Understanding PTSD in Neurodivergent Minority Women

Clinicians can’t afford to treat identity as “background info.” Racialized and neurodivergent trauma must be named to be healed.

This 2-hour training centers the lived experiences of trauma in neurodivergent minority women, particularly those with autism, ADHD, or both. It reframes how PTSD is understood and diagnosed by challenging white, neurotypical, and male-centered clinical norms.

Clinicians will learn how chronic exposure to racism, ableism, and gendered oppression can lead to cumulative, complex trauma that is often misread or missed entirely. The training unpacks how masking, sensory overload, shutdowns, and people-pleasing can function as trauma responses rather than “symptoms,” and how traditional assessments may pathologize adaptive survival strategies. Participants will gain practical skills to
identify, assess, and treat trauma using culturally responsive and neurodiversity-affirming tools, including Polyvagal Theory, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and somatic interventions. 

Through clinical examples, journaling prompts, and reflection, clinicians will leave with a deeper understanding of trauma's layered impact on identity, safety, and care.

Did you know?

  • Women with Autism and ADHD are twice as likely to be misdiagnosed with personality disorders, especially if they’re Black or brown.
  • Shutdowns, sensory overload, and people-pleasing are often misread as behavioral issues, but they’re actually trauma responses.
  • Cultural invalidation and chronic misattunement can create PTSD even in the absence of a single “traumatic event.”
  • Standard PTSD assessments often fail neurodivergent and minority women by ignoring lived context and identity-based stressors
  • Many trauma responses in neurodivergent clients are mistakenly labeled as noncompliance, resistance, or emotional instability.
  • What's included?
  • 2 hour recorded webinar
  • webinar slides
  • 2 NBCC CE hours*

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:
  • Distinguish differences in how PTSD and complex trauma present in neurodivergent minority women and femmes across the lifespan to improve diagnostic accuracy and case conceptualization.
  • Evaluate the impact of systemic racism, cultural invalidation, sensory trauma, and chronic misattunement on cumulative trauma and clinical outcomes.
  • Apply trauma-informed interventions—including IFS, Polyvagal Theory, and EMDR modifications—in ways that affirm racial, gender, and neurodivergent identities.

*NBCC CE hours

NeuroPebble has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7834. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. NeuroPebble is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. Most licensing boards accept NBCC credits, though it is up to you to confirm if your license, board and state will accept NBCC continuing education units. 
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Meet the instructor

Jennifer Miller,  LCSW-S

Jennifer is a trauma therapist, clinical supervisor, and founder of The Place Psychological Services, PLLC. She specializes in trauma recovery from a holistic framework, and engages in neurodiversity-affirming care, and encourages identity-based healing. With extensive experience working with trauma in adults, particularly women, Jennifer integrates Internal Family Systems (IFS), Polyvagal Theory, and somatic practices into her work. Her clinical approach blends depth, cultural humility, and practical tools that help clients move toward safety and self-trust. She is committed to helping clinicians unlearn pathologizing frameworks and shift toward relational, affirming care—especially for those most often misunderstood.
Patrick Jones - Course author

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