Thomas Dunn, MA*
Therapeutic Coach & Mentor
About Thomas.
HQ: Portland, Maine, USA
Client Range: In Person: Portland, Maine • Worldwide: Virtually
Client Age: Teens & Adults
Accepting New Clients? Yes
Sessions Offered: Virtually + In-Person
As a later-in-life identified gifted adult and trained gifted practitioner, I take a non-pathological, curiosity-led approach to my therapeutic mentoring and coaching support for neuroatypical teen and adult clients.
My client work is often existentially flavored and my goal as a practitioner is to help clients find ease in their inner discomfort through depth exploration and thoughtful connection. Often using the modality of Compassionate Inquiry, I guide clients through recognizing their body’s awareness and their hidden unconscious to unlock deeper levels of meaningful healing.
I have been told by my clients that I am incredibly attentive, detail oriented, open, and warm, while also not afraid to compassionately intervene. In sessions, I create and hold space for safe, intimate, and expansive discussion and, with my attunement to language, exploration of the minutiae of words said and unsaid.
I am a firm believer of working on one’s self in order to best initiate collective change and work well with creative / entrepreneurial individuals who are highly driven / neurocomplex / inquisitive / gifted / “too intense” / deeply existentially conscious. I believe discovery is the journey and the destination.
Superwell Specialties.
Gifted-Specific Support
Because gifted people are often able, interested, and even compelled to consider many things all at once, as a gifted helper I’m often invited to wear different hats for my gifted clients within the same session. If strong emotions come up I’ll offer you support using an embodied, trauma-informed psychotherapeutic approach. If you’re trying to figure out how to live a sustainable and authentic professional life, I’ll offer you philosophical coaching. If you’re trying to come to terms with your giftedness–past, present, or future–I’ll offer you gifted mentoring. I ask permission to switch between these hats and regardless of the mode we’re in (therapist, coach, or mentor) you are with a gifted peer and helper–maybe for the first time ever. I understand from my clients that they often experience and befriend their own giftedness anew through the mirroring and reflection of my own. Providing gifted mirroring like this that aids in a client's own gifted self-understanding and gifted integration journey is one of the greatest privileges of my life.
Neurodivergent-Specific Support
If your behavior or responses regularly diverge from what is expected socially, physically, or verbally, then you are neurodivergent according to the commonly used definition by Kassiane Asasumasu. Neurodivergence, by this definition, can be either innate or developmental in nature (e.g., autism, ADHD, depression, giftedness, dyslexia, obsessive compulsive disorder, etc.) or due to physiologically brain-altering events (e.g., head trauma, medicines, or drug use). Because much of my work is with gifted specific clients, my neurodivergent work often involves supporting multiple divergences (e.g., giftedness + ADHD, or giftedness + depression + autism, etc.).
Other Areas of Specialization.
Adoption
Childhood sexual abuse
Alcoholism/addiction
Narcissistic wounding
Complex developmental trauma
ADHD/ADD
Depression & Anxiety
Relationships (intimate & parenting)
Support for the parents & guardians of gifted teens
Ontology (what does it mean to be)
Epistemology (how do we think we know things)
Philosophy of language (what might our words actually mean)
Metaphysics (of agency, free will, and volition)
Fun Stuff.
How do your clients describe you?
My clients describe me as:
“Uniquely capable of weaving insightful intelligence, wise presence, warmth, and unconditional acceptance.”
“Offering a deeply compassionate witness rooted in his own practice of radical self-compassion.”
“Equally adept at challenging, cheerleading, and holding space for silence.”
What is your favorite book (or 4)?
Rilke: On Love and other Difficulties, John Mood, trans.
Melancholic Joy, Brian Treanor
The Denial of Death, Ernest Becker
What are your creative outlets?
I don't know about you, but loading the dishwasher is a daily creative outlet for me. As is doing my taxes (sadly only once per year). As is trying to write amusing stuff for this Superwell bio. I know myself as a creative being and so I try to let my creativity flow everywhere I can. And honestly, I have found no more joyful and noble use of my particular flavor of creative horsepower than I find in the service of my clients.
What would you do with $10M?
I would build profitable affordable housing and use the profits to build additional profitable affordable housing.
What is one of your quirks and/or special talents?
I use my car’s turn signals to indicate my driving intentions to other drivers.
Professional Stuff.
Education and/or Training institute:
Bachelor of Arts Philosophy (2017)
Summa cum laude
MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling
I have completed 42 Master’s Degree Counseling class credits and 400+ practicum hours at a CACREP accredited university
*IMA Individualized Master of Arts (in process)
In order to more fully focus and serve the mental health needs of the gifted community, I’m completing my Master’s Degree through a self-designed, gifted-specific capstone project that is currently in review.
Professional License:
Certified Counselor, IICT
Certified in Gifted Psychology, Intergifted (2023)
Compassionate Inquiry Professional Training (in progress)
