Cascadia Training for Professional Development

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 | Zoom
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! Lunch & Learn: Brain Breaks! Easy and Effective Tools for Emotional and Sensory Self-Regulation 🆕
2025-09-15 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
🆕Brand-New Lunch & Learn Series!🆕
Brain Breaks! Easy and Effective Tools for Emotional and Sensory Self-Regulation
Presented by: Sally Carman, OTR/L
When: Monday, September 15th, 2025 | 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm Pacific Time
Where: Live on Zoom. You will receive your Zoom link/invitation the week of the workshop.
Continuing Education Credit Hours: 1.5 CEs | $35.00
Mental health providers often encounter clients who live with challenges that involve focus, sensory overload, and energy/emotional regulation. This engaging presentation introduces us to the notion of brain breaks – short, intentional, and customized activities designed to reset both the mind and the body. Such tools are effective and evidence-based, leading toward an increased sense of safety and improved self-regulation.
Participants will learn what regulation actually is, will recognize signs of dysregulation, and will learn how to integrate movement, sensory, and mindful strategies into their practices immediately. You’ll leave this highly engaging, informative, AND fun training with a more comprehensive understanding of how we process sensory information and how we can modify our responses to it with fast, easy, and effective brain breaks!
Our presenter for this brand-new Lunch and Learn workshop brings with her a rare blend of expertise. As an Occupational Therapist with a specialty in mental health, Sally Carman will provide you with a clearer understanding of how our sensory processing system works and how that impacts our ability to self-regulate. Attendees will leave this Lunch and Learn training with greater confidence in the how and why of sensory challenges that can often lead to dysregulation. Attendees will take away easy, fast, and effective tools, including a variety of techniques in how to self-regulate. You will leave this lunchtime training with a new sensory-informed lens and with a toolkit of interventions you can use immediately with your clients—and, very likely, with yourself!
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
By the end of this Lunch and Learn training, attendees will:

Define and explain the purpose of brain breaks as tools leading toward greater safety and self-regulation.
Identify how regulated behavior appears and discern factors that may trigger dysregulation, especially with neurodivergent clients.
Learn a variety of brain break strategies, including those using movement, sensory, and mindful techniques – and recognize when, where, and how to use them.
Develop practical skills for facilitating the implementation of brain breaks during and after treatment sessions to better support our clients’ agency in improving their own self-regulation.

REGISTER HERE

Kinky Sex Ed and Poly 101: A One-Day, Two-Session Workshop
2025-10-01 09:00 - 16:00 | Zoom
Law & Ethics, Health Equity, or Cultural Competence CEs!
Kinky Sex Ed and Poly 101: A One-Day, Two-Session Workshop
Presented by: B Lourenco, MA, LMHC (she/her)
When: Wednesday, October 1st, 2025 | 9:00 AM – 4:00 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, Health Equity, or Cultural Competence CEs | Cost: $199.00 NOW ONLY $140.00!
Morning Session: Kinky Sex Ed for Clinicians (9:00 AM – 12:00 PM, Pacific)
In graduate school, many programs offered a very limited education on human sexual development. The topics covered were largely typical, normative experiences. This type of education leaves out so many other ways of being and leaves large gaps in our education about alternative ways of engaging with sex and relationships.

Both sessions of this one-day workshop–Kinky Sex Ed and Poly 101–are intended to help fill the gaps in clinical education and understanding. The goal is that the clinicians who attend will be more fully informed, more inclusive in their approach, and better able to support clients with “non-normative” sexual identities and experiences.

Kink refers to any sexual interest or behavior that is outside what is considered normative. Research indicates that many people have explored kinks at some point in their lives, with many people having a kink as a core component of their sexual experiences. This course will identify common kink terms, concepts, and identities so that the clinicians who attend can better support kinky-identified clients.
Objectives:

Learn how kink is defined and connected to social constructs of normativity
Have a basic understanding of common kink identities
Learn basic kink terms and cultural norms
Know the differences between and among kinks, fetishes, and BDSM
Explore how kinks develop and change over time and sexual development
Define healthy and ethical kink
Identify ethical concerns in kink culture

Afternoon Session: Poly 101 for Clinicians (1:00 PM – 4:00 PM)
In graduate school, many programs offered a very limited education on human sexual development, and the topics covered were largely typical, normative experiences. This type of education leaves out so many other ways of being and leaves large gaps in our education about alternate ways of engaging with sex and relationships. Kinky Sex Ed and Poly 101 are both intended to help fill the gaps in clinical education and understanding so that clinicians can be more informed and able to support clients with “non-normative” sexual identities and experiences.

