Becoming a Neurodivergent-Affirming Clinician: Understanding ADHD and Autism through a Strengths-Based, Neurodivergent-Affirming Lens
2025-08-20 10:00 - 2025-09-24 13:15 (America/Los_Angeles) | Zoom
Becoming a Neurodivergent-Affirming Clinician: Understanding ADHD and Autism through a Strengths-Based, Neurodivergent-Affirming Lens
Presented by: B Lourenco, MA, LMHC
When: This course will be held over six consecutive Wednesdays: August 20 – September 24, 2025

Wednesday, August 20th, 2025 | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 1:15 pm Eastern
Wednesday August 27th, 2025 | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 1:15 pm Eastern
Wednesday September 3rd, 2025 | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 1:15 pm Eastern
Wednesday September 10th, 2025 | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 1:15 pm Eastern
Wednesday September 17th, 2025 | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 1:15 pm Eastern
Wednesday September 24th, 2025 | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 1:15 pm Eastern

Where: Live on Zoom. You will receive your Zoom link/invitation the week of the workshop.
18 CEs (12 CEs can be used for Cultural Competence or Health Equity CEs, and 6 can be used for Law & Ethics CEs) | $599.00 *** (see below for payment options)
As technology progresses and education on mental health becomes increasingly more available, the population has become more self-aware. The world is changing quickly, and with it, more and more people realize that their brain works differently than others. Due to the influence of social media and the shift to focusing on lived experience as a legitimate means of diagnosis, we are seeing a sudden increase in clients that identify as Autistic and/or an ADHDer. We find that clients are speaking up and finding validation of what they have always known: their brains operate differently than the brains of their peers, colleagues, friends, and families. As a result, we are seeing a sudden increase in the young adult and middle-aged population who identify as being Neurodivergent in a Neurotypical world.
This workshop series is designed to help clinicians build greater awareness and familiarity with ADHD and Autistic experiences. Participants will come away from this course with a deeper understanding of ADHD and Autism from the Neurodiversity-Affirming Paradigm that focuses on strengths and differences, not diagnoses, disorders, and deficits.
Especially following the Covid pandemic and its sometimes long-term impact on the brain and the immune system’s inflammatory processes, many clients report having different and often challenging sensory processing experiences. We are seeing more adults presenting in our offices with reports that they now have issues not only with taste and smell but with a range of visual, hearing, tactile, balance, and internal bodily sensations they never have before experienced, as well as difficulties with attention and memory. This begs the question: have these brain differences always been there but now have been sensitized or magnified by exposure to Covid and months-long isolation?
Many adults are now recognizing they are not alone and are demanding they not be dismissed or invalidated any longer, often having experienced the continued frustration of providers questioning their own lived experiences and, as a result, having been either undiagnosed or underdiagnosed due to outdated and debunked diagnostic criteria still used by mainstream psychiatrists and physicians. These individuals are finding validation for what they have suspected all along: their brains work differently than those of their peers, families, and friends.
With new research available and an increasingly empowered clientele, we see more than ever the need to remain current in our understanding of–and support for–those who have brain differences. Committed to blending cutting-edge scientific evidence with the lived experiences of our clients, Cascadia Training, is delighted to offer a new workshop series designed to help clinicians build greater awareness and familiarity with ADHD and Autistic experiences.
Upon completion of this series, participants will have a deeper understanding of ADHD and Autism from the Neurodiversity Affirming Paradigm that focuses on strengths and differences, not disorders, diagnoses, and deficits!
Woven throughout the series are the law and ethics of working with neurodivergent clients, including the danger of misdiagnoses, and the harm of using biased, outdated, debunked diagnostic criteria leading to the under-diagnosis of ADHD and Autism spectrum experiences. In addition, participants will learn about and identify pathologizing, stigmatizing, and harmful treatment protocols and clinical interventions still utilized by providers in educational, physical, and mental health professions.
This series uses a system developed explicitly by B Lourenco, an expert on ADHD and Autism. The course focuses to a large degree on the internal, lived experience of neurodiversity. Each of the six weekly sessions will include a didactic portion, an experiential section, and direct case consultation time. All modules will include lecture, video, and experiential segments.
Certificate Program Weekly Modules:
Week One: Sensory Systems – Getting in touch with the sensory system is the most critical step in supporting neurodivergent clients. Sensory information can regulate emotional and physical experiences. In addition, we will focus on using sensory profiles, menus, and diets to support day-to-day quality of life.
Week Two: Communication and Relationships – Understanding how those with Autism and ADHD communicate creates room for therapeutic connection. With this understanding, we will dive into tools for managing meltdowns and shutdowns in an affirming way.
Week Three: Attending and Executive Function – This module will explain why those with Autism and ADHD face challenges attending to their environment by addressing social expectations on perceptions of “functioning.” You will also learn how to use the client’s natural rhythms to support positive functionality.
Week Four: Social Systems and Disability – Understanding how society directly impacts the lives of people with disabilities. We will focus on how clinicians can incorporate advocacy into their practice and tools to unlearn neurotypical values by connecting clients to personal values.
Week Five: Differentials and Comorbidities – This module will teach participants how to rule out or “dial in” on other mental health concerns or diagnoses. We will present comorbidities that exist with your neurodivergent clients and how to effectively support them in a non-stigmatizing way. The role of trauma and grief in the lived experience of clients who identify as neurodivergent will be discussed, as well as the impact of these events on the developing brain. We will process how to best support the grief and disenfranchised losses felt by our autistic and ADHD clients and their families.
Week Six: The Use of Joy As a Tool Against Oppression. Creating celebrations of being neurodivergent and finding joy in everyday life as we partner with our neurodivergent clients. The Neurodivergent-affirming certificate program series will conclude with various celebrations we can share with our clients and the shift to viewing “joy itself as a tool against oppression.” As clinicians, it is important for us to first comprehend–and then share– the ways that society benefits from neurodiversity in general and ADHD and Autism, in particular. We will conclude by learning ways to help our clients celebrate their neurodiversity and see themselves through an affirming, strengths-based lens.
Other topics that will be covered in this practice- and life-altering certificate program series include, but are not limited to:

