Cascadia Training for Professional Development

Therapeutic Neuroscience Certificate Series: A Brain Science-Based Approach to Cognitive & Somatic Treatment of Common Mental Health Disorders🆕
2026-05-04 09:00 - 2026-06-01 12:15 (America/Los_Angeles) | Zoom
Popular Certificate Program!
Therapeutic Neuroscience Certificate Series: A Brain Science-Based Approach to Cognitive & Somatic Treatment of Common Mental Health Disorders
Presented by: Hannah Smith, MA, LMHC, CGP
When: Monday, May 4th – Monday, June 1st, 2026 | 4-Week Series | Meets Four Consecutive Mondays except Monday, May 25th | 9:00 pm – 12:15 pm Pacific Time (same time each Monday)
Where: Live on Zoom. You will receive your Zoom link/invitation the week of the workshop.
Continuing Education Credit Hours: 12 CEs | $499.00
***see below for payment options
Are you ready for something really different?
As a provider of mental health treatment, it is important to stay informed about the latest advances in treatment. Beyond being a requirement of most licensure boards, research shows that improving practitioner competence decreases burnout and increases job satisfaction!
One of the hottest topics is the integration of neuroscience into mental health treatment. You heard this, and you want to learn more – but it feels daunting and overwhelming in the face of all you have to deal with every day. The prospect just does not sound pleasant.
So, why not make it easier?
Introducing Cascadia’s brain science certificate series!
In keeping with not only teaching to the brain in presentation style, but also in the ability to take in and retain, Cascadia now offers this in a series of three-hour sessions over a few weeks! The benefits are many!
First, the course is separated into four discrete and highly useful sessions:
Week One: Pertinent Therapeutic Neuroscience
Week Two: Applications in Therapeutic Neuroscience
Week Three: Neuroscience-informed Cognitive Approaches
Week Four: Neuroscience-informed Somatic Approaches.
Besides three-hour time blocks being easier to manage than an entire day, you will also have lots of time to think about, try things, and ask questions in between sessions, as skill support inquiries are encouraged!
None of us wants to spend our time learning only to come away tired and feeling that we could not retain what we learned. In this format, you will have the chance to really sink your teeth into the material and build a sense of competence!
All this will take place in the comfort of your own home!
If you have wanted to take your practice to the next level by incorporating cutting-edge neuroscience, then this is the course for you! Whether you aren’t quite sure what the amygdala really is or you are a PhD in Neuropsychology – this practical, application-based course will appropriately challenge and inspire you!
Workshop 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 the Neuroscience-informed Lens to Current Cognitive-based (ACT, CBT, IFS), Mindfulness-based (DBT, MBT), & Somatic-based (EFT, Expressive Therapies) Theories You Already Know Increasing Insights to Improve Treatment Trajectory & Outcomes
Evaluate the differences between amygdala-based and cortex-based symptoms
Apply proven strategies for calming and training the amygdala.
Use Practical Neuroscience-informed Techniques, such as Threat Analysis, to Improve Client Understanding, Compliance, and Outcomes
Convey Difficult Science Terms & Concepts in an Understandable, Client-friendly Manner

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 the remaining 50% will automatically be processed from your credit card on the last day of June.
Please email us at hello@cascadiatraining.org to inquire about discounts and scholarships.
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

The Body Can Change the Score: Somatic Interventions for Trauma
2026-06-04 09:00 - 12:15 | Zoom
The Body Can Change the Score: Somatic Interventions for Trauma
Presented by: Diane Bigler, LCSW, LSCSW
When: Thursday, June 4th, 2026| 9:00 AM – 12:15 PM, Pacific Time
Where: Live on Zoom. You will receive your Zoom link/invitation the week of the workshop.
Continuing Education Credit Hours: 3 CEs | $90.00
Workshop Description:
As humans, we store memories, experience and emotions on a cellular level. Somatic approaches focus on body awareness and how to cultivate it in and around the body. Providing clients with interventions to address how trauma is stored and experienced in the body is essential. This training will present an overview of how trauma is experienced in the body. Specific somatic interventions such as resourcing, grounding, dual awareness, and sequencing will be presented. Learners will view the application of somatic interventions by analyzing case studies and video demonstrations. Discover methods to help your clients release trauma and negative emotions from the body through a trauma-informed care lens.
Objectives:

Explain the somatic experience of trauma in the body.
Discover at least five somatic interventions for trauma.
Analyze applications of somatic interventions to client case studies.

