Working with Neurodivergent Adults in the Age of Overstimulation

This workshop invites Marriage and Family Therapists to bring their systemic lens to neurodivergent-affirming practice. Title: Working with Neurodivergent Adults in the Age of Overstimulation: A Focus on ADHD and Autism in Adult Relationships Presenter: Dr Shaquinta Richardson, PhD Detailed Description: This workshop invites Marriage and Family Therapists to bring their systemic lens to neurodivergent-affirming practice. When one member of a couple, family, or dyad is ADHD or Autistic, the relational patterns around sensory regulation, communication, conflict, and connection shift for everyone involved, and these shifts are never separate from the cultural, racial, and gendered contexts families already navigate. Participants will explore how overstimulation, executive functioning differences, and divergent communication styles show up in couple dynamics, parent-child relationships, and family systems, and how race, gender, and cultural background shape the way neurodivergence is recognized, expressed, and supported within those systems. Together we will consider how these patterns can be reframed and worked with rather than pathologized, moving beyond individual diagnostic frameworks toward an intersectional, strengths-based understanding of neurodivergence in the adult relationships clinicians see every day in session.