:

• Your brain isn’t wrong. It’s different.
• Many of the “symptoms” you’ve been handed are actually reasonable responses to an overwhelming environment, or to a lifetime of being misread.
• Goals get built together, focused on your quality of life, not on how neurotypical you can appear.
• Trauma and neurodivergence are often tangled together, so trauma-informed care isn’t an add-on here. It’s the foundation.

💡 Expert Tip: Understand the difference between neurodiversity-affirming therapy and traditional behavioral therapy, which often centers on masking. Affirming therapy helps you unmask safely and build a life aligned with your actual values.

We also practice what we preach when it comes to the physical space. Our office is built with sensory needs in mind: adjustable lighting, noise-canceling headphones, fidget tools, and flexible seating. Sessions happen in-person, through secure telehealth, or even as walking sessions when that fits better. You decide what works for your body and your brain.

Our Services: Integrated Testing and Therapy in One Place

We offer two core services, both delivered by Dr. Christina Stai. Many clients start with testing to get clarity, then move into therapy. Others go straight to therapy without a formal diagnosis. Either path is valid, and either way, it all stays under one roof. You never have to retell your story to a brand-new provider.

▹ Service Comparison Table

Feature	Diagnostic Testing	Therapy
Purpose	Clarify diagnosis (autism, ADHD, and more), understand your neurotype, and receive personalized recommendations.	Ongoing support to navigate life as a neurodivergent person, heal from trauma, and build skills that align with your values.
Process	2–3 sessions including a clinical interview, standardized assessments, and a feedback session. Questionnaires and interactive tasks may be included.	Weekly or biweekly 50-minute sessions, with flexible formats available. We start with your goals and adjust from there.
Duration	Typically completed within 2–4 weeks.	Open-ended. You decide when you’ve gotten what you need.
Outcome	A comprehensive written report with diagnostic impressions, a strengths profile, and a tailored resource list.	Greater self-understanding, less masking exhaustion, stronger relationships, and practical strategies for daily life.
Best for	Anyone seeking clarity, validation, workplace or school accommodations, or a roadmap for support.	Anyone who already knows, or suspects, they’re neurodivergent and wants a therapist who truly gets it.
Cost	Flat-fee package, includes all sessions, the written report, and the feedback meeting. Payment plans available.	Per-session rate. We provide superbills for out-of-network reimbursement and can verify your benefits before you start.

See our Pricing, Insurance, and No Waitlist Guarantee section below for current rates.

Diagnostic Testing for Neurodivergence

Testing here is collaborative, not clinical and cold. We assess for autism, ADHD, and other neurotypes using gold-standard tools, while also making room for your lived experience to inform the picture. We specialize in high-masking individuals, adults, women, and people of color who have spent years being overlooked, dismissed, or misdiagnosed with something else entirely.

💡 Expert Tip: If you’re self-identified and pursuing a formal diagnosis, ask your assessor how they account for masking and for gender or racial bias in evaluation. Dr. Stai is specifically trained in these nuances.

After testing wraps up, you get more than a label. You receive a strengths-based profile, accommodation recommendations, and a curated list of local resources and support groups, plus a post-assessment resource packet to help you figure out your next steps.

Ongoing Neurodivergent-Affirming Therapy

Therapy here isn’t about fixing you. It’s about understanding your brain, healing from the toll of being misunderstood, and building a life that feels good on your own terms. We draw on evidence-based approaches like ACT, DBT, and somatic therapy, all filtered through a neurodiversity-affirming lens.

Therapy here isn’t about fixing you. It’s about understanding your brain, healing from the toll of being misunderstood, and building a life that feels good on your own terms. We draw on evidence-based approaches like ACT, DBT, and somatic therapy, all filtered through a neurodiversity-affirming lens.

💡 Expert Tip: Ask about flexible session lengths or formats, like 30-minute check-ins or walking sessions, if a standard 50-minute session feels like too much. We offer these.

Common goals clients bring to therapy include:

• Reducing the exhaustion of masking and people-pleasing
• Navigating sensory overwhelm and burnout
• Processing complex trauma tied to late diagnosis or years of invalidation
• Improving communication in relationships, without forcing neurotypical norms
• Building executive functioning strategies that work with your brain, not against it

Ready to talk it through? Book your free consultation with Dr. Stai

Who We Serve: Children, Teens, and Adults

Neurodivergence doesn’t have an age limit, and neither do our services.

• Adults (18+): Many of our clients are late-diagnosed or self-identifying adults who spent years feeling different without a framework to explain why. We specialize in high-masking presentations, including women, non-binary individuals, and people of color who were missed by earlier evaluations.
• Teens (13–17): Adolescents working through identity, school stress, and social dynamics while also making sense of their neurotype. We involve parents where it’s helpful, but the teen’s autonomy comes first.
• Children (6–12): Play-based, affirming therapy and comprehensive testing for kids who may be struggling in school or with peers. Parents are partners in this process, and we never build a plan around simple compliance.

💡 Expert Tip: If you’re a parent, ask any potential therapist how they involve you and whether they respect your child’s agency. That’s how you tell a genuinely collaborative practice from one that just says the right words.

