Description:

If you are in the mental health field and have not had a neurodivergent (ND) client, you will.

This can be daunting to clinicians working within the medical model for several reasons. One may not know if a client is neurodivergent (ND). As ND people often do not see themselves as needing to be “fixed,” they may not feel certain treatment approaches and/or vocabulary apply to them – and yet they are in our offices seeking help. Many self-diagnose, and there are as many presentations of neurodivergence as there are neurodivergent people. How do we conceptualize working with this population?

One approach is to de-center the neurotypical classification of behavior as the primary issue and focus treatment instead on the identification and remediation of associated trauma. Sadly, trauma and Neurodivergence often go together, and one of the primary results of this is masking.

Masking is the compensatory strategy many ND people develop to manage social expectations. This skill initially allows them to “fit in” better. Over the long term, though, the masking takes a huge toll and most often results in extreme mental and emotional fatigue, chronic and extreme emotional dysregulation, exacerbated learning difficulties, and frightening and isolating trauma responses.

This session will introduce a non-pathologizing tool that streamlines the conceptualization of neurodivergence and masking by examining ten common areas in which neurodivergent people demonstrate significant differences compared to their neurotypical counterparts. A qualitative and quantitative view of masking will emerge by mapping each unique individual’s experience and comparing it to their social experience. Clients will experience a reduction in shame, an ability to communicate their experience better, and a method by which providers can better help them discern their needs in any situation. 

Objectives:

• List the ten areas of Neurodivergence in non-pathologizing terms
• Create a conceptualization of an individual’s neurodivergence with the Wheel of Neurodivergence
• Identify areas and degrees of masking and create treatment plans to address them, determining approaches of accommodation versus adaptation
• Apply new learning to case studies and real-time practice