Wajdi Akef Fakhoury, LMFT 148333
16 N Marengo Ave. #501. Pasadena, CA 91101
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Your therapist should understand neurodivergence—and still take the time to understand you.
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Therapy That Understands Neurodivergence Without Reducing You to It​
You should not have to spend therapy explaining why a supposedly simple task is not simple, why sensory overload changes the rest of your day, or why the same relationship problem keeps breaking down at the same point.
At Samar, neurodevelopmental context is part of the clinical picture from the beginning—but it is never treated as the whole story. Therapy considers the person, their mental health, their relationships, and, when relevant, the systems around them.
Samar Neurodivergent Therapy Center provides psychotherapy and consultation for neurodivergent adolescents and adults, couples, families, parents, caregivers, and siblings. In-person care is available in Pasadena, with secure telehealth throughout California.
WAYS WE CAN WORK WITH EACH OTHER
Psychotherapy for neurodivergent adolescents and adults navigating anxiety, depression, trauma, burnout, executive-functioning demands, identity, relationships, and major life transitions.
For neurodivergent and mixed-neurotype partners who care about each other and still find themselves caught in recurring problems involving communication, processing, responsibilities, intimacy, overload, and repair.
For families navigating communication, conflict, caregiving demands, changing roles, and the impact of neurodivergence across the family system.
Individual support for family members whose own emotional lives may have received less attention while care, advocacy, crisis, planning, or responsibility took priority.
Focused consultation when families, clinicians, schools, programs, or care teams each hold part of a complex neurodevelopmental and mental-health picture but do not yet share a coherent formulation.
Clinical training for professionals and organizations seeking to move beyond neurodiversity awareness toward more accurate formulation, treatment adaptation, crisis prevention, and systems-level practice.
Clinical Knowledge Without Assumptions
Understanding neurodivergence should give therapy a better starting point—not a predetermined conclusion.
We consider communication, sensory processing, executive functioning, mental health, trauma, relationships, culture, and environmental demands together. Clinical knowledge helps us ask more accurate questions, while curiosity about the individual keeps a diagnosis from becoming an explanation for everything.
Therapy That Adapts to You
What Adapted Therapy Can Look Like
Adjust the environment
Flexible seating, adjustable lighting, movement, fidgets, and a discreet sensory menu are available when helpful—and never required.​​
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Communicate without performing
You do not have to answer quickly, make eye contact, sit still, or immediately find the “right” words. We can use direct questions, writing, visuals, pauses, or return to something later.
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Know what to expect
Agendas, written recaps, clear next steps, and more predictability can be used when they reduce uncertainty—without making therapy rigid.
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Work on what affects daily life
Therapy can address sensory overload, interoception, shutdown, burnout, transitions, routines, follow-through, recovery, and how to begin again after disruption.
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Be understood without being over-interpreted
We check our understanding rather than assigning motives based on eye contact, tone, posture, response time, facial expression, or emotional display.
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Have a say in the work
We explain why something is being suggested. Disagreement, discomfort, or “this isn’t helping” is useful information—not something to push past.
A Pasadena Office Designed for Sensory Choice
Therapy is harder when the room itself adds to the sensory load
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Our Pasadena office offers choices around lighting, seating, movement, sound, and sensory input—so the environment can adapt to the person, rather than asking the person to adapt to the room.
A Sensory Menu is available
Choose from adjustable lighting, different seating, weighted and tactile items, movement and grounding tools, and lower-stimulation options. Use what helps. Skip what doesn’t. Preferences can change from session to session.​
Meet Our Clinician,
Wajdi Akef Fakhoury, LMFT 148333
Wajdi Akef Fakhoury, LMFT (CA LMFT 148333), is a psychotherapist specializing in neurodevelopmental mental health. He works with neurodivergent individuals, couples, families, and caregivers navigating a wide range of concerns, including trauma, anxiety, depression, emotional dysregulation, burnout, executive functioning challenges, relationship difficulties, identity, life transitions, and the cumulative effects of chronic misunderstanding or mismatch with their environments.
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His approach is clinically grounded, relational, and adapted to how each person communicates, processes information, regulates, and experiences the world. Therapy may incorporate greater structure, flexibility, pacing, and sensory or communication supports when helpful, while still making room for reflection, emotional depth, and meaningful change over time.
Questions Before You Begin
Do I need a formal autism, ADHD, or neurodevelopmental diagnosis?
No. Samar works with people who are formally diagnosed, self-identified, exploring whether neurodivergence is relevant to their experience, or looking for psychotherapy that is more responsive to communication, processing, sensory, executive-functioning, and relational needs.
Does Samar provide autism or ADHD assessments?
Samar currently provides psychotherapy and consultation rather than formal neurodevelopmental assessment. When evaluation is important, that can be discussed as part of care planning.
Is therapy available online? in-person? home visits?
Yes. Yes. and Yes. In-person appointments are available in Pasadena, CA. When clinically appropriate, we offer services via secure telehealth (California), and Home visits.
How do I know which service is right for me?
You do not need to decide before reaching out. A brief consultation can help determine whether individual, couples, family, caregiver, or consultation services best fit the concern.
Does Samar Accept Insurance?
Samar is a private-pay practice and does not bill insurance directly. We can provide a superbill that you may submit to your insurance plan for possible out-of-network reimbursement. Coverage varies by plan, so we encourage you to confirm your out-of-network mental health benefits directly with your insurer. Learn more about Fees & Policies.
What happens during the free consultation?
The consultation is a brief conversation about what is bringing you to therapy, what you are looking for, and whether Samar may be a good fit. You do not need to prepare a detailed history or know exactly what kind of therapy you need before reaching out. Schedule a free initial consultation.
Can partners, parents, caregivers, or other support people be involved?
Yes. When it is helpful and appropriate, therapy can include partners, parents, caregivers, family members, or other important supports. We consider the person in the context of their relationships and environment rather than assuming therapy always needs to happen individually.
What if therapy has not worked well for me before?
That does not necessarily mean therapy cannot be helpful. Sometimes the problem is the fit, the pace, the communication style, or the way therapy is structured. At Samar, we can adapt how sessions are paced, how information is communicated, how emotions are explored, and how skills are practiced so therapy is more responsive to the way you process, communicate, and move through the world.
Start With a Conversation. Schedule a Free Consult
Choosing a therapist is personal. A complimentary 15-minute phone consultation gives you space to ask questions, describe what has been bringing you in, and decide whether working with Samar Neurodivergent Therapy Center feels like an appropriate next step.