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Courtney Cabell
About
Hello and welcome! I’m Dr. Courtney Cabell, a licensed psychologist in Michigan, and I’m glad you’re here. I live in the Metro Detroit area and am also a professor of clinical psychology, psychological assessor, researcher, and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. At the heart of all of my work is a genuine curiosity about people and the experiences that shape who they are.
I believe psychological assessment can be about much more than receiving a diagnosis. It can provide language for experiences you may have struggled to explain, help you recognize patterns that have existed throughout your life, and offer a deeper understanding of yourself. My goal is to create an assessment experience where you feel comfortable being yourself, asking questions, and sharing your experiences without feeling judged or pressured to fit into someone else’s expectations of what autism is supposed to look like.
I am drawn to working with autistic and neurodivergent adults because I believe too many people spend years feeling different without understanding why. Some become very skilled at masking or adapting to the expectations around them. Others may have had their experiences attributed to anxiety, trauma, personality, culture, or other factors without anyone stepping back to consider the whole person.
I am particularly passionate about recognizing the many ways autism can present across different people and communities, including individuals whose experiences have historically been overlooked or misunderstood. You deserve an assessment that takes your experiences seriously and approaches them with curiosity rather than assumptions. Whether an evaluation ultimately results in an autism diagnosis or provides another explanation for what you have experienced, I want you to leave the process knowing and understanding yourself better than when you entered it.
My approach is affirming, collaborative, culturally responsive, and strengths-based. I am interested not only in the things that may be difficult for you, but also in how you think, communicate, connect with others, solve problems, pursue your interests, and navigate the world around you. The qualities that make you different are not automatically deficits, and my role is not to determine how closely you resemble a stereotypical picture of autism.
Throughout the assessment process, I want to understand your experiences within the context of your whole life. That includes considering your identities, culture, relationships, environment, strengths, challenges, trauma history when relevant, and the ways you may have learned to mask or adapt over time. I also recognize that traditional mental health systems have not always understood or served people from diverse and marginalized communities well.
Most importantly, I want you to feel like an active participant in your assessment. I approach our work with curiosity, compassion, and respect for your expertise in your own life. My goal is not to tell you who you are, but to help you develop a clearer and more compassionate understanding of how your brain works and what you may need to thrive.
