Overview

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) show higher rates of mental health concerns than the general population. However, they have been historically underserved by behavioral health agencies. One reason they are commonly turned away from mental health services is because clinicians express a lack of knowledge and confidence to work with this population.   Training activities offered in this track will focus on adaptation of commonly used therapeutic strategies to be utilized with clients with IDD and co-occurring mental health concerns.  Training will focus on increasing skills and knowledge that providers can immediately use with their clients and share with their colleagues to better serve this population.

Goals

• Increase knowledge and skills in treating co-occurring mental health conditions among individuals with IDD, to increase clinicians’ confidence in serving this population.
• Apply adaptations of commonly used therapeutic approaches including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for individuals with IDD to aid them in processing information and behavioral strategies.
• Include voices of those with lived experience to improve care for historically underserved communities, highlighting the value and importance of serving this population.

Sessions

All times in Pacific Time (PT)

Upcoming Trainings

Past Trainings

Facilitators

Molly Cevasco, PhD

Molly Cevasco, PhD, BCBA, is a clinical psychologist at Seattle Children’s Hospital. She works primarily within the Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) program at Seattle Children’s, providing therapeutic services in both the outpatient and intensive outpatient programs. Dr. Cevasco is leading the development of a Spanish-language DBT program at Seattle Children’s and works to reduce healthcare inequities and institutional racism. She also specializes in the treatment of trauma in children and teens with autism and intellectual disabilities. Dr. Cevasco also serves as faculty in the Master of Arts in Applied Child and Adolescent Psychology program at the University of Washington.

Marie Loeb, MSW, LICSW, LMHC, CMHS, DMHS

Marie Loeb, LICSW, LMHC, CMHS, DMHS, (she/they) is an Autistic, queer, polyamorous Clinical Social Worker who is committed to serving their community through direct practice, training, and advocating for policy change. Marie is the owner of Holistic Child and Family Practice where she works with individuals and families, is a practicum instructor for the University of Washington School of Social Work, supervises clinicians in and out of the practice, and works to build community through no cost neurodiversity-affirming consult groups and trainings. Holistic Child and Family Practice has a staff that is exclusively neurodivergent, and within this environment Marie developed a new modality, Empathetic Inquiry, which is a strengths-based approach where the client is centered as the expert of their own experience and utilizes the natural hyperempathetic talents of neurodivergent providers.

Jim Mancini, CCC-SLP

Jim Mancini, co-founder of Welcome Inclusion (WIN), is a speech-language pathologist and directs education, training and outreach programs at the Seattle Children’s Autism Center. He has worked in the field of autism spectrum disorders for over 15 years including four years in Baltimore, MD, at the Kennedy Krieger Institute as a research speech language pathologist and periods of time at the UW Autism Center and Seattle Children’s Neurodevelopmental Clinic. Jim teaches several classes including classes for parents recently receiving the diagnosis of autism and curates the monthly Autism 200 lecture series at Seattle Children’s. Jim has a special interest in social justice activities and is engaged in increasing health equity for culturally and linguistically diverse families in King County.

Alana McVey, PhD

Alana McVey, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Scholar jointly appointed at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Autism Center. Clinically, she provides evidence-based treatment of mental health concerns to autistic children, adolescents, and adults through the Autism Center’s Mood and Anxiety Program. Dr. McVey’s program of research centers on the redesign and implementation of evidence-based mental health treatments for autistic people in community settings. Her current project, funded by the Autism Intervention Network on Physical Health (AIR-P), is focused on redesigning Dialectical Behavior Therapy to treat suicidality in autistic young adults.