Working Therapeutically with Neurodivergent Clients: From Neuroscience to Therapy I Online Workshop I January 2025 I Schema Therapy Scotland
Event: Working Therapeutically with Neurodivergent Clients: From Neuroscience to Therapy
Dates:
Days 1 & 2: January 16th & 17th
Day 3: February 14th, 2025
Workshop runs from 9am in the UK (10am CET) until 4pm
Fee: £340 for Days 1 & 2 only ; OR £475 to attend full 3 Days of training.
RECORDING AVAILABLE FOLLOWING THE TRAINING (even if you cant make it to the live event!)
Trainers: Dr Olga Dobrushina (assisted by Dr. Susan Simpson, Schema Therapy Trainer/Supervisor)
Registrations: Please scroll down page and fill out application form to be invoiced by Dr. Olga Dobrushina
Participants will learn how to adjust neuro-normative assumptions to meet the needs of their neurodivergent clients. Days 1 & 2 of the workshop will be applicable to therapists working from any psychotherapy model. Day 3 of the workshop will more specifically be focused on applying a neuroaffirmatic approach within a schema therapy context. The workshop can be attended as a 2-day or 3- day workshop.
Why This Workshop?
Research over recent decades has shown that both adverse childhood experiences and biological factors play an important role the development of psychological difficulties. The interaction between an individual’s neurobiology and social environment is complex, especially when it comes to neurodivergent clients. Understanding how one’s brain works is critical to the success of psychotherapy. The most frequent forms of neurodivergence, ADHD and autism, account for up to 10% and 3% of the population, respectively, and these rates are much higher among people with chronic resistant mental conditions. Studies show that neurodivergence is associated with a dramatically heightened risk of mental health conditions and worse outcomes in psychotherapy. Autistic and ADHD people report feeling misunderstood by therapists who attempt to change the way they are or use techniques that make no sense and don’t help. Thus, therapists should pay special attention to identifying and addressing neurodivergence. In this three-day course, we will learn to see the biological factors behind clients’ problems, beliefs/schemas and coping styles. The acquired knowledge and skills will enable therapists to understand the unique brains of their clients and effectively use psychotherapy to help neurodivergent individuals.
Workshop Content
On the first day, we will discuss neuroscience concepts that schema therapists can rely on when working with both neurodivergent and neurotypical clients. From understanding, we will move to practice, learning to conceptualise clients’ difficulties in terms of brain systems and to adjust therapy accordingly. On the second day, we will delve into the world of neurodivergence to identify and attune to ADHD and autistic clients. We will cover the topics of double empathy, masking, burnout, and phenomena like meltdown, shutdown, and rejection-sensitive dysphoria. Cases, video examples, and memes will help us grasp the nuances of neurodivergence. Being good re-parents, we will learn to meet the special needs of neurodivergent clients, including sensory needs. The third day is dedicated to adapting schema therapy for neurodivergent clients and is built on the base of two simulated cases. We will protect the autistic Mary from the ableist critic and help ADHD Peter learn to regulate himself more effectively than his demanding critic does. We will use contextual schema therapy to recognise the many-faced coping mechanisms of masking, understand and meet the needs behind them. Finally, we will see how happy a neurodivergent child can be when seen and supported rather than being moulded into a “normal person.”
Days 1 & 2: Participants will learn to:
- Recognise how the way one’s brain works influences their mental wellbeing
- Practice neuroscience-informed psychotherapy
- Understand the experience of autistic and ADHD individuals
- Identify the signs of neurodivergence in clients’ stories
- Work with special neurodivergent topics such as sensory needs, meltdowns, shutdowns, autistic burnout and RSD
- Attune to and meet the needs of neurodivergent clients
Day 3: Schema Therapy through a Neuroaffirmative Lens: Schema therapy acknowledges that not only adverse childhood experiences but also biological factors influence the development of schemas and modes. We believe that schema therapy, a flexible relationship-based and trauma-focused approach, might be a perfect fit for neurodivergent clients. On Day 3: Participants will additionally learn to:
- Adjust schema therapy practice to make it neurodivergence-affirming
- Being a good parent, protect your clients from ableist critics
- Conceptualise masking in terms of coping modes
- Use chair work to develop healthy adult ways of dealing with social demands
- In imagery rescripting, meet the neglected special needs of your clients
- Have fun together with the happy neurodivergent child
Who is this workshop for?
This workshop is suitable for various mental health professionals including psychologists, psychiatrists, counsellors, psychotherapists, social workers, occupational therapists, and nurse therapists. The first two days might be attended by professionals working in any therapeutic modality and researchers. The third day is intended for those with a working knowledge of schema therapy.
About the Trainer
Dr Olga Dobrushina, MD, PhD, is an HCPC-recognised counselling psychologist and ISST-accredited schema therapist based in Scotland. Olga is neurodivergent herself, and she has been working with neurodivergent clients for over 10 years, as a medical doctor, psychologist, and team leader. On a parallel track, Olga is a neuroscientist with special interests in the mind- body connection and neurotechnology. Currently, she combines private practice with research at the University of Strathclyde, Laboratory for Innovation in Autism (Glasgow).
Relevant references
1. Rydzewska et al., 2018. Prevalence of long-term health conditions in adults with autism:
observational study of a whole country population.
https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/8/8/e023945.abstract
2. Sciberras et al., 2009. Review of prospective longitudinal studies of children with ADHD: Mental
health, educational, and social outcomes. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12618-
009-0024-1
3. El Baou et. al., 2023. Effectiveness of primary care psychological therapy services for treating
depression and anxiety in autistic adults in England: a retrospective, matched, observational
cohort study of national health-care records.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215036623002912