Roughly one in four adults has a disability. Which means disability is not a niche specialty. It is one of the most common identities you will ever meet in your practice.

And yet most of us got little to no training on how to work with these clients well. We were handed a values statement about inclusion and left to figure out the clinical part on our own. The result is a real skill gap, and it shows up in ways that matter. Misdiagnosis. Under-treatment. Ruptured rapport. The kind of unintentional ableism that a well-meaning clinician never sees themselves doing.

This training closes that gap. Not with theory you will forget by the next week, but with the actual moves. What to notice, what to say, how to adapt, and what to do when you get it wrong.

Why This Training Matters

Disability-affirming care is a core multicultural competency, not an optional add-on. When we lack it, our clients feel it immediately. Many arrive in our offices already braced, because nearly every provider they have seen has talked over them, addressed their caregiver instead of them, or treated their disability as the problem to be fixed.

This training reframes disability through the social model, builds practical clinical skill across four disability domains, and takes seriously the caregivers and families who are so often running on empty. You will leave able to do the work, not just believe in it.

Who This Training Is For

This intermediate-level training is designed for:

Licensed clinicians who want to work more skillfully and confidently with clients who have disabilities.

Pre-licensed clinicians building their clinical foundation early.

Supervisors and counselor educators who want language and frameworks to teach this well.

Any mental health professional who has felt the gap between wanting to be affirming and knowing exactly how.

What You Will Learn

By the end of this training, you will be able to:

• Differentiate between the medical model and the social model of disability.
• Apply the social model of disability to case conceptualization across disability types.
• Identify at least three barriers clients with disabilities commonly face when accessing mental health services.
• Describe adaptive therapeutic strategies for working with clients across physical, cognitive, developmental, and psychiatric disabilities.
• Apply trauma-informed, person-centered principles when working with clients who have disabilities.
• Analyze the impact of caregiving on the mental health of family members supporting a person with a disability.
• Demonstrate disability-affirming language and documentation practices that avoid deficit-based framing.

What Makes This Different

Most trainings hand you a protocol and send you on your way. This one moves the way the work actually moves in the room.

You will start by examining your own nervous system responses around disability, before any clinical content, because the work begins with you. From there you will walk through real clinical choice points. The client who has been talked over their whole life. The silence a therapist fills too quickly. The over-accommodation that quietly strips a client's agency in the name of helping. And you will hear directly from lived experience, including a guest voice on the caregiver side and your instructor's own.

Then we do the part most trainings leave out entirely. What happens when you get it wrong, and how to repair it. Because that repair, done openly, is often more therapeutic than getting it right the first time.

Training Format and CE Information

• Format: Live virtual training via Zoom
• Length: 3 hours 15 minutes (3.0 CE hours)
• Instructional Level: Intermediate
• CE Credit: 3 CE hours

Meet Your Instructor

Leah Lennox, PhD, LPC-MHSP

Leah Lennox is a licensed professional counselor, Board-Approved Clinical Supervisor, and counselor educator with 14 years of clinical experience working primarily with children, teens, and emerging adults. She brings both professional expertise and lived experience as a person with a physical disability to this training, a perspective that directly informs her commitment to disability-affirming, whole-person care.

Her clinical work has consistently included clients navigating disability, trauma, and attachment across complex family systems. She currently serves as Clinical Director at the Center for Connection and Wellness and as Affiliate Professor at Bradley University's CACREP-accredited CMHC program, where she prepares emerging counselors for culturally responsive, trauma-informed practice.

Learn more about Leah and her private practice

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this training approved for CE credit?

Yes. Groundwork Trauma Education has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7927. This training offers 3 NBCC clock hours. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Groundwork Trauma Education is solely responsible for all aspects of the program.

Do I need prior experience with disability-affirming care?

No specialized background is required, but this is an intermediate-level training. It is best suited to clinicians who already have a working clinical foundation and want to build genuine competency in this area.

What disabilities does the training cover?

The clinical content spans four domains: physical, cognitive, developmental, and psychiatric disability. It also addresses the caregiver and family experience.

Is this only for counselors?

No. While CE credit is offered through NBCC, the content is relevant to any mental health professional who works with clients who have disabilities, including licensed and pre-licensed clinicians, supervisors, and educators.

Will there be a recording or on-demand option?

This round is offered live virtual. An on-demand version is planned for a later date.

How do I receive my CE certificate?

You will receive your certificate after attending the full live training and completing the course evaluation. 

What is your cancellation or refund policy?

View more on our Policies Page