Therapist for Grief, Neurodivergence
& Kids/Teens
Montana & Washington
DYLAN SPRADLIN, MA, MSW, LCSW, LICSW, SERVING KIDS AND ADULTS NAVIGATING BIG CHANGES, BIG FEELINGS, LOSS and TRANSITION
ACROSS MONTANA AND WASHINGTON
My work is deeply relational, grounded in nervous system science,
and the belief that behavior always has a story behind it.
Healing begins in relationships
Sometimes the pain began before there were words for it. Sometimes it came later — through loss, trauma, relationships, or years spent trying to function in a world that never quite fit.
My work is relational, nervous-system-informed, neurodivergent-affirming, and grounded in the belief that what we do usually makes more sense when we understand what is happening underneath.
That may look like a child yelling, shutting down, refusing, running away, or melting down over the wrong color cup. It may look like an adult masking, pushing through burnout, feeling completely untethered after a loss, or suddenly reinterpreting an entire lifetime after realizing they are neurodivergent.
None of that means we have to calmly decode every difficult moment while it is happening. We are human beings, not nervous-system interpreters available 24 hours a day.
Believe me: when a textbook is thrown at your head after some particularly difficult math problems at 7:46 p.m., staying steady is both particularly important and particularly hard.
But when we begin to understand what is happening underneath the behavior, the overwhelm, or the ways we have learned to survive, something shifts. There is more room for steadiness, choice, and something new to happen next.
Why I do this work
Like many therapists, my professional path grew out of my personal one.
I am AuDHD, and I raised a neurodivergent child into adulthood. That means this work is not abstract to me. I know what it is to live outside the expected shape, to question the systems everyone says should work, and to keep looking for a more honest, connected way through.
I was also shaped early by experiences that taught me how much our earliest relationships and nervous-system experiences matter, long before we have words for them. That led me into prenatal and perinatal psychology, attachment, early trauma, and eventually into healing work around my own early twin loss.
I still carry that understanding into my work now: our beginnings matter, but they do not determine where we end up.
I have also navigated more than my share of grief, loss, difficult relationships, and experiences that asked me to do more healing than I ever planned on doing. Along with parenting and coming to understand my own neurodivergence later in life, those experiences have shaped how I sit with others now: with clinical training, lived experience, steadiness, humor, humility, and deep respect for the many different ways people find their way through hard things.
I have never been particularly good at fitting myself into systems that did not make sense to me — I was more likely to question them, push back, or find another way — and that probably shapes this work, too.
What it’s like to work
with me
Clients often describe me as warm, grounded, deeply attuned, and authentic. I keep a smaller caseload intentionally so I can bring steadiness, presence, and emotional capacity to the people I work with.
This is not rushed work. It is thoughtful, relational work.
I’m not interested in perfection, surface-level fixes, or forcing people to “move on,” “calm down,” or become easier to manage. I’m interested in helping people understand themselves and each other more deeply — so new patterns of safety, connection, and repair can begin to emerge.
MY GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Authenticity.
No performance required. I bring my real self so you have more room to bring yours.
Safety.
Safety comes first. I work to create a space where feelings, hard stories, and messy truths can be met with steadiness instead of shame.
Respect.
Every person has a story before they have words. I meet people of all ages with dignity, agency, and respect for what their nervous system already knows.
Play & Creativity.
Play is not just for children. Creativity, movement, imagination, humor, metaphor, and play give nervous systems ways to explore, express, repair, and change without needing everything explained in words.
TRAINING & EDUCATION
I’m committed to ongoing education and training so my work keeps growing, too.
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Master of Clinical Social Work;
Walla Walla University, Missoula Campus
Master of Clinical Psychology;
Santa Barbara Graduate School
Specialization in Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology (Primary Psychology) & Infant and Child-Centered Play TherapyBachelor of Arts
The Evergreen State College;
focus on Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology.
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Certified Synergetic Play Therapist™
learn about Synergetic Play TherapyCertified NARM™ Therapist
learn about NARMCertified Grief Informed Professional for children, adolescents and adults
Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP)
Certified Clinical LCSW Supervisor
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Play Therapy, Youth & Family Work
Playing Perfectly: A Play Therapist’s Guide to Working with OCD
Working with Siblings in Play Therapy
Infant and Child-Centered Family Therapy
Infant Play Therapy
Aggression in Play Therapy: A Neurobiological Approach to Integrating Intensity
Creative Play Therapy Interventions for Grieving Children, Youth, and Families
Grief, Loss & Medical Trauma
Traumatic Grief: Cognitive, Behavioral, and Somatic Approaches
Mastering the Complexities of Traumatic Grief
Cultivating Post-Traumatic Growth
Reproductive, Infant, and Pregnancy Loss
Medical Trauma, Injury, and Illness
Grief in Foster and Adoptive Children and Families
Attachment, Neurobiology & Early Experience
Embodiment & Neurobiology of Secure, Insecure, and Disorganized Attachment and How to HealCultural Responsiveness
Building Cultural Inclusivity in the Playroom
Working with Native People and Communities -
Outside the therapy space
Outside of my work, I’m drawn to theater (both sides of the curtain), song, wild water, pollinator gardening, stories—the ones we tell ourselves, the ones we live, and the ones we share.
I love river otters and guinea pigs.
I love dogs and am particularly drawn to Newfoundlands, but will always have rescue dogs of any breed mix.
I believe healing and grief both live close to beauty.
I believe nervous systems speak constantly.
And I believe people deserve spaces where they can tell the truth without fear of judgment.
Selected Publications
“Fall of the Fairies”, Mothering Magazine, Mar/Apr 2008 (print edition, under the name Dylan Emrys)
“February 16” (poem) and “Spirit of the Child” (essay), in Our Stories of Miscarriage: Healing with Words, anthology edited by Rachel Faldet and Karen Fitton, 1997 (under the name Dylan Emrys)