The socialization that prioritizes monogamy starts very early in Western culture, with messages about faithfulness, loyalty, jealousy, and love all being inexplicably intertwined. The reality is that–for many people–monogamy simply doesn’t work well for them. This course will explore key terms and concepts of Ethical Non-Monogamy (ENM) and how to offer support to our clients in the clinical setting.
Objectives:

Learn monogamous and non-monogamous relationship types
Explore basic terms and concepts of ethical non-monogamy (ENM)
Identify the role of monogamy culture on all relationship types
Define the differences between envy, jealousy, and trauma responses when navigating ENM
Understand common ethical concerns in ENM
Identify the benefits associated with non-monogamous relationship dynamics

REGISTER HERE

Let's Talk About Sex
2025-10-08 09:00 - 16:30 | Zoom
Law & Ethics, Health Equity, or Cultural Competence CEs
Let’s Talk About Sex
Presented by B Lourenco, MA, LMHC (she/her)
Where: Live via Zoom (you’ll receive the link the week of the workshop)
When: Wednesday, October 8th, 2025 (was Friday, September 19th – now Wednesday, October 8th) | 9:00 am – 4:30 pm Pacific Time
Continuing Education Credit Hours: 6 Law & Ethics, Health Equity, or Cultural Competency CEs | Cost: $199.00
Research shows that if sex isn’t brought up in the first three therapy sessions, it is unlikely to ever come up in the therapy space.
A large majority of clinicians don’t know how to talk to their clients about sexuality and, subsequently, aren’t able to help their clients with issues about their sex lives. Many clinicians also believe that conversations about sex are out of their scope of practice, and while this is true in rare cases, it’s usually not true.
Every single person has a relationship with sexuality, whether they are asexual or very sexually experienced. Everyone we work with as therapists has a relationship with their sexuality.
Discussing sexual health is well within our scope as clinicians! It is ethically mandated for clinicians to continue learning and growing so we can offer the best and most tailored support to our clients.
That need has prompted the creation of this workshop, NOT Your Mom’s Sex Ed Class!
Socialization teaches us that everyone is cis-gender, hetero, and monogamous. Everyone is taught that certain sexual behaviors are “normal” and others are “not.” These norms are echoed in the education systems that clinicians are trained in. Because of the shame-filled way our society treats sexuality, most folks have a complicated relationship with it.
We can serve the entire person when we choose to include conversations about sex and sexual health with our clients.
This course will go over the basics of human sexuality and anatomy, including sexual and gender identities, as well as the roles of desire, arousal, and libido. This course will explore types of sexual dysfunction commonly experienced by clients and how to know if a referral is needed. In addition, this course will identify ways that all clinicians can become more informed and sex-positive with everyday clients.
Objectives:

Learn the process of expected sexual development over the lifetime
Identify sex organs and their functions
Review gender and gender identities
Review sexual identities
Differentiate between types of arousal, desire, and variations in libido
Explore concepts about sex/porn addiction vs. out-of-control sexual behaviors
Identify the role of society in determining sexual norms and expectations
Define the impact of expectation of sexual normativity
Explore common non-normative identities and behaviors
Learn common types of sexual dysfunction experienced by everyday clients
Distinguish the role of attachment wounds and trauma on sexual experiences
Identify when a referral to a sex therapy specialist is needed
Understand the basics of sex-positive therapy and how to explore sexual topics with clients
Learn common types of sexual dysfunction experienced by everyday clients
Distinguish the role of attachment wounds and trauma on sexual experiences
Identify when a referral to a sex therapy specialist is needed
Understand the basics of sex-positive therapy and how to explore sexual topics with clients
Discuss ethical best practices around client sexuality and identify possible misdiagnoses due to clinician misinformation
Explore how cultural norms impact sexual attitudes and perpetuate stigmatizing myths
Identify the ethics that mandate we provide culturally sensitive and inclusive clinical practices

