Our Blog: Upward Alabama

Neurodiversity and PTSD in Adults: When Trauma Looks Different & Why Specialty Care Matters

By Megan Keyes, Ph.D.

PTSD

Autism ADHD Treatment

Posted: April 6, 2026

What distinguishes effective care for neurodivergent adults is not abandoning evidence-based treatments, but how those treatments are conceptualized, paced, and delivered. Clinicians with expertise in both PTSD and neurodivergent presentation approach CPT and PE with a deep understanding of sensory processing, executive functioning, communication style, and nervous-system regulation. This allows treatment to remain evidence-based while also being accessible, tolerable, and effective for the individual.

Mental Exhaustion and Resilience

By Megan Keyes, Ph.D.

Resilience

Posted: January 20, 2026

One of the most important misconceptions to address is that resilience is not an inherent trait you either have or do not have. It is a set of skills that can be learned and strengthened over time through our choices, behaviors, and ways of relating to our thoughts and emotions.

New Year, More Me: Choosing Self-Compassion Over Self-Criticism

By Megan Keyes, Ph.D.

Self-Care Resilience

Posted: December 28, 2025

As the year draws to a close, many of us feel the familiar pull toward reflection — and, often, toward resolution. The new year is commonly framed as an opportunity to become better: more disciplined, more productive, more organized, more fit. While this impulse is understandable, it can also quietly carry a unhelpful message beneath it — that who we are right now is somehow not enough. What if this year, instead of striving to become someone different, we gave ourselves permission to be more fully ourselves?

Finding Calm Amid the Holiday Chaos: The Power of Mindfulness

By Megan Keyes, Ph.D.

Mindfulness Resilience Self-Care

Posted: December 15, 2025

Given the potential stressors of the holiday season, mindfulness can be exceptionally beneficial. Whether you are facing the emotional strain of challenging relationships, financial pressures, loss and grief, or simply the hectic pace of the season, mindfulness offers a way to find calm as well as enhance your experience of positive moments.