Insights on Mental Health and Healing
Forming Your Fellowship
Music, Therapy, and the Neurodivergent Journey
Have you ever wondered how music could transform your emotional health? True healing involves more than symptom relief. It includes emotional well-being, social connection, and a deep sense of belonging. In Befriending Your Nervous System, Deb Dana describes true healing as a return to regulation through co-regulation and internal safety.
At Lonely Mountain Therapy, we offer ADHD and autism support through music-based expressive arts therapy and the Safe and Sound Protocol as part of our polyvagal-informed care approach.
Understanding and Building Your Neurotribe
In The Neurodivergence Skills Workbook, Jera N. Kemp and Megan A. Mitchelson describe a neurotribe as a group of people who affirm your unique neurology without expecting you to change who you are. This community can reduce burnout, build confidence, and restore connection.
Instead of forcing yourself to “fit in,” it’s more effective and liberating to find those who understand and celebrate your way of thinking. Less friction, more flow.
- Join peer-led ADHD and autism support groups
- Connect with neurodivergent-affirming therapists
- Build community through expressive arts, music, and roleplay
Expressive Arts Therapy: Creativity as Regulation
Expressive arts therapy includes music, visual art, movement, drama, and writing. It allows for embodied healing and expressive storytelling. Jamie Marich’s Process Not Perfection outlines how creative prompts can safely explore grief, trauma, and identity. For example, building a playlist for your inner critic, or drawing what self-compassion looks like.
- Visual journaling for emotional processing
- Music as emotional co-regulation
- Storytelling and metaphor in therapy
The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP)
The Safe and Sound Protocol uses specially filtered music to support nervous system regulation. Based in polyvagal theory by Stephen Porges, SSP gently stimulates the vagus nerve to promote calm and social safety. In Safe and Sound, Porges and Onderko explain how listening activates physiological states of connection and resilience.
- Reduces anxiety and sensory overload
- Supports self-regulation and co-regulation
- Enhances therapeutic readiness
Soundtrack for a Neurodivergent Fellowship
Curated and annotated by Eric Hulsing, LPC, ADHD-CCSP
This 15-track playlist explores themes of identity, resilience, emotional dysregulation, and neurodivergent joy. Each song is paired with a lyric, a reason it resonates, and a creative or polyvagal prompt. This playlist is grounded in expressive arts therapy and polyvagal practices.
Explore the full track-by-track breakdown on our upcoming blog, or immerse yourself in the music now:
Soundtrack for a Neurodivergent Fellowship
Curated by Eric Hulsing, LPC, ADHD-CCSP | Lonely Mountain Therapy
This playlist serves as a companion for those who experience the world differently. Each of these fifteen songs resonates with the neurodivergent experience, offering understanding and support. Accompanying each track is a therapeutic practice inspired by experts like Deb Dana, Dr. Jamie Marich, and Dr. Kristin Neff.
- “At the Bottom of Everything” – Bright Eyes (2005)
Theme: Existential honesty, chaotic hope
Notable Lyric: “And in the caverns of tomorrow, with just our flashlights and our love, we must plunge.”
Why it’s a neurodivergent classic: This surreal opener begins with a plane crash monologue and shifts into folk-punk euphoria. It captures the jarring emotional shifts that mirror ADHD and autistic mood patterns.
Prompt – Mixed-Media Self-Portrait (Dr. Jamie Marich): Create a collage showing both a hopeful object and a surreal one. Let them coexist.
Watch on YouTube - “This Year” – The Mountain Goats (2005)
Theme: Survival amidst adversity
Notable Lyric: “I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me.”
Why it’s a neurodivergent classic: A raw survival mantra born of trauma. Many ND folks resonate with the push to just keep going.
Prompt – Rhythmic Tapping & Breath (Deb Dana): Tap knees in rhythm with the beat. Pause. Breathe in for 4, out for 6.
Watch on YouTube - “Kiss Off” – Violent Femmes (1983)
Theme: Post-shame rebellion
Notable Lyric: “I take one, one, one ’cause you left me and…”
Why it’s a neurodivergent classic: Sounds like a meltdown. And it’s glorious. Anger is valid. Rejection hurts.
Prompt – Reclaiming Power List (Dr. Jamie Marich): Write a list of things you take back. Make it loud. Make it weird.
Watch on YouTube - “Spitting Off the Edge of the World” – Yeah Yeah Yeahs ft. Perfume Genius (2022)
Theme: Sacred refusal
Notable Lyric: “Winds from the sky never had no chance / will watch us rise.”
Why it’s a neurodivergent classic: This slow burn holds grief and transcendence in equal measure.
