“At Total Spectrum Counseling, we are culturally humble neurodivergent therapists who specialize in working with neurodivergent and neurotypical people with all sorts of difficulties. At Total Spectrum Counseling, most of us are Neurodivergent ourselves. And all of us practice from a Neurodiversity affirmative philosophy. This means we value your differences. We urge you to listen to your body and move as you naturally want, no matter how unconventional.”
More information about Total Spectrum Counseling can be found on their website.
Total Spectrum Counseling Courses Available for Homestudy
Neurodiversity Affirming Understanding and Care for ADHD
As more and more people are collaborating online, and an emphasis on lived experience is becoming the norm in both research and interventions, it is becoming abundantly clear much of our scholarship on ADHD is woefully biased and inadequate. Most of what we know about ADHD comes from a deficits or medical model that centers neurotypical experience as normal and most functional. The result of this is that most knowledge, treatments, conceptualizations, and theories of ADHD are inherently ableist; practitioners see differences in functioning as less than human or disordered/deficient. When viewing ADHD related phenomena purely through a neurotypical lens, we develop a narrative that is completely disconnected from the actual lived experience of people with ADHD. This continues a scientific tradition of centering majority experiences as normal in order to pathologize or minimize the importance of a minority experience.
In the last 15 years or so, advocates have been developing a new paradigm to understand neurological brain differences. Borrowing from other social justice movements, the neurodiversity paradigm views conditions such as autism and ADHD as stemming from naturally occurring biodiversity. If we begin to understand ADHD from this perspective, including contributions from ADHD researchers, bloggers, theoreticians, and clinicians, we begin to develop an entirely different understanding of what ADHD actually is and how societal values, standard treatments, and modern hegemonies end up hurting and disabling ADHD folks, often in unseen ways. This program weds recent research on ADHD with lived experience of ADHD people under a banner of neurodiversity to inform clinicians about how to best work with ADHD from an interdisciplinary perspective.
Deconstructing Gender: Trans & Non Binary Identities with assessment and letter writing training
Gender is a societal construct that is problematic and has negative emotional, physical and/or psychological impact on people, especially those who fall outside of what is constructed as “normal.” Clients who are trans/nonbinary/gender nonconforming, etc. particularly clients of color and more specifically Black trans folx, are overly misdiagnosed with mental health issues due to the lack of cultural competency and cultural humility. In this training, we will deconstruct gender constructs through a trauma informed lens, while learning how to identify and eradicate our own internalized biases, in order to create safer spaces for clients who identify within and/or are exploring their trans identity.
This workshop provides mental health professionals with tools on how to assess and write a letter for trans/non binary/non-conforming and/or many more non cis clients for surgery/hormones/name change/gender marker change and more in one session. Participants will also learn trauma informed ways to engage with the trans/non binary/non conforming/ and many more identities. Participants will leave the workshop with a wealth of knowledge and accessible tools to assess and write a letter for clients so that the client can gain access to affirming care.
Challenging Myths about Autism – What Assessors and Therapists Need to Know: Lessons from the Neurodiversity Movement
As more and more people are coming out as autistic and openly participating in society, it is becoming abundantly clear that the last 60 years of scholarship on autism is woefully biased and inadequate. Most of what we know about autism comes from a deficits or medical model that centers non-autistic experience as normal and most functional. The result of this is that most knowledge, treatments, conceptualizations, and theories of autism are inherently ableist; practitioners see differences in functioning as less than human or disordered/deficient. When viewing autistic phenomena purely through a neurotypical lens, we develop a narrative of autism that is completely disconnected from the actual lived experience of autistic people. This continues a scientific tradition of centering majority experiences as normal in order to pathologize or minimize the importance of a minority experience.
In the last 15 years or so, autistic people and advocates have been developing a new paradigm to understand neurological brain differences. Borrowing from other social justice movements, the neurodiversity paradigm views conditions such as autism and ADHD as stemming from naturally occurring biodiversity. If we begin to understand autism from this perspective, including contributions from autistic researchers, autistic bloggers, autistic theoreticians, and autistic clinicians, we begin to develop an entirely different understanding of what autism actually is and how societal values, standard treatments, and modern hegemonies end up hurting and disabling autistic people more than they help. This program weds recent research on autism with lived experience of autistic people under a banner of neurodiversity to inform clinicians about how to best work with autistic people as assessors and therapists.