Schema Therapy with Autistic and ADHD Individuals: A Neurodiversity-Affirming and Relational Approach

with Liam Spicer (Psychologist & Senior Lecturer of Psychology)

Mode of Delivery 1-Day Zoom Webinar (7-Hours with breaks)

Time/Date : Tuesday 8th September (2026) 9am-5.30pm - AEST - (Sydney/Melb/Brisbane) Time (comes with 12-months streaming access too)

Workshop Overview:

Autistic and ADHD individuals experience significantly higher rates of mental health difficulties, including PTSD, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and substance use (Franke et al., 2018; Lai et al., 2019). Research increasingly shows that these challenges are not inevitable consequences of being Autistic or ADHD, but arise from unmet core emotional needs, adverse experiences, attachment disruptions, and the ongoing impact of navigating a world not designed for neurodivergent people (Botha & Frost, 2020; Spicer et al., 2024). Without appropriate understanding and adjustments, therapeutic interventions can fall short, or worse, reinforce the very schemas and distress they aim to address. Schema Therapy, with its emphasis on understanding early life experiences, core emotional needs, and deeply held patterns about the self and others, offers a promising framework for working with Autistic and ADHD clients when delivered through a neurodiversity-affirming lens.

In this one-day online workshop, participants will learn to conceptualise the mental health challenges of Autistic and ADHD clients through a schema framework that accounts for minority stress, distinguish neurodivergent traits from schemas and coping modes, and adapt assessment, formulation, and change techniques accordingly. The workshop will cover adaptations to imagery rescripting, chairwork, mode work, and behavioural pattern-breaking, with a focus on meeting core emotional needs through limited reparenting, building positive schemas and healthy modes, and supporting positive neurodivergent identity development. It will also provide recent research developments, including projects related to schemas, neurodivergence, and other important areas, such as dissociation.

Who is this workshop for?

This workshop is suitable for mental health professionals, including psychologists, psychiatrists, counsellors, psychotherapists, social workers, occupational therapists, and other allied health practitioners at any career stage. Participants will be sent a pre-recorded pre-workshop video which will cover some of the key concepts and considerations when working in this space.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Conceptualise the mental health challenges of Autistic and ADHD clients through a Schema Therapy framework informed by the Minority Stress Model
• Distinguish between Autistic and ADHD traits and early maladaptive schemas and coping modes
• Conduct neurodiversity-affirming assessment and formulation, including adapting tools and incorporating attachment, trauma, strengths, and neurodivergent identity
• Understand and apply the expanded core emotional needs model to meet the specific needs of Autistic and ADHD clients in therapy
• Adapt imagery rescripting, chairwork, and mode work for sensory, emotional, and communication differences, including addressing internalised ableism
• Build positive schemas and healthy modes that honour neurodivergent identity, strengths, and individual differences
• Design behavioural pattern-breaking strategies aligned with the client's values and differences

About the presenter:

Liam Spicer (he/him) is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Psychologist, EMDR Trainer & Consultant, and Accredited ISST Schema Therapist with lived experience of being neurodivergent as an Autistic ADHDer. He is the course co-ordinator for Cairnmillars Postgraduate Certificate in Trauma Informed Care and delivers EMDR level one training for Psychology Training. Liam has presented at both International and National conferences including in Europe, the United States, and Asia on the topics of EMDR, Schema Therapy, trauma, grief, Autism and ADHD and has delivered guest webinars and trainings for the EMDR Association of Australia, AAPi, Headspace, APS, and other organisations. He presents workshops nationally and internationally on affirming approaches to Schema Therapy and is involved in various research projects in this space.

Liam has been a contributor to various international book projects including two chapters in the soon to be published book on Neuroaffirming Schema Therapy, has published in academic journals including their paper with colleagues on Understanding Early Maladaptive Schemas in Autistic and ADHD individuals which has gained widespread international interest, and is currently apart of Australia’s first working group on developing clinical practice guidelines on MDMA-AP for PTSD and the utilisation of other psychedelic assisted therapies.

As a Psychologist he has a special interest in working with trauma, dissociation, grief, depression, phobias, and anxiety and predominantly works with Autistic and ADHD adults through a neuroaffirming lens. He is the director of the Neurodiversity Affirming Therapy Conference Australia and is currently involved in several academic and research projects in this space.

How to Register

Please note this Workshop is FREE for  Schema Therapy Mastery Plus + Members - or can be purchased separately below.

Full Program and resource catalog here (recommended):

 https://courses.schematherapytrainingonline.com/p/schema-therapy-mastery-plus