Trauma, Autism, and Adversity: Building Safety, Resilience, and Recovery

CPD

Faculty

Jennifer Gerlach, LCSW Related seminars and products

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Jennifer Gerlach, LCSW, is a psychotherapist in private practice in southern Illinois specializing in the crossroads of mental health, trauma and neurodiversity utilizing interventions informed by compassion-focused therapy, acceptance commitment therapy, EMDR and other traditions. Jennifer is the author of The Psychosis and Mental Health Recovery Workbook: Tools for Young Adults from ACT, DBT and Recovery-Oriented CBT and writes a blog for Psychology Today entitled ‘Beyond Mental Health: Defying Stereotypes and False Limitations.’

Jennifer has provided training to hundreds of clinicians nationwide on topics related to neurodiversity, mental health and healing trauma. She offers a unique perspective infused with her lived experience as an individual who has walked her own journey toward mental health and self-acceptance as an autistic person herself.

 

Speaker Disclosures:

Financial: Jennifer Gerlach maintains a private practice and receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Jennifer Gerlach has no relevant non-financial relationships.

 

 

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Objectives

1. Examine how trauma uniquely impacts sensory processing, self-regulation, and participation in daily occupations for autistic individuals.
2. Select polyvagal-informed and neuro-affirming strategies to support safety, emotional regulation, and engagement across therapeutic and everyday environments.
3. Integrate Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and other trauma-informed frameworks to promote resilience, autonomy, and meaningful occupational participation.

Outline

Understanding Trauma Through a Neurodivergent Lens

• Overlap between trauma responses and autistic traits
• Sensory dysregulation and dissociation as adaptive protection
• The impact of chronic invalidation, masking, and social misunderstanding
• Core risk and resilience factors unique to autistic clients

The Nervous System and Regulation Pathways

• Polyvagal-informed understanding of autistic stress responses
• Internal vs. external safety cues and misattuned environments
• Body-based awareness and interoception in trauma recovery
• Regulation foundations through sensory and movement supports

Therapeutic Frameworks for Healing and Growth

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for values, identity, and self-compassion
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for emotional regulation and distress tolerance
• Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) for self-acceptance and working through trauma-related blocks to self-compassion
• Integration of neuro-affirming and trauma-informed principles across modalities
• Limitations of the research and potential risks

Clinician Tools for Safety, Connection, and Empowerment

• Creating predictable, low-demand therapeutic environments
• Collaborative pacing and consent-based intervention planning
• Language shifts that reduce shame and promote agency
• Case illustrations highlighting post-traumatic growth in autistic clients

Target Audience

• ​​​​​​Counsellors 
• Educators
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Occupational Therapists
• Physical Therapists
• Physicians
• Psychologists
• Social Workers
• Speech-Language Pathologists