Prompt – Found-Object Altar (Dr. Jamie Marich): Build a small altar of things you didn’t throw away. Dedicate it to rising again.
Watch on YouTube - “Not Strong Enough” – boygenius (2023)
Theme: Emotional exhaustion and identity
Notable Lyric: “Always an angel, never a god.”
Why it’s a neurodivergent classic: Navigates masked identities and imposter syndrome with aching precision.
Prompt – Mirror Gaze & Hum (Deb Dana): Hum softly while looking at your face in the mirror. Feel the vibration in your body.
Watch on YouTube - “Free Radicals” – The Flaming Lips (2006)
Theme: Creative absurdity
Notable Lyric: “You think you’re so radical.”
Why it’s a neurodivergent classic: Celebrates chaos and weirdness unapologetically.
Prompt – Too Much is Magic (Dr. Jamie Marich): Write about the time your “too much” saved the day.
Watch on YouTube - “Only” – Nine Inch Nails (2005)
Theme: Identity loops, burnout
Notable Lyric: “There is no you, there is only me.”
Why it’s a neurodivergent classic: Feels like ADHD spiraling or dissociative identity burnout.
Prompt – Pattern Interrupt (Dr. Jamie Marich): Draw a repetitive pattern. Then break it once. Reflect.
Watch on YouTube - “Future Me Hates Me” – The Beths (2018)
Theme: Overthinking and self-blame
Notable Lyric: “Future me hates me for what I do tonight.”
Why it’s a neurodivergent classic: Caters to anxious perfectionists and impulsive overthinkers.
Prompt – Future Self Gratitude (Narrative therapy): Write to future-you: “Thanks for not hating me for…”
Watch on YouTube - “Anytime” – Snail Mail (2018)
Theme: Longing and disconnect
Notable Lyric: “You never meant it / I never said it / But sometimes I see it in your eyes.”
Why it’s a neurodivergent classic: So many know what it is to be too much for someone else’s bandwidth.
Prompt – Letter You Never Sent (Dr. Jamie Marich): Write the letter. Don’t send it. You already did the hard part.
Watch on YouTube - “We Might Be Dead by Tomorrow” – Soko (2012)
Theme: Urgent connection
Notable Lyric: “Don’t tell me that you wanna love me and then leave me here to drown.”
Why it’s a neurodivergent classic: Raw, open, vulnerable.
Prompt – Hidden Wish Object (Dr. Jamie Marich): Wrap a small truth in fabric. Keep it close or bury it.
Watch on YouTube - “True Love Will Find You in the End” – Daniel Johnston (1985)
Theme: Sacred imperfection
Notable Lyric: “Don’t be sad I know you will, but don’t give up.”
Why it’s a neurodivergent classic: A lo-fi love letter from the heart of ND tenderness.
Prompt – Affirming Poem (Dr. Jamie Marich): Whisper the lyric. Then write your version of hope.
Watch on YouTube - “Rebel Heart” – First Aid Kit (2018)
Theme: Co-regulation and compassion
Notable Lyric: “You’re not beaten yet.”
Why it’s a neurodivergent classic: Holds space for despair and counterbalances it with care.
Prompt – Hand to Heart (Deb Dana): Listen with hand on heart. Feel the music soothe.
Watch on YouTube - “Become a Mountain” – Dan Deacon (2020)
Theme: Stillness, embodiment, transformation
Notable Lyric: “I rose up tired in my flesh and I felt myself become a mountain.”
Why it’s a neurodivergent classic: Feels like a sensory regulation spell.
Prompt – Mountain Pose (Deb Dana via Polyvagal Card Deck): Stand tall. Feet grounded. Notice breath. You are a mountain.
Watch on YouTube - “The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton” – The Mountain Goats (2002)
Theme: Defiance through imagination
Notable Lyric: “When you punish a person for dreaming his dream, don’t expect him to thank or forgive you.”
Why it’s a neurodivergent classic: It’s about punished creativity and neurodivergent rebellion.
Prompt – Symbolic Tattoo Design (Dr. Jamie Marich): Draw your dream-ink. Even if it’s silly. Especially if it is.
Watch on YouTube - “Hold On” – Tom Waits (1999)
Theme: Street-worn grace
Notable Lyric: “You hang on to your pride, but you should’ve let go.”
Why it’s a neurodivergent classic: Weathered and weary, but still going. No mask, no rush. Just real.
Prompt – Self-Compassion Letter (Dr. Kristin Neff): Write to a friend who’s struggling. Then read it to yourself.
Watch on YouTube
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