Alexithymia and Dysthymia
ARFID
Misophonia
Gender and sexuality in the ADHD and Autistic communities
The role of menstruation on ADHD and Autistic brains
Interdependence vs codependence and/or independence
Myths and stigmas about neurodivergent people
Experiences of abuse in neurodivergent people
Pervasive Desire for Autonomy (PDA)

***Payment Options:
Cascadia Training values quality continuing education that is accessible, inclusive, and without barriers to all. We never want the cost of our workshops to be a barrier to attending one of our workshops, particularly our multi-session workshops.
We offer several options to make our workshops cost-inclusive: payment plans, a limited number of full and partial scholarships, discounts for students, and discounts for early professionals. Please email us at hello@cascadiatraining.org for more information.
For payment plans, you can select paying 50% today and 50% due by September 30, 2025.
REGISTER HERE

Being Neurodivergent in a Neurotypical World
2025-09-12 09:00 - 16:30
Best Seller, Register Today!
Being Neurodivergent in a Neurotypical World
Presented by: B Lourenco, MA, LMHC (she/her)
When: Friday, September 12th, 2025 | 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM Pacific Time
Where: Live on Zoom. You will receive your Zoom link/invitation the week of the workshop.
Continuing Education Credit Hours: 6 Law & Ethics CEs; also meets the Cultural Competency CE requirement for WA & OR | Cost: $199.00
Have you noticed that more and more of your clients have begun to suspect that they are neurodivergent? During the past year-and-a-half of the Covid pandemic, many folks have had time to reflect and learn about themselves and others. That time of learning and increased self-reflection has led to what seems like an explosion of self-diagnosed Autistic and ADHD clients. It seems hard to believe that there are suddenly so many more people who are identifying as being neurodivergent. You may have asked yourself, “What is going on?”
The difference is the shift to using the ethical approach of “centering lived experience” in identifying neurodiversity. Using this term and approach as applied to neurodiversity, this presenter explains the rise in neurodivergent diagnoses, especially among those who have initially those self-identified. The presenter suggests that we have only recently begun to LISTEN to voices of those have had “lived experiences” after being diagnosed in the current mental health field, including countless reports of feeling increased emotional distress and of experiences of marginalization due to being labeled– and subsequently stigmatized– as neurodivergent.
B Lourenco will provide attendees with a “centering lived experience” model of assessing and supporting clients who suspect that they have been living as a neurodivergent person in a neurotypical world. This presenter will support your learning how to incorporate a “centering lived experience” model in your own mental health practices. With this new paradigm, mental health practitioners and educators can shift their focus away from a deficits-based approach to identifying the strengths and adaptive characteristics of those who are neurodivergent, especially those identified as autistic or ADHD.
This workshop will demonstrate how the current model for identifying neurodivergence—particularly those with Autism and ADHD–is considered both outdated and ableist by experts who choose to use the “centering lived experience” approach to assessing clients. This course will outline the ways that the current model harms neurodivergent people, in addition to offering workshop attendees a more client-empowering, more affirming way to identify and interact with this unique population of people.
Utilizing the Neurodiversity paradigm, you’ll leave this workshop with a much better, more strengths-based understanding of Autism and ADHD, as well as gaining effective tools for interacting with and supporting these clients (of which you have, even if you or the client doesn’t know it yet)!
Objectives:

