The PDA Therapy Collaborative promotes professional development through case study, and we look to elevate the voices of those who are merging their professional skill with personal understanding of PDA.

Founder, Elise Jacobson, LICSW, will run a national best practice study group with her colleague and friend, Dr. Julie DeFilippo. Both Elise and Julie are experienced Social Work mentors and teachers of practice. Look here for our bios and learn about who we are: https://pdatherapycollaborative.com/about-2/ If you are interested in this group, register by emailing your intention to EliseJacobsonLICSW@gmail.com. Elise will answer your questions and help you to get started.

Beginning Saturday January 17th and ending on Saturday February 21st.

Where: Zoom

When: 6 consecutive Saturdays from 12pm to 1:30pm EST

Cost: 75 dollars a group paid weekly cost based on registration not attendance

Who is invited: This is an application only group for Collaborative subscribers. To become a subscriber, follow this link and look for the prompt at the bottom of the page: https://pdatherapycollaborative.com/blog/

We will select members using the following criteria:

License in a helping field and have 5 to 7 years of clinical post Masters or Doctoral experience OR a PDA professional with the applicable length and depth of work and lived experience.

This group is ideal for:

Those who can navigate emotions and be respectful of colleagues.

Those who want a practice space to reflect on their professional use of self and can accept feedback.

Professionals with a personal connection to PDA who want to talk about how they integrate personal experience.

Those who are committed to learning through practice reflection and their reactions to clients.

Professionals looking for collaboration and trusted referrals.

This is not therapy; it is an opportunity to explore technique and effective practice so that we can explore feelings without being overcome and remain humanistic, relational and clear with clients. We focus on practice skill adapted to decenter pathology and acknowledge the impact of unmet needs on mental health. We validate the experience of PDA individuals and families. We commit to finding our growing edge and seek to rework our conceptualizations in response so that we remember humility and the need to listen.

What will this experience be like:

Each week a group member will present on their practice methodology or a topic relevant to their practice. The presenter will answer questions, and the collaborative hosts will support a rich discussion on practice application. Each 90-minute group week will offer a new presentation by a different member of the study group.

We understand that conflicts and responsibilities may keep members from attending but once registered we ask that you try to reserve this time, so that we can build professional connection from week to week.

We believe:
Low demand is not a “way of life” but a strategy to reset the nervous system and address fluctuating capacity.
Meaningful demand engagement is essential to health and well-being.
PDA is NOT caused by trauma. PDA is a profile of autism that one is born with.

We don’t:

~Try to fix parents or their children. ~Accommodate aggression toward self or others. ~Target and blame clients, ourselves or other professionals. ~Provide a short cut to practice application. ~Offer soundbites or quick insight.

We are as professionals:

~Relational, client centered and insight oriented. ~Deep thinkers who actively question to build our awareness and regulation. ~Encourage the voice and inner growth of others. ~Seek to understand identity and development through the life span with a PDA lens. ~Placing our client in their systems to confront bias, build adaptations and foster healthy community life.

If you would enjoy a PDA best practice study group like this reach out for more information.

This group will run with no fewer than 6 members but will be capped at 12 members. If we have a large response, we will run it again! Feel free to reach out with questions. EliseJacobsonLICSW@gmail.com