REGISTER HERE

Ethics of Simple Self-Care in Nature – Day 2
2026-06-05 09:00 - 16:30 | ONE-Olympia, 7400 Gallagher Cove Road NW, Olympia, WA, 98502, United States
Law & Ethics CEs!
Ethics of Simple Self-Care in Nature – Day 2
Presented by: Dr. Brenda Butterfield, EdD, MSW, LMHC
When: Friday, June 5th, 2026 | 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM, Pacific Time
Where: Live in person at the ONE Center (7400 Gallagher Cove Road NW, Olympia, WA 98502)
Lodging Information: If you’d like to come the night before or stay over on Friday night after the workshop, you can explore the lodging options provided by the ONE Center here. For questions about lodging, please email the ONE Center at ournewexperiences@gmail.com
Continuing Education Credit Hours: 6 Law & Ethics CEs | $199.00
This workshop is also offered on Friday, October 2nd, 2026. MORE INFO & TO REGISTER >>>
Are you ready to come back to ONE for your annual Self-Care Check-Up? Just like an annual physical exam, on this day, you can check in with “the Doctor” to reassess your health and well-being, assess progress toward goals, and discuss challenges along the way. Except in this scenario, you are the “Doctor!” Come, step off the busy treadmill of life to pause, drop in, and check in with yourself while earning 6 ethics credits!
Like Ethics of Simple Self-Care in Nature Day 1, this workshop is retreat-style, nature-based, and very experiential. In our welcoming circle, we’ll begin the day by connecting, building community, and savoring the good company of colleagues. We’ll take time to complete the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL) and the Professional Self-Care Assessment during the annual checkup. Bring your assessment measures from the Day 1 workshop, or no worries if you don’t have them. Trust your inner guide to know where you’ve been and where you are now.
Throughout the day, we’ll spend time in community and on our own as we sit spot on the land and by the water, resting in awareness and writing reflectively. We’ll explore new, simple self-care practices from nature therapy and mindful self-compassion. All practices are evidence-based ways to activate the parasympathetic nervous system anytime, anyplace. All can be shared with clients to support their health and well-being. We’ll revisit research explaining why self-care is essential for health care providers and take a deeper dive into the ethics of practicing self-care through the collaborative Practice of Council around the campfire. We’ll discuss our own biases, real-life challenges, values & beliefs, and find ways to acknowledge, support, and problem-solve together.
Self-care can be quite simple but seldom easy, especially when caring for others. Self-care is living mindfully. It requires ongoing intention and attention to skill building, giving and receiving support, and holding oneself accountable. We hope you answer the call this season of care and come back for your Self Care Check Up at ONE. You’ll be in the good company of colleagues, supported by the healing power of nature.
WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES:

Reassess your compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress.
Reassess your current self-care across 5 life domains.
Explore experientially a variety of ways to practice simple self-care
Identify lifestyle choices that are supporting or undermining your health and well-being.
Revisit research correlating clinician health and well-being to treatment outcomes for clients.
Revisit ethical implications for practicing/not practicing self-care.
Refine your realistic action plan for improved self-care

REGISTER HERE

Introduction to Nature Therapy: More than a Walk in the Park
2026-06-05 09:30 - 17:00 | Shoreline Center, 18560 1st Ave NE, Shoreline, WA, 98155, United States
Law & Ethics CEs!
Introduction to Nature Therapy: More than a Walk in the Park
Presented by: Becky Robbins, MA, LMHC, CEAT, CYT, NBT
When: Friday, June 5th, 2026 | 9:30 AM – 5:00 PM, Pacific Time
Where: Live, In-Person event at Shoreline Center – at 12pm, we will break for an hour lunch, and will then reconvene at Hamlin Park, located at 16006 15th Ave NE, Shoreline, WA, at 1:00 for the remainder of the workshop, which will be outdoors.
Continuing Education Credit Hours: 6 CEs – 2 Law & Ethics CEs| $199.00
This Introduction to Nature Therapy: More than a Walk in the Park workshop allows participants to become familiar with nature-based therapy, specifically, what is involved in a “walk-and-talk” therapy session outdoors in a natural setting. Participants will become aware of the legal and ethical considerations necessary to provide this option for client sessions. Participants will learn the key concepts and significant benefits of providing therapy sessions outdoors, in a natural setting, complemented by using expressive arts modalities. The presenter will also teach how these approaches connect through a polyvagal lens.
Participants will learn what it takes to provide ethical, impactful, confident, and competent therapy for clients in an outdoor natural setting. The presenter will teach participants how to include expressive arts modalities and somatic awareness techniques into nature therapy, as these techniques will be interwoven throughout this daylong experience. Experientials will be facilitated to aid participants in their own embodied experience of a session in nature. Participants will leave this course ethically and legally prepared to facilitate an outdoor, nature-based therapy session, understanding the client appropriateness (what clients are a good fit for this type of therapy), location considerations (parks, trails, beaches, weather conditions, parking, etcetera), and critical skills needed for facilitating a helpful walk-and-talk session outdoors (multidimensional awareness, various approaches to facilitation, and safety considerations). Participants will leave this experiential workshop feeling confident and inspired to offer a more integrated clinical approach than they thought possible!
OBJECTIVES:

Consider legal, ethical, and documentation implications for doing nature-based therapy outdoors.
Identify important considerations for specific populations.
Understand the legal and ethical considerations of practicing nature-based therapy in a walk-and-talk session.
Describe differences among ecotherapy, nature-based, adventure-based, and wilderness therapies.
Identify key concepts of ecotherapy and nature-based therapy
Assess who to work with and when, where to go and why, and what to expect and consider in various regions and environments when using nature-based therapy.
Understand the therapist’s identity in nature-based versus ecotherapy practices.
Introduce common types of nature-based approaches into walk-and-talk therapy sessions.

REGISTER HERE