REGISTER HERE

Mindfulness and ADHD: Strategies for Cultivating Focus and Self-Regulation
2025-10-09 09:00 - 12:00 | Zoom
HEALTH EQUITY CEs!
Mindfulness and ADHD: Strategies for Cultivating Focus and Self-Regulation
Presented by: Dreya Blume, LCSW
When: Thursday, October 9th, 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 CEs | $99.00
Our clients with ADHD often believe that mindfulness-based activities are NOT for them. “If I have trouble focusing on anything for more than a minute, how can you expect me to sit still and count my breaths?”
Luckily, there is much more to mindfulness than sitting still. This means that our clients with ADHD can access the incredible benefits that mindfulness practices offer. In this training workshop, you will learn mindfulness-based interventions tailored for clients with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Individuals with ADHD often struggle with impulsivity, emotional dysregulation, and difficulty sustaining attention, challenges that can significantly impact their personal and professional lives.
Mindfulness offers a powerful, evidence-based approach to enhancing awareness, focus, and self-regulation. We will explore how integrating mindfulness practices into therapy can help clients increase present-moment awareness, improve attention control, and manage emotional reactivity.
The workshop combines theoretical foundations with practical, hands-on learning, including guided mindfulness exercises. You will learn how to teach simple mindfulness techniques adapted for ADHD, such as body scanning and self-compassion practices while addressing common barriers to engagement. I will also share strategies for fostering motivation and building consistent mindfulness habits in clients. By the end of the session, you will be equipped with a flexible toolkit to support your clients in cultivating calm and clarity, empowering them to navigate their ADHD-related challenges with greater ease and resilience.
OBJECTIVES:

Explain which mindfulness practices are suitable for clients with ADHD
Identify the benefits of mindfulness practice in addressing symptoms of ADHD
Understand how to address barriers to engaging in mindfulness practice

REGISTER HERE

🆕 BRAND-NEW TOPICS! The Neurodiversity Symposium 🆕
2025-10-16 09:00 - 2025-10-18 17:00 | Zoom
🆕 BRAND-NEW TOPICS! 🆕
3-Day Zoom Symposium!
Cultural Competence, Law & Ethics, and Health Equity CEs
The Neurodiversity Symposium
Presented by: B Lourenco, MA, LMHC
When: 3-Day Zoom Symposium from Thursday, October 16th – Friday, October 18th, 2025 | Times for each day and session vary (see below)
Register for the full symposium (and save $145!) by day, or by session (MORE INFO)

Thursday, October 16th, 2025, 2025: 9:00 am – 4:30 pm Pacific Time / 12:00 pm – 7:30 pm Eastern
Friday, October 17, 2025: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm Pacific Time / 12:00 pm – 8:00 pm Eastern
Saturday, October 18th, 2025: 9:30 am – 4:30 pm Pacific Time / 12:30 pm – 7:30 pm Eastern

Where: Live on Zoom. You will receive your Zoom link/invitation the week of the symposium.
Continuing Education Credit Hours: Each session varies – each day offers 6 CEs, and the entire symposium is 18 CE credit hours. All CEs count toward cultural competence, law & ethics, or health equity requirements | $575.00 for the full symposium, $199 per day, or $80 – $160 per session (depends on number of hours) *** (see below for payment options)
So, you’ve been spending time learning about Neurodiversity and Neurodivergent-Affirming care. You’ve explored what Autism and ADHD look like through the lens of the Neurodivergent-Affirming Paradigm, staying up late to deep dive on the internet to learn more about specific topics that keep coming up in your work. You’ve taken courses and read books, you’ve joined groups and listservs, but you still have questions about certain Neurodivergent topics. This event has been crafted with you in mind.
With three full days dedicated to closely examining specific Autistic and ADHD topics and experiences, these courses are designed to give you the space to learn with other deeply curious thinkers. These courses are meant for folks who have a strong foundational understanding of the Neurodiversity movement and paradigm and may not be suitable for intro-level learners. Intro-level learners are encouraged to register for “Being Neurodivergent in a Neurotypical World” on September 12th here or December 5th here.
Learn from folks with a range of backgrounds and experiences and a variety of courses from 1.5 hours to 4 hours long. Feel free to pick and choose your topics or register for all three days; whatever meets your learning needs.
All sessions will be held live via Zoom on Pacific Time.
DAY ONE – Thursday, October 16, 2025 (9:00 AM – 4:30 PM)
Day One, Session One (9:00 AM – 12:00 PM): What is PDA and How Is It Impacting My Practice?
3 Health Equity, Cultural Competence, or Law & Ethics CEs
Although not currently recognized in the United States, PDA is a neurodivergent profile that many people experience. Pervasive Demand Avoidance (PDA) is commonly misunderstood, and this class will help clinicians identify this profile and how to support PDA in an affirming way.
OBJECTIVES:

