Short Course: Integrative Psychotherapy with Autistic Children and Their Families, Emphasizing Neurodiversity Principles ~ March 1, 2020

This short course will feature discussion of neurodiversity, psychotherapy, and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The course will begin with a brief background on ASD and neurodiversity. Participants will be encouraged to reflect on their own experiences with neurodiversity and neurotypical privilege.

Therapeutic work is illustrated in the treatment of a moderately-functioning 10 year old boy. The patient had two family members with ASD, and neurodiversity was extremely important to the family.

The therapist’s subjective experiences are emphasized, particularly since the patient insisted that he hated the therapist throughout the treatment. The meanings of his avoidance, meltdowns, and concrete demands, as well as therapeutic responses to these, will be discussed. The therapist’s mistakes and recovery will be discussed. The evolution of patient-therapist relatedness through largely nonverbal means is emphasized. The necessity of the therapist’s relatedness, engagement with, and learning from the parents is also illustrated. We will discuss the need for more than one type of data and more than one theoretical approach.

Participants in this short course will be able to:

1. Define the terms ‘neurodiverse’ and ‘neurotypical,’ and compare neurotypical privilege to other types of privilege.
2. Discuss their own experiences with neurodiversity and neurotypical privilege.
3. Discuss and apply the nonverbal aspects of psychotherapy with neurodiverse patients who may not fully engage with conceptual language or typical behaviors.
4. Discuss and apply the integration of different theoretical approaches in working with patients who have ASD or other neurodiverse conditions.

This program is appropriate for clinicians at all levels of experience and offers 3 CEs.

About our Speaker:

Tom Holman, PhD is a clinical psychology graduate of Catholic University. He teachers in ICP+P’s CAPP program, and in the Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Program of the Washington School of Psychiatry. He is a member of the Diversity Interest Group of ICP+P. He is co-chairperson of the Regional Network Committee of the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI). He has worked in inpatient, outpatient, day hospital, early intervention, and therapeutic nursery school settings. His interest in autism and developmental disorders began during his internship in 1978 and has grown steadily. In his private practice in Montgomery Village, MD he does evaluations for autism spectrum disorder, using the ADOS-2 and other methods, and works therapeutically with children, adolescents, and adults on the spectrum. His interest in neurodiversity and neurotypical privilege encompasses people with disabilities and serious medical problems.