Adults with High-Functioning Autism and Comorbid Mental Disorders: Motivational Interviewing Tools and Techniques to Enhance the Treatment of Anxiety and Depression

CPD

Handouts

Speakers

Sean Inderbitzen, APSW, MINT Related seminars and products

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Sean Inderbitzen, APSW, MINT, is a therapist and member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers who uses Motivational Interviewing in his practice with adults with co-occurring mental health disorders and autism. Sean is on the autism spectrum himself, giving those he teaches the unique opportunity to learn how treatments can be used most effectively from the perspective of both a clinician and a person with autism.

Being a regular lecturer, it is his mission to teach professionals who treat individuals with autism and comorbid psychiatric conditions the skills and perspective needed to help clients overcome the treatment obstacles that can impede the therapy they desperately need.

Sean was appointed by the Governor of Wisconsin to the Statewide Independent Living Council of Wisconsin and is currently pursuing his doctorate at Tulane University School of Social Work. He earned his Master’s degree in Clinical Social Work from Case Western Reserve University and is a member of the National Association of Dual Diagnosis.

Speaker Disclosure:

Financial: Sean Inderbitzen is a therapist and member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers. He receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Sean Inderbitzen is an adult who is on the autism spectrum.
 

Objectives

1. Investigate research on the impact of using person-centered strategies with ASD patients.
2. Analyze how symptoms of anxiety and depression can present in adults with ASD.
3. Apply strategies to help clients with difficulties recognizing emotions develop a more complete spectrum of emotions.
4. Investigate the relationship between pragmatic language skills, motivation and depressive symptoms.
5. Employ MI exercises to help clients recognize polarized thoughts and increase doubt in black and white thinking patterns that can impede treatment.
6. Prepare treatment plans that include MI strategies to help clients identify reasons for change and build motivation for treatment.

Outline

Resistance to Change in Adults with High-Functioning Autism

• How is High Functioning Autism defined?
• Executive functioning deficits and ways to measure
• Matching developmental freedom and personal autonomy
• Research on person-centred strategies with ASD patients
• Feedback informed treatment and the Spirit of Motivational Interviewing

The Core Skills of MI:
Person-Centred Strategies and Skills to Stimulate Change

• Improve rapport by recognizing autonomy
• Review of OARS
• Evoke confidence in clients to try social experiments
• How to decrease sustain talk in clients who don’t think they can change
• Strategies to cultivate change talk for motivation

Black and White Thinking Patterns in Adults with HFA:
MI Solutions to Overcome One of the Biggest Treatment Roadblocks

• HFA clients and difficultly recognizing emotion in themselves and others
• Integrate somatic experience as a core organizer for emotional experience
• Tools to develop a spectrum experience of emotions
• How to address binary-based ruminations through building vocabulary
• Exercises to help clients recognize polarized thoughts
• CBT visualization adaptations to connect with concrete thinking patterns
• Use discord to increase doubt in black and white thinking patterns

Depressive Symptoms in Adults with ASD:
Improve Treatment Response with MI Strategies

• How symptoms in adults with ASD present
• Features in adults with ASD that affect how they think
• The relationship between pragmatic language skills, motivation and depressive symptoms
• MI strategies to help clients identify reasons for change and build motivation for treatment
• MI interventions for responding to change talk for depressive behaviours

Integrate MI into Anxiety Treatment:
Techniques for Enhanced Engagement in Adult Clients with HFA

• Adult presentations of anxiety and HFA
• Building rapport with anxious HFA clients
• Sustain talk and ruminations in HFA clients – examples
• MI interventions that help clients work with and overcome sustain talk
• Out of the woods exercise to keep the momentum of the conversation toward change
• MI research and treatment risks and limitations

Target Audience

• Counselors
• Social Workers
• Psychologists
• Case Managers
• Addiction Counselors
• Therapists
• Marriage & Family Therapists
• Nurses
• Other Mental Health Professionals