Explore Pervasive Drive for Autonomy (or, from the medical model, Pathological Demand Avoidance) from an ND-affirming lens
Learn the social implications of PDA through both the medical and ND-affirming models
Define two ways to help support people with PDA profiles.

Day One, Session Two (1:00 PM – 2:30 PM): Neurodivergence Over the Lifetime
1.5 Health Equity, Cultural Competence, or Law & Ethics CEs
Due to a number of factors, how one experiences ADHD and Autism can change over one’s lifetime. This class will examine some of the factors associated with these changes and how they may impact ND individuals.
OBJECTIVES:

Learn about the ways the ADHD and Autistic experience may shift over the lifetime
Explore the role of hormones on the ADHD and Autistic Experience

Day One, Session Three (3:00 PM – 4:30 PM): Neurodivergence and Family Systems
1.5 Health Equity, Cultural Competence, or Law & Ethics CEs
There is plenty of evidence that Autism and ADHD are genetic and run in families. This course will explore how that affects family systems and legacies.
OBJECTIVES:

Define how parenting styles impact neurodivergent children
Explain how long-term family culture is defined by neurodivergence

DAY TWO – Friday, October 17, 2025 (9:00 AM – 5:00 PM)
Day Two, Session One (9:00 AM – 11:00 AM): The Social Model of Disability
2 Health Equity, Cultural Competence, or Law & Ethics CEs
The Social Model of Disability is a concept that moves the onus of disability from the individual to the greater society. This class will explore ways that this change in mindset impacts the lived experience of ADHD and Autism.
OBJECTIVES:

Learn how the Social Model of Disability can be an anti-oppressive framework for therapy
Identify layers of oppression and how other “isms” impact ADHD and Autism

Day Two, Session Two (12:00 PM – 2:00 PM): The Intersection of Neurodivergence and Other Identities
2 Health Equity, Cultural Competence, or Law & Ethics CEs
Autism and ADHD are two of many possible oppressed identities. This panel will hear from folks who experience Neurodivergence in addition to other marginalized identities.
OBJECTIVES:

Explore how Neurodivergence is just one form of oppression
Identify ways that ADHD and Autism is impacted by other types of marginalization

Day Two, Session Three (3:00 PM – 5:00 PM): Is Neurodivergent Burnout Inevitable?
2 Health Equity, Cultural Competence, or Law & Ethics CEs
Living as a Neurodivergent person in today’s capitalist society means that it is harder than ever to avoid burnout. This class will investigate how to recognize burnout and support clients in affirming, non-oppressive ways.
OBJECTIVES:

Learn how ND burnout can present in phases
Address the normalization of burnout and the needed supports to offset it

DAY THREE – Saturday, October 18, 2025 (9:30 AM – 4:30 PM)
Day Three, Session One (9:30 AM – 11:30 AM): Neurodivergence and Other Mental Health Concerns
2 Health Equity, Cultural Competence, or Law & Ethics CEs
With the overlap of certain mental health diagnoses being more common with ADHDers and Autistics, it can get confusing to understand just what the distinctions are. When we add in the prevalence of trauma, some of our cases get complicated quickly. This course will help clinicians make sense of complex scenarios through the use of case studies.
OBJECTIVES:

Identify how Autism and/or ADHD may impact other mental health concerns
Explore the prevalence and impact of trauma on ND populations

Day Three, Session Two (12:30 PM – 4:30 PM): Modifying Therapy Modalities for Neurodivergent Populations
4 Health Equity, Cultural Competence, or Law & Ethics CEs
As clinicians learn more about supporting Autistic and ADHD clients, questions continue to arise about how to modify current therapy modalities to serve these populations. This class will feature Neurodivergent clinicians who have dedicated their time and energy learning how to make common therapeutic interventions more supportive for ND clients.
Planned modalities we will cover include those for Substance Use Disorder (SUD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and Eating Disorder treatment.
You can register for the full symposium (and save $145!), by day, or by individual session.
***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 on October 31st.
REGISTER HERE

