Moving from Compliance to Connection: Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) Interventions for Parents of Autistic Children to Enhance Emotion Regulation
May 10th,2024
1:00PM - 4:15PM Pacific Time
Webinar Via Zoom

Join us for an empowering workshop that revolutionizes the way we approach emotion regulation (ER) challenges among autistic children and their parents. Together, we will discover the transformative potential of the Awareness Courage and Love (ACL) model in Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) as we guide you through a protocol specifically designed to enhance the emotional well-being of both parents and their autistic children.

With up to 80% of autistic children experiencing emotion dysregulation (including meltdowns, negative mood, and aggression), it's crucial to equip parents with effective tools for navigating this complex terrain. Our unique approach moves away from compliance-based methods and instead emphasizes the safety and connection of relationships to promote and reinforce ER. Through engaging discussions, experiential exercises, and real-life examples, you'll gain the skills to coach parents in fostering ER behaviors through awareness, courage, and love.

We will specifically explore the role of ER in both parents and autistic children, challenge common beliefs that hinder progress, and embrace a behavioral analytic approach that center the autistic community's lived experiences. We will delve into the nuances of supporting parents of nonspeaking/minimally speaking children, those with Autistic Pathological Demand Avoidance/Persistent Drive for Autonomy (PDA) profiles, and children who engage in masking or camouflaging.

This workshop is explicitly offered from a neurodiversity affirming paradigm. While tailored to parents of autistic children, this approach holds transdiagnostic potential, making it relevant to clinicians working with parents of children with other neurodivergences.

Presented by: Elle (Danielle) Winterwood, MSW, LICSW, Mavis Tsai, Ph.D, & Rodrigo Nunes Xavier, Dr.:

Elle Winterwood, MSW, LICSW (they/she),is the clinical director at Whole Valley Therapy, a queer-centered, intersectional feminist psychotherapy practice. They specialize in working with parents of neurodivergent children in addition to holding lived experience as a neurodivergent individual/parent. Elle is working toward FAP certification as a therapist/trainer.

Mavis Tsai, Ph.D. (she/her), a senior research scientist at the University of Washington, co-created Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP). She is a recipient of the WSPA Distinguished Psychologist Award. As founder of the nonprofit organization "Awareness, Courage & Love Global Project," she trains volunteers worldwide to ameliorate the global loneliness epidemic.

Rodrigo Nunes Xavier, Dr. (he/him), psychologist at the Municipality of Três Fronteiras (São Paulo State, Brazil), psychologist and supervisor in private practice and instructor in the Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) training courses at the Instituto Brasiliense de Análise do Comportamento (Brasília, Brazil) and Centro Intercontext (Lima, Peru).

CE Credits: 3.0

Learning Objectives:

Participants will be able to:

1. Describe the common emotion regulation challenges for autistic individuals and the corresponding ACL oriented FAP strategies used to train parents to enhance regulation.
2. Conceptualize a case using FAP principles with specific adaptations for parents of autistic (and other neurodivergent) children experiencing challenging behaviors.
3. Utilize a neurodiversity affirming lens to critique compliance-based models of behavior modification as they relate to emotion regulation.

                                                                                                                         Cancelation policies

• Refund request due to special circumstances will be evaluated on a case by case basis. Refunded fees may be applied to new membership dues or membership dues renewal.

Washington State Psychological Association (WSPA) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. WSPA maintains responsibility for this program and its content.