The Process: What to Expect from Consultation to Ongoing Care

Starting therapy or testing can feel like a lot, especially if past experiences left you guarded. Here’s exactly how it works with us, step by step.

Step 1: Free 20-Minute Consultation Call. You speak directly with Dr. Stai, not an intake coordinator. This is a low-pressure conversation to talk through what you’re looking for, ask your questions, and see if it’s a good fit. Book it online right now, no phone tag required.

Step 2: Pre-Appointment Questionnaires. Once you decide to move forward, we send a few brief forms through our secure, HIPAA-compliant client portal. These help us understand your history and current concerns, and you can complete them at your own pace.

Step 3: First Session (Testing or Therapy). For testing, your first session is a clinical interview where we go deep into your experiences. For therapy, we start building the relationship and clarifying your goals. Either way, you set the pace.

Step 4: Ongoing Sessions and Flexible Formats. Therapy typically runs weekly or biweekly, but frequency and length can flex to fit your life. Choose in-person, telehealth, or a hybrid mix. If you’re doing testing, expect 2–3 sessions total, wrapped up with a feedback meeting to walk through your results together.

Step 5: Wrap-Up and Resources After testing, you receive your full report and a resource packet. In therapy, we check in regularly on your goals and adjust the plan as your life changes. You’re always the one who decides when to pause or end.

Take the first step. Book your free consultation today

Pricing, Insurance, and No Waitlist Guarantee

We believe in radical transparency. You will never get a surprise bill from us.

• Diagnostic Testing: A flat fee covering all sessions, the written report, and the feedback meeting. Payment plans are available.
• Therapy: A per-session rate for 50-minute appointments. We provide superbills for out-of-network reimbursement and will verify your insurance benefits before your first appointment.
• No Waitlist: We guarantee you can start within two weeks of your consultation call, often sooner. No more waiting months for support you need now.

💡 Expert Tip: Financial stress is real, and we know it. Ask about sliding scale options or payment plans if the flat fee feels like too much right now. We’re committed to making this work for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you only work with autistic and ADHD clients?

While autism and ADHD are our specialties, we welcome anyone who identifies as neurodivergent, including people with learning differences, Tourette’s, OCD, and more. If you’re not sure where you fit, the free consultation is the place to explore that.

I’ve been told I’m “too high-functioning” to be autistic. Can you still help?

Absolutely. “High-functioning” is a misleading label that tends to ignore the internal cost of masking. We specialize in assessing and supporting high-masking individuals who have been overlooked by that exact framing.

Do you offer telehealth?

Yes. We offer secure telehealth sessions to anyone located in Iowa. Many clients prefer this option for comfort and accessibility.

What if I don’t want a formal diagnosis?

That’s completely fine. You can engage in therapy without a diagnosis. We honor self-identification and meet you exactly where you are.

How do I know if you’re the right therapist for me?

The free consultation is built for exactly this question. Ask Dr. Stai directly about her training and experience with your specific concerns. Trust your gut. Fit matters more than credentials on a wall.

💡 Expert Tip: Request a brief consultation call to gauge whether a therapist’s style and personality actually feel like a fit. We encourage it, every time.

Testimonials and Social Proof

“After years of being told I was just anxious, Dr. Stai was the first person who saw the autism underneath. I finally feel like I’m not broken.” — Alex, autistic adult

“I stopped counting how many therapists brushed past what I was actually saying. Here, someone finally caught it.” — A Holistic Resources Clinic client

“My son has never had a space where he didn’t have to perform ‘normal.’ This is the first place that felt safe for both of us.” — Parent of a Holistic Resources Clinic client

With Dr. Christina Stai, you always work with the same doctoral-level provider, from your first consultation through your last session. No associates. No handoffs. No retelling your story to someone new.

Location and Contact Information

We’re conveniently located in Des Moines, with easy access from the surrounding areas. Our office is built to be a sensory-safe space from the moment you walk in, adjustable lighting, noise-canceling headphones on hand, and fidget tools within reach.

Address: 508 C Ave Unit A, Kalona, IA 52247, United States

Phone: +1 319-665-2848

Curious what other clients have to say? Check out our Google Business Profile

A Personal Message from Dr. Christina Stai

Ready to Start? Book Your Free Consultation

You don’t have to keep searching. Take the first step toward support that actually fits who you are.

Book Your Free 20-Minute Consultation with Dr. Christina Stai

💡 Expert Tip: Before your first session, jot down your sensory needs, communication preferences, and any accommodations you’d like. We’ll ask, but it helps to walk in with your list ready.

Additional Resources

• Online Neurodivergent Screening Questionnaire: Not sure if testing is right for you? Take our brief online screener to explore common traits and get personalized feedback.
• Insurance Verification and Superbill Service: We’ll check your out-of-network benefits and handle the paperwork, so you can focus on what actually matters. Learn more about Dr. Christina Stai and her approach to neurodivergent-affirming care in Iowa →

Learn more about our full range of services at Holistic Resources Clinic.