SPECIAL SALE! The Science of Gender & Resistance: Empowering Ourselves and Our Clients with Practical Neuroscience
2025-10-23 09:00 - 12:15 | Zoom
LAST-MINUTE DEAL! $45 OFF!
🆕BRAND-NEW!🆕
Healthy Equity or Cultural Competence CEs
The Science of Gender & Resistance: Empowering Ourselves and Our Clients with Practical Neuroscience
Presented by: Hannah Smith, MA, LMHC, CGP
When: Thursday, October 23rd, 2025 | 9:00 am – 12:15 pm Pacific Time
Where: Live on Zoom or In-Person in Mount Vernon at the Union Block Building Conference Room at 325 Pine St., Mount Vernon, WA (Google Maps Link). If GPS is a problem, put “Lincoln Theater; 712 S 1st St in and park anywhere near there. Look for the Bail Bonds and the door is behind it in the Square. You will receive workshop details the week of the workshop.
Continuing Education Credit Hours: 3 Health Equity or Cultural Competence CEs | $95.00 NOW ONLY $50.00
There is no doubt that one of the most polarizing and difficult topics today is the idea of gender. For those of us who work with the LGBTQIA+ community, the result is devastating and heartbreaking for our clients – and for those of us who work with them. It can feel daunting and overwhelming.
We may find ourselves asking lots of questions, from what even is gender to why is it so controversial? And why on earth is there so much push-back on it?
This is a complex issue with multi-faceted causes and reasons – however, at the base of it all lies the body. Applying practical applications of neuroscience and Interpersonal Neurobiology, we can look under the surface to what lies beneath – and in so doing, improve our client’s self-image and empower ourselves and them to reduce our stress as we move through difficult interactions.
This course will teach you not only the proper language of gender, but the science behind the terms so you can speak confidently on the topic. In addition, we will explore and identify the biological source that feeds much of the resistance to listening. Most of all, the attendee will be given techniques to help more accurately frame what is happening and maintain their body regulation during difficult interactions.
Objectives:

List and describe the science of gender, including up-to-date associated vocabulary
Identify reasons for resistance in others
Apply Principles of Neuroscience and Interpersonal Neurobiology to Regulate Your Own Nervous System to Reduce Shame & Activation During Difficult Interactions
Apply New Learning to Case Studies

REGISTER HERE

🆕 BRAND-NEW! AuDHD in Love 🆕
2025-11-07 09:00 - 16:30
🆕BRAND-NEW!🆕
Health Equity, Cultural Competence, or Professional Roles and Boundaries CEs!
AuDHD in Love
Presented by: B Lourenco, MA, LMHC, Stacy Skowronski, PhD, LCSW, CST, and Hannah Tyer, MOTR/L
When: Friday, November 7, 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 Health Equity, Cultural Competence, or Professional Roles and Boundaries CEs | $199.00
Course Description:
As people learn more about Autism and ADHD through lived experience and the Neurodiversity-Affirming movement, we see the layered influence on sexual and romantic relationships. Masking has a profound impact on the development of the “self” and the understanding of relationships, often leading to misunderstandings and confusion in all relational settings. Add in the nuances of differing sensory needs and ways of attending to stimuli, plus experiences of rejection sensitivity and demand avoidance, and the challenges pile up quickly. And we haven’t even talked about relational trauma yet!
Whether people share the same neurotype or not, the impact of neurodivergence is complex and layered. Using a multidisciplinary approach, this workshop is taught by three clinicians with a variety of expertise and experience and will explore how Autism and ADHD affect intra and interpersonal relationships, from platonic to romantic/sexual and everything in-between.
Key objectives
After this course, attendees will be able to:

Define at least three ways the medical model of Autism and ADHD differ from the neurodiversity-affirming model
Describe at least two ways that both ADHD and Autism can impact romantic/sexual relationships
Explain the relational effects of the Double Empathy Problem and Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria
Identify/understand common polarities in neurodivergent couples that impact connection
Describe how differing sensory profiles can impact all types of relationships where people share space
Identify at least two ways to help support healthy, neurodivergent-affirming relationships

