Working with Neurodiversity in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy

STAY TUNED FOR REGISTRATION OPENING SOON!
Dates: December 4-5, 2025, 9:00 am - 4:30 pm

Location: Wyndham Bloomington - Mall of America: 1901 Killebrew Dr, Bloomington, MN 55425

Our Trainer: Scott R. Woolley, PhD, holds the rank of Distinguished Professor at Alliant International University. He is a founder and Director of the San Diego Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy and the Training and Research Institute for EFT Alliant (TRI-EFT Alliant).   

Dr. Woolley has trained therapists in EFT throughout the US and in many areas of the world, including Canada, Chili, Finland, Great Britain, Guam, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Taiwan, The Netherlands in person and many other countries through zoom-based trainings. He worked closely with Dr. Susan Johnson, founder of EFT, since the 1990s. 

Dr. Woolley earned a B.S. in Economics and an M.S. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Brigham Young University, and a Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Texas Tech University.  He also received an Honorary Doctoral degree from Semmelweis University in Hungary.  Dr. Woolley is an AAMFT Clinical Fellow and Approved Supervisor, and a Certified EFT Therapist, Supervisor, and Trainer.

Course Description: Neurodiversity is complex.  Neurodiversity can help couples bond and can intensify negative cycles which lead to disconnection.  This workshop presents an opportunity to understand how to practice Emotionally Focused Therapy with couples where one or more partners are neurodivergent.  The workshop will include a variety  of neurodiversity including Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia and Dyspraxia and will approach neurodiversity from a affirming lens.

Participants will gain greater cultural competence and improve awareness of neurodevelopmental conditions that are often misdiagnosed or undiagnosed in many individuals, especially within marginalized groups.  

Through instruction, discussion, and EFCT video demonstrations with couples, participants will learn about areas of special consideration when working with neurodiversity and ways to adapt the practice of EFCT in a neuroinclusive and effective manner. Included will be important discussions around neurodiversity diagnosis, strengths, disabilities, and self-of-therapist considerations.

Participants will be able to:

  1. Identify the diagnostic criteria for Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia and Dyspraxia

  2. Conceptualize neurodiversity from a non-pathologizing lens

  3. Identify strengths and challenges of people with neurodiversity

  4. Identify ways that neurodiversity can lead to connection and disconnection in couples

  5. Apply EFT with neurodiverse couples in a diversity sensitive manner

  6. Identify resources for various forms of neurodiversity. 

Costs:

Early Bird Rate through September 1, 2025:

$275 interns/students
$325 pre-licensed
$375 fully licensed
$20 discount for MNCEFT members

Full Rate starting September 2, 2025:
$325 for interns/students
$375 for pre-licensed
$425 for fully licensed

Group Discount: $50 off per person for groups 5+. Email amanda@amandapikala.com with the name of your clinic and the names of each person in your group and she will send the discount code for you to use when you register.

Registration closes at 10 pm on Sunday, November 30th, 2025.

Continuing Education Credits: We will apply for 12 hours of continuing education credits from the MN Board of Marriage and Family Therapists.

Diversity: We aim to cultivate a climate of inclusion, an environment where all can feel safe, valued, cared for, and given an opportunity to form meaningful connections with each other.  In all facets of our work we strive to embody what we hope to see in the world – a just, loving humanity and community in which people are free to be themselves fully – where people can embrace their most basic universal human attachment needs without fear of persecution or marginalization as a result of religion, race, ethnic or national origin, sexual/affectional orientation and preferences, gender expression, family structure, age, class, mental health, physical character or disability.  These values are inherent in the attachment science and humanistic approach to intervention that all our work is based on.

Cancellation Policy: If you need to cancel. please email Amanda Pikala at amanda@amandapikala.com. If you cancel before November 20th, 2025, you will receive a full refund, minus a 5% administrative fee. If you cancel on or after November 20th, 2025, no refund will be issued.