understand the umbrella of neurodivergence, including innate and acquired neurodivergence
have a clearer understanding of Autism and ADHD—as viewed through an ethical, neurodiversity-affirming lens
identify limits of the medical model of neurodivergence
understand ways in which the current medical model is unethical and harmful to neurodivergent people–by its focus on perceived deficits through a neurotypical lens
apply a strengths and differences approach in identifying autism and ADHD
understand and consider using the “centered life experience” model of identifying and supporting neurodivergent clients and populations
gain new skills to better assist Autistic and ADHD clients
possess a clearer understanding of the ethical need to approach clients with an anti-oppression lens in mental health care agencies and private practices
feel empowered to challenge current systems of harm by supporting clients in their preferred methods of processing sensory input and communicating with others in a neurotypical world

After attending this workshop, attendees will be able to:

Discuss the ethical violations that come from employing Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) as an intervention with neurodivergent clients/students.
Become familiar with the metaphor of Applied Behavioral Analysis as being the why the “conversion therapy” of the neurodivergent community and the ethical ramifications of continuing to use it in schools and clinics.
Understand that the practice of ABA is based upon a “foundation of compliance, coercion, and behaviorism.”
Identify that current “evidence-based practices” may not be effective with the neurodivergent client.
Comprehend the ethical mandate under cultural competence standards to respect and validate the culture and norms of the neurodivergent population.
Respect the neurodivergent client as a person worthy of respect and individual civil rights legally protected from discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Understand the ethical mandate to assess clients with a culturally competent assessment tool and grasp the ethical violation of using current inadequate or inappropriate assessment tools with neurodivergent clients.
Discuss the widespread misdiagnoses of neurodivergent clients/patients when practitioners use a neurotypical standard of behaviors and development to diagnose a neurodivergent client.