Other topics covered:

Attention and Focus
Monotropism
Differing Sensory Profiles
Communication Challenges
Differences in Emotional Expression
Masking in relationships
Masking in sexual encounters

REGISTER HERE

Becoming a Neurodivergent-Affirming Clinician: Understanding ADHD and Autism through a Strengths-Based, Neurodivergent-Affirming Lens
2025-11-13 09:00 - 2025-11-15 16:30 | Zoom
3-Day Intensive Zoom Session
Cultural Competence, Law & Ethics, and Health Equity CEs
SELLS OUT VERY QUICKLY – REGISTER NOW!
Becoming a Neurodivergent-Affirming Clinician: Understanding ADHD and Autism through a Strengths-Based, Neurodivergent-Affirming Lens
Presented by: B Lourenco, MA, LMHC
When: Thursday, November 13th to Saturday, November 15th, 2025 | 9:00 am to 4:30 pm Pacific Time
Where: Live via Zoom. You’ll receive the Zoom link the week of the workshop.
Continuing Education Credit Hours:
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 have now 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 completing this workshop 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 workshop 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 workshop 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. The workshop includes didactic portions, experiential sections, and direct case consultation time. Each day will include lecture, video, and experiential segments.
Objectives:
By the end of this workshop, participants will understand and describe:

Sensory systems and sensory exploration and attunement to realize how getting in touch with the sensory systems is the most important thing we can do
Differences in communication for ADHDers and Autistics
Relationship differences, including gender and sexuality differences
Attending and executive function in ND and ADHD clients
The neurotypical societal norms that lead to high levels of burnout
The Dependency Model
How social systems impact our Neurodivergent client’s experiences of disability, specifically how unethical and discriminatory practices violate both federal laws and the ethical mandates and standards for best practice for mental health clinicians, physicians, and other physical health providers, educators, and employers
The ethical mandate to identify and discontinue unethical treatment interventions that violate our neurodivergent clients’ autonomy and consent, both ethical mandates
The behaviors often targeted by unethical therapies are usually harmless and serve the self-regulating and self-soothing needs of our neurodivergent clients
How to conduct an ethics assessment of their current practices to identify and discontinue the use of any outdated, long-ago debunked assessment tools, unreliable and non-evidence-based diagnostic criteria, and clinical interventions that may be unethical in terms of their identified purpose, their disrespect for our client’s autonomy, and lack of informed consent as it applies to neurodivergent behaviors and processing preferences
Identify myths about ADHD and Autism and understand the impact of these myths on underdiagnosis, misdiagnosis, and diagnostic overshadowing caused by outdated standards and practices
The goal of unethical treatment interventions and their targeted behavioral goals being to hide one’s true self and one’s autistic or ADHD behaviors
Comprehend the toll that unethical interventions take on neurodivergent students, employees, and clients. Masking and camouflaging of autistic behaviors result in increased rates of substance use and abuse, levels of depression, and high rates of suicide in Neurodivergent clients
The need for educational, mental health professionals, and physical medicine practitioners to identify the targeted goals of any treatment interventions and ensure that treatment is and places a high value of on client consent and respect for all clients’ autonomy
Understand the differentials and comorbidities that exist for our neurodivergent clients, including the role of trauma on ND lives, the need to rule out any other mental health concerns, the high rates of misdiagnoses and completely overlooked diagnoses that NDs experience in our educational, medical, and mental health systems
The imperative to assess for and process grief and loss in ND clients
The critical role of validation when serving as a neurodivergent-affirming and informed clinician
The ethical mandate to apply cultural sensitivity and familiarity with all clients, including those who live with differences in sensory experiences, communication, and cognitive/relational/social processing
The value of networking with ND specialists and medical providers
How to help our ND clients identify and celebrate the strengths and benefits of being ND
Reclaiming JOY and ND as strengths to use as weapons against systemic oppression

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.
For payment plans, you can select paying 50% today and 50% due November 30th, 2025.
Please email us at hello@cascadiatraining.org to inquire about discounts and scholarships.
REGISTER HERE

