Online across Missouri, Utah & Arizona
You’ve spent much of your life feeling like your brain runs on a different operating system than everyone else’s — and like the world keeps handing you tools built for someone else. Maybe you’re neurodivergent and worn out from masking, from the overwhelm, from being told to just try harder. Or maybe you’re the parent of a neurodivergent child, pouring everything into helping them while quietly running on empty yourself, wishing someone understood what your family is actually navigating.
You’ve probably had therapy that stayed on the surface — a lot of talking, not much traction. You don’t need more talk. You need someone who understands how the brain actually works, and a plan that works with it.
I’m Octavia Bartmess, NATIVation’s Neurofeedback Director — and I understand this from the inside. I’m neurodivergent myself and a parent of neurodivergent children, so I’m not guessing at your experience; I’m living a version of it. I also spent more than a decade as an aerospace software engineer — building real-time flight systems for aircraft — before I became a therapist. I bring that same precision to the human brain.
That engineer’s mind is exactly why I love neurofeedback. It’s structured, measurable, and grounded in your brain’s own patterns: we train your nervous system toward calm and focus, and we can actually see it working. Alongside neurofeedback, I’m trained across EMDR, clinical hypnotherapy, and ego state (parts) therapy, all held within the medicine wheel approach we practice at NATIVation. I’ll build you a clear, methodical path — no vagueness, no fluff — and we’ll walk it together.
I’m Diné, and like many of the people I work with, I grew up urban and disconnected from my culture — so I understand the quiet ache of living between worlds, and the steadiness that comes from finding your way back. I earned my Master of Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis, with a concentration in American Indian/Alaska Native communities and a specialization in System Dynamics, after a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the University of New Mexico.
If you’re ready for care that’s as precise as it is compassionate — that finally gets it — I’d be glad to build the path with you.