REGISTER HERE

🆕BRAND-NEW! Death Planning and Acceptance: Breaking Down Stigma and Fear with Clients🆕
2025-09-12 09:00 - 16:30
🆕BRAND-NEW PRESENTER & WORKSHOP!🆕
Counts as Health Equity, Law & Ethics, or Cultural Competence CEs!
Death Planning and Acceptance: Breaking Down Stigma and Fear with Clients
Presented by: Kylani St. Clair, LMHC, CCTP, RYT
When: Friday, September 12th, 2025 | 9:00 am – 4:30 pm Pacific Time
Where: Live on Zoom. You will receive your Zoom link/invitation the week of the workshop.
Continuing Education Credit Hours: 6 CEs, 2 of which meet criteria for Cultural Competence and/or Health Equity CEs and 2 meet Law & Ethics criteria| $199.00
When a client says “The thought of my family dying keeps me up at night,” or “I’m terrified of death,” a clinician tends to have their own moment of fear or hesitation. Sometimes we don’t know how to respond, what we’re “allowed” to say, what we can offer without activating our own countertransference, or we’re afraid to broach the cultural/religious beliefs. As a society, we used to be more comfortable with death, literally and figuratively. Not long ago, we were planning for the inevitable much earlier in life. We even displayed the deceased in our living rooms for mourners to visit- sometimes for a week or more! The U.S. has especially stigmatized death and it’s palpable in our sessions. That existential dread and anxiety that sometimes leads to panic attacks and depressive episodes often has death at the core.
Further, grief and loss are often compounded when we don’t know what the deceased person wanted, how to pay for after-death services, and contacting the people who need to be informed. For example, do you know if your partner wants to be cremated or buried? Is it important to you to be buried in another state? If so, do you know what the protocols are for being transported across state lines? Do you have enough money to pay for what the service the deceased wanted? If we don’t have these conversations in our personal lives, how can we hold space for them with our clients?
In this training, we will break down some of the barriers to discussing death. We will learn about the process of dying, identify laws and regulations to navigate options, and de-stigmatize death. We’ll navigate the how, what, when, and why of these conversation in session and how to continue the conversations at home. Throughout this process, you will ease your own countertransference about death, making death planning and acceptance with clients more meaningful.
OBJECTIVES:

Reduce existential dread and anxiety regarding death.
Reduce levels of depression seated in despair about death.
Navigate clinical history at a multicultural level, providing both clients and clinicians with options for how to handle their own death, burial, funeral, etc.
Share artifacts and resources for various death professionals.
Apply cultural, religious, and familial traditions.
Identify differences between tradition types. Explore learner’s experiences. Identify any countertransference and how to hold space for it during session. Practice self-disclosure.
Revisit Kubler-Ross’ stages of grief and introduce David Kessler’s Needs of the Dying affirmations.
Discuss pre-grieving, second-grieving, disenfranchised grief, and normalize the process of grief.
Improve client advocacy via communication and understanding rights.
Practice communication around goals, desires, needs for end-of-life care, including, but not limited to, funeral and burial details.
Model the practice self-advocacy via the “Caregiver’s Bill of Rights,” including gaining a thorough understanding of laws and regulations around death and dying.
Navigate grief and loss

REGISTER HERE

🆕BRAND-NEW! Meets Health Equity Requirements | Enhancing Therapeutic Competence in Religious and Spiritual Sensitivity: An Implicit Bias Training 🆕
2025-09-24 09:00 - 12:00
🆕BRAND-NEW!🆕
Meets New Health Equity or Cultural Competence CE Requirements!
Enhancing Therapeutic Competence in Religious and Spiritual Sensitivity: An Implicit Bias Training
Presented by: Dreya Blume, LCSW
When: Wednesday, September 24, 2025 | 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM, Pacific Time
Where: Live on Zoom. You will receive your Zoom link/invitation the week of the workshop.
Continuing Education Credit Hours: 3 Health Equity or Cultural Competence CEs | $99.00
In psychotherapy, a client’s religious and spiritual beliefs can profoundly shape their worldview, coping mechanisms, and sense of identity. However, therapists—regardless of their own faith background or secular perspective—may hold implicit biases that unconsciously influence clinical interactions. This interactive training will help psychotherapists recognize and address implicit biases related to religion and spirituality, fostering greater cultural humility and therapeutic competence. Through guided self-reflection and experiential exercises, participants will explore how implicit assumptions about faith and spirituality can affect assessment, diagnosis, and treatment.
This workshop will provide practical strategies for creating an open, affirming therapeutic space that respects diverse religious and spiritual expressions. Participants will learn techniques to uncover their own biases, navigate religious differences ethically, and engage with clients’ beliefs in ways that enhance—not hinder—therapeutic outcomes. Whether working with devout clients, spiritual seekers, or those who have experienced religious trauma, therapists will leave with an expanded capacity to offer culturally responsive care that aligns with their clients’ values and healing processes.
OBJECTIVES:

Define implicit bias
Identify the impact of implicit bias on matters related to religion and spirituality
Recognize how implicit bias surrounding religion and spirituality can impact clinical work
Use strategies to become aware of their own implicit biases in order to avoid them becoming detrimental in the therapeutic relationship

REGISTER HERE