🆕BRAND-NEW!🆕Neuroscience for Clinicians: Practical, Brain-Based Approaches to Treatment for Anxiety, Depression, and Chronic Trauma
2025-12-04 09:00 - 16:30 | Zoom
🆕BRAND-NEW!🆕
Neuroscience for Clinicians: Practical, Brain-Based Approaches to Treatment for Anxiety, Depression, and Chronic Trauma
Presented by: Hannah Smith, MA, LMHC, CGP
When: Thursday, December 4th, 2025 | 9:00 am – 4:30 pm Pacific Time
Where: Live on Zoom or In-Person in Mount Vernon at the Union Block Building Conference Room at 325 Pine St., Mount Vernon, WA (Google Maps Link). If GPS is a problem, put “Lincoln Theater; 712 S 1st St in and park anywhere near there. Look for the Bail Bonds and the door is behind it in the Square. You will receive workshop details the week of the workshop.
Continuing Education Credit Hours: 6 CEs | $190.00
We are all aware of technological advances, such as the advent of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) scans, that have enhanced our understanding of the brain/body connection. We now can pinpoint, explain & target what is happening in ways we never have before, allowing for far more effective treatment options.
And yet, this knowledge is not always accessible to the practitioner. Cutting-edge information is out there, but it is often conveyed in ways that do not allow for “feet to the pavement” use, making the very idea of learning neuroscience daunting to some.
It’s time for a change.
In this interactive session, attendees will learn pertinent brain science, emphasizing practical understanding and application. The same methods taught will be used to engage the learner in a down-to-earth manner, making absorbing the information easier. The clinician will learn and demonstrate the ability to apply skills in new, holistic, and neuroscience-informed ways. As a result, practitioner confidence and client engagement will increase as insight and comprehension are applied in real time.
Whether you have zero neuroscience experience or consider yourself an expert, this course is for you. Join us as we take mental health treatment to the next level!
OBJECTIVES:

Learn Pertinent Brain Systems & Structures and Describe Their Practical Application to Clinical Work
Identify & Examine the Neurological Processes Underlying Common Mental Health Disorders, Such as Anxiety, Depression, Personality Disorders & Trauma.
Relate Specific Dysfunctional Behavioral Presentations to Associated Brain Functions to Improve Diagnosis & Pinpoint Effective Treatment Modalities
Apply Current Cognitive-based (ACT, CBT, IFS), Mindfulness-based (DBT, MBT), & Somatic-based (EFT, Expressive Therapies) Theories with Neuroscience-informed Insights to Improve Treatment Trajectory & Outcomes
Convey Difficult Science Terms & Concepts in Understandable, Client-friendly Manner to Increase Practitioner Confidence and Client Engagement

REGISTER HERE

Being Neurodivergent in a Neurotypical World
2025-12-05 09:00 - 16:30 | Zoom
Best Seller, Register Today!
Being Neurodivergent in a Neurotypical World
Presented by: B Lourenco, MA, LMHC (she/her)
When: Friday, December 5th, 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

Becoming a Neurodivergent-Affirming Clinician: Understanding ADHD and Autism through a Strengths-Based, Neurodivergent-Affirming Lens
2026-02-04 10:00 - 2026-03-11 13:15 | Zoom
Law & Ethics, Health Equity,
and Cultural Competence CEs!
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 for six consecutive Wednesdays: February 4th through March 11th, 2026, from 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern

Wednesday, February 4th, 2026 | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern
Wednesday, February 11th, 2026 | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern
Wednesday, February 18th, 2026 | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern
Wednesday, February 25th, 2026 | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern
Wednesday, March 4th, 2026 | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern
Wednesday, March 11th, 2026 | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern

Where: Live on Zoom. You will receive your Zoom link/invitation the week of the event.
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 on March 31, 2026.
REGISTER HERE

