Beyond the DSM: Neurodiversity-Affirming Approaches to OCD 2 CEUs

Description

2 CEUS – Previously Recorded on Fri May 23, 2025 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM PDT

Includes: Instructions with Video Recording, Presentation Slide

Course Description

This two-hour training offers an in-depth exploration of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) through a neurodiversity-affirming, liberation-oriented lens. Designed for therapists, educators, medical professionals, and community members alike, this course challenges the limitations of traditional DSM-based frameworks and invites participants to reimagine OCD as a contextual, relational, and embodied experience rather than a disorder rooted solely in cognitive pathology.

Participants will examine how the medical model has historically shaped our understanding of OCD—often through Eurocentric, ableist, and individualistic paradigms—and how these narratives continue to influence diagnosis, treatment, and stigma today. Through an intersectional lens, the course explores how race, culture, gender identity, neurotype, religion, trauma history, and systemic oppression can impact how OCD presents and how people are perceived or supported in clinical and communal spaces.

This course highlights the limitations of mainstream interventions such as Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), while also offering a compassionate critique of newer approaches like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Inhibitory Learning Theory (ILT), Inference-Based CBT (I-CBT), and Mindfulness-Based Therapies. Participants will gain insight into how these modalities can be adapted (or reconsidered entirely) when working with neurodivergent clients, especially those who are autistic, ADHDers, or multiply marginalized.

Rather than centering symptom reduction, this course focuses on understanding the function of compulsions, the emotional logic of rituals, and the importance of co-regulation, autonomy, and access. Emphasis will be placed on affirming language, culturally responsive care, and practical tools for creating safer therapeutic and educational environments. Participants will leave with expanded language, deeper context, and more inclusive strategies to support people with OCD, whether in a clinical setting, a classroom, a family system, or a community.

Educational Goals:

• Conceptualize OCD through a Neurodiversity-Affirming Lens: Participants will understand OCD through a neurodiversity-affirming lens, challenging traditional pathologizing narratives.
• Recognize Intersectional and Systemic Influences: Participants will be able to apply affirming, strength-based approaches tailored specifically for OCD clients, emphasizing intersectional identities and lived experiences.
• Facilitate Client-Centered Support: Participants will recognize and critique traditional pathologizing models for OCD, highlighting affirming and inclusive alternatives.

Learning Objectives:

• Define OCD from a neurodiversity-affirming perspective, identifying the limitations of traditional DSM diagnostic criteria.
• Explain how intersectionality—including factors such as race, gender, neurotype, socioeconomic status, and cultural background—influences OCD symptom expression, diagnosis, and treatment access.
• Identify at least 3 overlap and distinctions between OCD and other neurotypes.
• Analyze traditional treatment modalities for OCD, such as ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention), from a neurodiversity-affirming perspective, highlighting potential harms and alternatives.
• Name at least 4 affirming practices and environmental accommodations that support OCD individuals, aiming for comfort and authenticity rather than symptom suppression.

Living Lotus Family Therapy, Inc. (#1032776) is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) to sponsor continuing education for Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFT), Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW), Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors (LPCC), and Licensed Educational Psychologists (LEP). Continuing education offered is suitable for BBS license renewal. Living Lotus Family Therapy, Inc. maintains responsibility for the following courses and content. Questions about our programs? Check out our FAQ.