PDA North America

LXCL:email info@pdanorthamerica.org for financial assistance

General Admission

LXCL:Those who wish to get CE credits must attend live&nbsp;

CE's for Social Workers

Supporting PDA clients requires more than traditional therapeutic tools&mdash;it requires a completely different lens. PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance / Persistent Drive for Autonomy) is often misunderstood, misdiagnosed, and missed entirely in clinical settings. As a result, PDA individuals frequently navigate therapy feeling unseen, mislabeled, or unsupported. Join PDA North America&#39;s Founder &amp; Executive Director, Diane Gould, LCSW gives clinicians a grounded, neuro-affirming foundation for understanding PDA and the wider neurodivergent experience&mdash;so therapy can finally feel safe, collaborative, and effective for the people who need it most. Designed for professionals who want to expand their understanding (not those already specializing in neurodiversity), this workshop helps therapists move beyond outdated, deficit-based ideas and toward accurate, compassionate, and autonomy-honoring support.Through real-world examples, mindset reframes, and voices from practicing therapists, you&rsquo;ll learn what actually works for PDA clients&mdash;and why. What You&rsquo;ll Learn<ul data-end="1757" data-start="1274" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><li data-end="1359" data-start="1274" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">How to identify and move past outdated historical descriptions of autistic people</li><li data-end="1427" data-start="1360" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">The core characteristics of PDA and how they show up in therapy</li><li data-end="1577" data-start="1428" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">The complex challenges PDA individuals face&mdash;not as &ldquo;behaviors to fix,&rdquo; but as nervous-system responses to overwhelm, threat, and loss of autonomy</li><li data-end="1652" data-start="1578" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">How to reframe behavior through a trauma-informed, neuro-affirming lens</li><li data-end="1757" data-start="1653" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Approaches that help PDA clients feel safe, connected, and empowered in the therapeutic relationship</li></ul>CE&#39;s available for Social Workers! Those who wish to get CE credits must attend live.This program is Approved by the National Association of Social Workers (Approval # 886922618-9225) for 3 continuing education contact hours.&nbsp; The following states do not accept National CE Approval Programs and require individual program/provider application processes: New York, West Virginia The Following Board does not have Continuing Education Requirements: Puerto Rico BioDiane Gould is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker that specializes in serving autistic individuals. As the Executive Director and Founder of PDA North America, she founded the annual PDA North America conference held in Chicago that has changed the lives of hundreds of PDA (pathological demand avoidance/persistent drive for autonomy) families. She co-authored the book Navigating PDA in America with Ruth Fidler which was published in June 2024. In April 2024, Diane was diagnosed as autistic. Diane has a private practice in the suburbs of Chicago, where she serves neurodivergent children, adults and their families. Over the last 40 plus years, she has worked for both private agencies and school systems. Diane has always been fascinated by human behavior and has worked to better understand and support individuals with distressed behavior over the years. She currently focuses her practice on providing consultation and training. She works primarily with parents and regularly attends school meetings with them. Diane loves to train educators and therapists so they can better serve their students and clients. It was the understanding of behavior, autism and the supportive approach in the PDA literature that first drew her to learn more about PDA. And learning about PDA, led her to begin the new PDA movement in North America. Diane formed PDA North America at the first American PDA conference in March 2020. She is making it part of her life&rsquo;s mission to gain more awareness and understanding of PDA in North America through this non-profit organization.

Supporting PDA clients requires more than traditional therapeutic tools—it requires a completely different lens. PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance / Persistent Drive for Autonomy) is often misunderstood, misdiagnosed, and missed entirely in clinical settings. As a result, PDA individuals frequently navigate therapy feeling unseen, mislabeled, or unsupported. Join PDA North America's Founder &amp; Executive Director, Diane Gould, LCSW gives clinicians a grounded, neuro-affirming foundation for understanding PDA and the wider neurodivergent experience—so therapy can finally feel safe, collaborative, and effective for the people who need it most. Designed for professionals who want to expand their understanding (not those already specializing in neurodiversity), this workshop helps therapists move beyond outdated, deficit-based ideas and toward accurate, compassionate, and autonomy-honoring support.Through real-world examples, mindset reframes, and voices from practicing therapists, you’ll learn what actually works for PDA clients—and why. What You’ll Learn<ul><li>How to identify and move past outdated historical descriptions of autistic people</li><li>The core characteristics of PDA and how they show up in therapy</li><li>The complex challenges PDA individuals face—not as “behaviors to fix,” but as nervous-system responses to overwhelm, threat, and loss of autonomy</li><li>How to reframe behavior through a trauma-informed, neuro-affirming lens</li><li>Approaches that help PDA clients feel safe, connected, and empowered in the therapeutic relationship</li></ul>CE's available for Social Workers! Those who wish to get CE credits must attend live.This program is Approved by the National Association of Social Workers (Approval # 886922618-9225) for 3 continuing education contact hours.  The following states do not accept National CE Approval Programs and require individual program/provider application processes: New York, West Virginia The Following Board does not have Continuing Education Requirements: Puerto Rico BioDiane Gould is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker that specializes in serving autistic individuals. As the Executive Director and Founder of PDA North America, she founded the annual PDA North America conference held in Chicago that has changed the lives of hundreds of PDA (pathological demand avoidance/persistent drive for autonomy) families. She co-authored the book Navigating PDA in America with Ruth Fidler which was published in June 2024. In April 2024, Diane was diagnosed as autistic. Diane has a private practice in the suburbs of Chicago, where she serves neurodivergent children, adults and their families. Over the last 40 plus years, she has worked for both private agencies and school systems. Diane has always been fascinated by human behavior and has worked to better understand and support individuals with distressed behavior over the years. She currently focuses her practice on providing consultation and training. She works primarily with parents and regularly attends school meetings with them. Diane loves to train educators and therapists so they can better serve their students and clients. It was the understanding of behavior, autism and the supportive approach in the PDA literature that first drew her to learn more about PDA. And learning about PDA, led her to begin the new PDA movement in North America. Diane formed PDA North America at the first American PDA conference in March 2020. She is making it part of her life’s mission to gain more awareness and understanding of PDA in North America through this non-profit organization.

PDA North America

PDA Training for Therapists: Creating Effective Mental Health Practices for PDA individuals (CEs available!)

General Admission

$125

CE's for Social Workers

$15