Kinky Sex Ed and Poly 101: A One-Day, Two-Session Workshop
2026-02-13 09:00 - 16:00 | Zoom
Law & Ethics, Health Equity, or Cultural Competence CEs!
Kinky Sex Ed and Poly 101: A One-Day, Two-Session Workshop
Presented by: B Lourenco, MA, LMHC (she/her)
When: Friday, February 13th, 2026| 9:00 AM – 4:00 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, Health Equity, or Cultural Competence CEs | Cost: $199.00
Morning Session: Kinky Sex Ed for Clinicians (9:00 AM – 12:00 PM, Pacific)
In graduate school, many programs offered a very limited education on human sexual development. The topics covered were largely typical, normative experiences. This type of education leaves out so many other ways of being and leaves large gaps in our education about alternative ways of engaging with sex and relationships. Both sessions of this one-day workshop–Kinky Sex Ed and Poly 101–are intended to help fill the gaps in clinical education and understanding. The goal is that the clinicians who attend will be more fully informed, more inclusive in their approach, and better able to support clients with “non-normative” sexual identities and experiences. Kink refers to any sexual interest or behavior that is outside what is considered normative. Research indicates that many people have explored kinks at some point in their lives, with many people having a kink as a core component of their sexual experiences. This course will identify common kink terms, concepts, and identities so that the clinicians who attend can better support kinky-identified clients.
Objectives:

Learn how kink is defined and connected to social constructs of normativity
Have a basic understanding of common kink identities
Learn basic kink terms and cultural norms
Know the differences between and among kinks, fetishes, and BDSM
Explore how kinks develop and change over time and sexual development
Define healthy and ethical kink
Identify ethical concerns in kink culture

Afternoon Session: Poly 101 for Clinicians (1:00 PM – 4:00 PM)
In graduate school, many programs offered a very limited education on human sexual development, and the topics covered were largely typical, normative experiences. This type of education leaves out so many other ways of being and leaves large gaps in our education about alternate ways of engaging with sex and relationships. Kinky Sex Ed and Poly 101 are both intended to help fill the gaps in clinical education and understanding so that clinicians can be more informed and able to support clients with “non-normative” sexual identities and experiences. The socialization that prioritizes monogamy starts very early in Western culture, with messages about faithfulness, loyalty, jealousy, and love all being inexplicably intertwined. The reality is that–for many people–monogamy simply doesn’t work well for them. This course will explore key terms and concepts of Ethical Non-Monogamy (ENM) and how to offer support to our clients in the clinical setting.
Objectives:

Learn monogamous and non-monogamous relationship types
Explore basic terms and concepts of ethical non-monogamy (ENM)
Identify the role of monogamy culture on all relationship types
Define the differences between envy, jealousy, and trauma responses when navigating ENM
Understand common ethical concerns in ENM
Identify the benefits associated with non-monogamous relationship dynamics

REGISTER HERE

Becoming a Neurodivergent-Affirming Clinician: Understanding ADHD and Autism through a Strengths-Based, Neurodivergent-Affirming Lens
2026-05-20 10:00 - 2026-06-24 13:15 | Zoom
Law & Ethics, Health Equity,
and Cultural Competence CEs!
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 for six consecutive Wednesdays: May 20th through June 24th, 2026, from 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern

Wednesday, May 20th, 2026 | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern
Wednesday, May 27th, 2026 | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2026 | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern
Wednesday, June 10th, 2026 | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern
Wednesday, June 17th, 2026 | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern
Wednesday, June 24th, 2026 | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern

Where: Live on Zoom. You will receive your Zoom link/invitation the week of the event.
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 on June 30, 2026.
REGISTER HERE

Being Neurodivergent in a Neurotypical World
2026-06-05 09:00 - 16:30 | Zoom
Law & Ethics, Cultural Competence, or Health Equity CEs!
Being Neurodivergent in a Neurotypical World
Presented by: B Lourenco, MA, LMHC (she/her)
When: Friday, June 5, 2026 | 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, Health Equity, or Cultural Competence CEs | 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

Becoming a Neurodivergent-Affirming Clinician: Understanding ADHD and Autism through a Strengths-Based, Neurodivergent-Affirming Lens
2026-08-26 10:00 - 2026-09-30 13:15 | Zoom
Law & Ethics, Health Equity,
and Cultural Competence CEs!
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 for six consecutive Wednesdays: August 26th through September 30th, 2026, from 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern

Wednesday, August 26th, 2026 | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2026 | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern
Wednesday, September 8th, 2026 | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern
Wednesday, September 16th, 2026 | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2026 | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern
Wednesday, September 30th, 2026 | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern

Where: Live on Zoom. You will receive your Zoom link/invitation the week of the event.
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 on September 30, 2026.
REGISTER HERE
