Ellen Tuffly, M.A., NCC, LPC-Associate
Ellen is a counselor in Houston who specializes in working with adolescents, women, and parents. She has a particular interest in supporting neurodivergent individuals and children.
Ellen Tuffly, M.A., NCC, LPC-Associate
Authenticity is freedom…
What does it mean to live an authentic life? We often adapt ourselves to fit how we “should” be based on our own expectations. We also adapt to other people’s expectations or to conform to societal or gender roles. Sometimes, these adaptations help us. Other times, we might seek counseling when those adaptions no longer serve us well.
The counseling relationship itself is therapeutic. I respect each client as a whole, capable person with unique strengths, challenges, and lived experience. I build trust by integrating evidence-based counseling with warmth, humor, curiosity, and a straightforward style. The relationship gives space for clients to share a special interest or a favorite song, meme, artwork, book, movie, or character in session.
I’m a neurodivergent and neuro-affirming person and counselor who combines big-picture thinking with a knack for noticing details. I help clients recognize connections and identity patterns. Context matters. How are past adaptions and current functioning related? How do their neurotypes, development, culture, and systems shape their experiences? And how can they apply this information in their lives and goals?
Counseling provides space for clients to wonder what authenticity means to them. My role isn’t to tell clients who they should be. Instead, I partner with them to discover who they already are.
Women’s Milestones and Life Transitions
A woman who finds herself in a life transition might ask, “Who am I now?” and “What do I actually want?” She might have spent years trying to make herself smaller or doubting her own perceptions. Perhaps, she’s launching her career, forming friendships, or moving to a new place. Maybe she’s discerning whether a romantic partner is a good fit, strengthening a partnership, or considering whether an intentional single life is right for her. Is she asking what family means to her? Does she want to conceive or adopt or choose a child-free life? Is she rediscovering herself after divorce or escaping abuse? Did menopause, aging parents, a career shift, or an empty nest change what she wants in midlife?
I help young adult and adult women find what feels true to who they are and what they actually want for their lives, especially when navigating milestones and life transitions.
Adolescents and Young Adults
Adolescents and young adults are actively engaged in identity development, while asking questions about belonging, independence, and authenticity.
They might be wondering, “Where do I fit? What happens when I don’t fit?” They’re navigating friendships and peer dynamics. They could be exploring their sexuality or developing romantic relationships. They’re finding the balance between adapting to others and staying true to themselves.
They’re also wrestling with the tension between becoming independent from their parents and still needing and staying connected to them. They’re deciding what they believe and the beliefs they simply inherited from their family.
How do they show up in their own lives? They might “try on” new roles and decide whether "this is me” or “this is not me.” What do they want? I help adolescents and young adults figure out what fits them and what doesn’t, so they can actively shape their identity.
Neurodivergent Clients
Neurodivergent clients might want to explore how their brains work and what that means for their lives, while also reflecting on the ways a neurotypical world wasn’t designed for them.
Neurodivergent and twice-exceptional (2E) adolescents and young adults might have spent years being told how exceptionally bright they are, while also struggling in ways that others interpret as not trying hard enough.
A woman might have received a diagnosis or recognized her own neurodivergence later in life. She might be asking which aspects of her personality are truly her and which parts she has masked for decades. She might be experiencing burnout or sensory fatigue when adaptations that worked for years no longer work.
I help neurodivergent and 2E students and their parents, as well as neurodivergent women, understand their neurotypes and thrive.
A little bit about me
In my free time, I find my glimmers with my college daughter, with my two rescued dachshunds, in my garden, during lively game nights with friends, at local brunch spots, and under the twinkle lights on whatever side quest my creative brain takes me.
Education
M.A. with High Distinction in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (60 hours), CACREP-accredited, Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA
B.A. with High Distinction in Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Ellen Tuffly, M.A.
LPC Associate # 89578
$175 Individual
$185 Parenting Work
