What's Wrong With This Person?" — Why That's the Wrong Question | feat. Matt Phillips
What if the way you’ve been thinking about difficult patients, challenging colleagues, and people who “don’t respond well” is the wrong frame entirely?
In this episode, Jamie sits down with Matt Phillips — educator, clinician, and founder of mattphillips.education — for a conversation that goes way beyond neurodiversity. It’s about communication, environment, curiosity, and what it actually means to show up for the person in front of you.
Matt is neurodivergent himself and has spent his career helping therapists and students evolve — gently — by walking alongside them rather than telling them they’re wrong. In this episode, he unpacks:
- The social model of disability — and why it changes everything about how we see our patients
- What the “double empathy problem” really means (and why it matters in your treatment room)
- Why about 20% of your patients and colleagues may be neurodivergent — and how small environmental tweaks can make a massive difference
- The “straw that broke the camel’s back” — what burnout and meltdown actually look like, and why they happen
- Practical ways to adapt your clinic environment, your communication, and your follow-up process to serve neurodiverse patients better
- Why the changes you make for neurodivergent patients will actually help everyone
Jamie also opens up about his own ADHD diagnosis and how this conversation hit close to home.
Want a practical starting point for trauma-informed care in your practice? Grab the free Trauma-Confident Therapist Starter Guide:
👉 https://go.themtdc.com/traumaconfident
Find Matt at: mattphillips.education
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