.webp)
.png)
Biography
Hello! I’m Amber Kovach, a licensed mental health counselor currently licensed in Florida, Maryland, and Ohio. I specialize in working with neurodivergent adults and individuals exploring how neurodivergence impacts their daily life, emotions, identity, and self-understanding. My clinical focus is outpatient therapy for clients who are looking for support with anxiety, burnout, executive functioning, self-compassion, life transitions, emotional regulation, masking, people-pleasing, and building routines that feel realistic and sustainable.
I especially enjoy working with clients who are seeking a warm, collaborative, affirming space to better understand themselves and develop practical tools for everyday life. Most sessions involve talk therapy approaches informed by cognitive behavioral and client-centered frameworks, both in my work at Prosper Health and through my own practice, Counseling with Amber PLLC.
Education
Master’s in Counseling from Johns Hopkins University
Certifications
Area of Expertise
I believe each person already carries strengths, insight, resilience, and lived experience that can be built upon in therapy. My role as a therapist is to help clients recognize what is already working, better understand what may be getting in the way, and develop strategies that feel realistic, supportive, and aligned with who they are and where they currently are. I strive to create a safe space where clients feel seen, respected, and affirmed without needing to mask, over-explain, or minimize their experiences.
I especially value supporting neurodivergent clients in understanding themselves through a lens of compassion rather than shame, and in building a life that honors their needs, strengths, values, and capacity. I also use relatable examples, metaphors, and occasional appropriate self-disclosure when clinically helpful to support connection, understanding, and practical application.
Modalities
Affiliations
Research and Publications
.png)
Misophonia and Autism: Why Certain Sounds Feel Unbearable, and What to Do About It
Do certain everyday sounds — like slurping, tapping, or chewing — send you into a whirlwind of distress or discomfort? Perhaps it’s not just emotional, but also physical, and you can’t shove down the reactions no matter how hard you try. If this feels relatable, you might have a common condition called misophonia.
Research suggests a possible link between misophonia and autism. Autistic individuals are more likely to have sensory sensitivities, after all. In any case, misophonia is “a nervous system response and not a cognizant decision,” says Jacqueline Shinall, Psy.D., a psychologist at neurodivergent-affirming telehealth provider Prosper Health.
Delane, a 27-year-old autistic woman, experiences misophonia due to “human sounds” like eating. “It just feels like someone constantly poking at the same spot, to the point of overstimulation and irritation,” she says. “It takes a lot of self-control to not lash out.”
Let’s take a closer look at what misophonia is, what research shows and doesn’t show about its connection to autism, and how to manage it. Whether you're wondering whether misophonia may be a sign of autism, are autistic and want to understand misophonia, or are simply looking for relief, there's no wrong reason to be here.
Signs of Autism in Adult Men (And When to Get Assessed)
To the average Heated Rivalry viewer, hockey phenom Shane Hollander has everything: He’s a millionaire, the best player in the league, and — spoiler alert! — by the end of the first season of the hit TV series, he’s in a committed relationship with the love of his life, Ilya Rozanov.
While it’s not explicitly stated on the show (or in the books the series is based on), the Shane character is also canonically autistic. Because guess what? You can be a successful man and be autistic.
If you look at the character a little more closely, maybe you can relate to Shane’s social awkwardness. Or his laser-focused approach to hockey. Or his propensity for detailed, decade-long plans. Or his steady food and beverage preferences (macrobiotic diet! ginger ale!).
Maybe this recognition is happening a little later in life, too.
Thom*, who lives in Chicago, was formally diagnosed with autism at age 47. Although he received an ADHD diagnosis about a decade beforehand, further exploration led him to identify with videos from popular autistic content creators like Kojo Sarfo and Morgan Foley. This content helped him “recognize a lifetime of masking” as well as notice autistic traits like social-communication differences and a preference for the same foods.
Whether it’s recognizing yourself in certain forms of media, a child’s recent diagnosis, a partner who raised the possibility that you might be autistic, a relationship breakdown — or something else — you’re here for a legitimate reason: To understand yourself better.
After reading this article, you will be able to recognize signs of autism in adult men, understand why it so often goes unrecognized, and possibly explore next steps.
BPD vs. Autism: How Are They Different, and Can You Have Both?
Maybe you’ve been told you're “too sensitive.” Or “too rigid.” Or that you overreact to things other people brush off. Somewhere along the way, you might have even been handed a label, borderline personality disorder (BPD), and it explained some of what you were going through, but not all of it.
Autism and borderline personality disorder (BPD) can look similar from the outside. Both can involve intense emotions, relationship difficulties, and reactions that may seem confusing to other people. But they have different underlying causes, and telling them apart matters. If autism is mistaken for BPD, you may end up getting support that doesn’t address what’s actually going on.
According to the CDC, autism is a neurodevelopmental condition present from early childhood. BPD is a personality disorder that tends to develop later, usually in adolescence through early adulthood, according to a clinical review of BPD. The two conditions have different origins, but some of their day-to-day symptoms can look similar. Understanding those differences can help you find support that actually fits your experience.
This article covers what autism and BPD have in common, why the two can get confused, whether you can have both at once, and what support looks like.
