Earn 2 CEUS!*
Miriam Cornell (they/them), MA LMFT and Shoshana Rivers (they/she) MS LMFT
are neuroqueer therapists at Transcend Psychotherapy, an outpatient clinic that serves predominately queer, trans and neurodivergent individuals, couples and families in Minneapolis.
As a therapist, supervisor, and consultant, Miriam specializes in the way that neurodivergence can intersect with issues of religious trauma, gender, and sexuality. They parent neurodivergent teens and are passionate about supporting trans and neurodivergent youth in and outside of the therapy space. Shoshana has a certificate in sex therapy and works with neurodivergent couples and sex therapy clients as well as individual adults. They are passionate about ancestral trauma healing, parts work, writing, and incorporating non-traditional tools into the therapy space including astrology and tarot.
Description
Neurodivergent clients, including those with Autism and ADHD, can have a variety of specific experiences with regard to sex and relationships that can pose a challenge to clinicians who do not have the knowledge-base to attune to this population. Given that most clinicians learned very little about neurodivergence in graduate school, let alone applied to a sex and relational setting, clinicians and clients often! feel stuck and might wonder Why Is This So Hard?!
This training works to fill in those gaps by addressing specific sex and relational challenges that come up for neurodivergent clients through education, discussion, and a case-study application. Topics will include sensory needs, focus challenges, demand avoidance, communication, alexithymia, and proprioception as well as asexuality and kink. The training will also address mixed-neurotype relationships, relationship transitions, and breakups.
Objectives:
1. Gain a deeper understanding of the different ways sensory needs, focus challenges, demand avoidance, and proprioception shows up in the context of neurodivergence
2. Learn about the spectrum of neurodivergent clients’ relationships to sex from sex-repulsed asexuality to sexual hyperfixation and kink
3. Explore specific challenges that come up in the context of relationships where one or more people are neurodivergent including communication, scheduling, and differing needs
4. Understand some of the ways that neurodivergence impacts how clients process breakups and relationship transitions
5. Enhance understanding through a case-study application
* This CE activity offered by Minnesota Association of Marriage and Family is approved by the Minnesota Board of Social Work as an approved CE Provider (approval valid through July 25, 2026).
This CE activity is pending CE approval with Minnesota Board of Behavioral Health and Board of Marriage and Family Therapy.
