In this live 2-part Masterclass series join Kory and Emma in exploring how neurodivergence shapes desire, intimacy, sensory experiences, and relationship dynamics.
7 CE Hours: APA, ASWB, NYS & AASECT Pending
Part 1: Saturday, November 7, 2026
12:00 PM – 4:00 PM EST
Part 2: Saturday, November 21, 2026
12:00 PM – 4:00 PM EST
Live 2-Part Masterclass
Neurodivergence,
Relationships & Sexuality
With Kory Andreas, LCSW-C, and
Emma J. Smith, PhD, LPC-MHSP, CST, CCTP.
Masterclass Overview
Two people sit down in your office. They love each other, they keep showing up, and nothing you were trained to do seems to help. One partner can't stand the feel of a hug anymore. The other has stopped asking.
When one or both of them is neurodivergent, the standard approach to desire, intimacy and communication often misses what's actually going on, and sometimes it makes things worse.
In this 2-part live masterclass, Kory Andreas, LCSW-C, a neuro-affirming psychotherapist and autism specialist, and Emma J. Smith, PhD, an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist, teach together in both sessions. Part 1 is about recognition: how sensory experience, different baselines for desire, expansive forms of intimacy and commonly missed traits shape what you see with autistic, ADHD and PDA clients and their partners. Part 2 is about what to do: testing variables before you prescribe, communicating with demand-sensitive partners, and building explicit relationship agreements a couple can keep using after therapy ends.
You'll practice building a sensory history, bring the frameworks to real cases (including cases participants submit for live consultation), and leave each session with a worksheet and language you can use with clients the following week. No prior training in neurodivergence or sex therapy is required.
🎓 PEEK INSIDE THE SERIES…
Most of what clinicians learn about desire and intimacy assumes a neurotypical nervous system: a shared starting point, a predictable sequence from eye contact to touch to sex, and a definition of intimacy that usually just means sex. In Part 1, Kory leads with the neurodivergent lens and Emma brings the clinical and relational one, and together they work through what that template misses. You'll start with sensory experience, including how sensory load, interoception and a changed sensory profile shape desire, arousal and touch. Then you'll look at responsive and spontaneous desire through the dual control model, at how socialization, purity culture and high-control religious upbringings act as brakes, and at the high-masking partner whose early high desire was really people pleasing and drops away once the couple moves in together. The session widens the definition of intimacy to include connection through special interests and shared activity, and looks at how masking, misdiagnosis and trauma history hide neurodivergent traits in plain sight. You'll practice building a sensory and interoceptive history and leave with a worksheet of assessment questions for your next session.
This session earns 3.5 CE Credits
PART ONE
The Foundation: How Neurodivergence Shapes Desire, Sensory Experience, and Connection
About this session
Learning Objectives
✔️ Develop a sensory and interoceptive history related to desire, arousal and touch for a neurodivergent client, using at least 5 assessment questions that span touch, sound, smell, sight, taste and internal body signals.
✔️ Compare spontaneous and responsive desire using the dual control model, and explain at least 2 ways sensory load, masking or socialization messages (including purity culture and high-control religious upbringings) can inhibit or distort desire in neurodivergent clients.
✔️ Differentiate neurodivergent forms of intimacy and connection (such as shared special interests, parallel activity and compartmentalized relationships) from relational withdrawal or disinterest.
✔️ Identify at least 2 ways masking, misdiagnosis or trauma history can hide neurodivergent traits in a client presenting with intimacy concerns, and describe how a late neurodivergent identification can affect sexual identity and relationship structure.
Part 2 picks up where recognition leaves off: what to actually do in the room. Emma leads with the sex and couples therapy frameworks, and Kory keeps every tool true to neurodivergent experience. You'll learn to test variables before reaching for a protocol, starting with desire discrepancy, and to tell a partner protecting their autonomy apart from a partner who has checked out. You'll work with demand and pressure: why "just tell them what you want" can backfire with a PDA partner, how an ordinary request turns into a demand or an obligation, and phrasing that keeps a partner's autonomy intact. The session closes with relationship agreements, why every couple needs explicit ones, and how to build one in session that a couple can keep using after therapy ends, followed by live consultation on cases submitted by participants.
This session earns 3.5 CE Credits
PART TWO
The Application: Assessment, Communication, and Agreements With Neurodivergent Clients and Couples
About this session
Learning Objectives
✔️ Apply a variable-testing approach to desire discrepancy and intimacy concerns in neurodivergent couples by identifying at least 3 variables (such as sensory, demand, autonomy and context) to examine before selecting an intervention.
✔️ Demonstrate at least 2 direct assessment questions for raising sexuality with a client, and an intention check to repair a communication misread between partners.
✔️ Formulate at least 2 autonomy-preserving alternatives to a directive request for a client with a demand-sensitive (PDA) profile.
✔️ Develop an explicit relationship agreement with a couple, monogamous or not, that names assumptions about intimacy, initiation, frequency and communication, using a structured process the couple can continue after therapy ends.
MEET YOUR INSTRUCTORS
Instructor
Kory Andreas, LCSW-C
Clinical psychotherapist and Autism Specialist
Kory Andreas, LCSW-C, is a clinical psychotherapist and Autism specialist with extensive expertise in Neurodivergent-affirming care and education. With over 20 years of experience in therapy, supervision, and consulting, Kory is deeply committed to advancing affirming practices across therapeutic, educational, and workplace settings. She supports Neurodivergent and LGBTQIA+ individuals through diagnostic work, direct care, and systemic change efforts. Sought-after speaker on modern Autism and Neurodivergent relationships, Kory is known for translating clinical insight into engaging, relatable instruction. She provides dynamic, accessible psychoeducational content and consultation that promotes empathy, inclusivity, and practical strategies for supporting Neurodivergence across diverse environments.
As a skilled presenter and content specialist, Kory develops and delivers accessible, impactful psychoeducational content for broad audiences. Through dynamic speaking engagements and Neurodiversity-affirming training sessions, Kory promotes awareness, empathy, and best practices, fostering inclusive and affirming approaches to Neurodivergence. Known for her passionate advocacy, her work reflects a deep commitment to education and the advancement of supportive practices in the field.
Instructor
Emma J. Smith,
PhD, LPC-MHSP, CST, CCTP
Psychotherapist and AASECT Certified Sex Therapist
Dr. Emma Smith is an existential psychotherapist and AASECT Certified Sex Therapist who has spent more than fifteen years teaching desire to the audiences least willing to discuss it: military commands, law enforcement agencies, boardrooms, and retail floors. She is the founder of SOLILOQUIE and the creator of The Desire Recalibration™, an eight-week program for seven-figure founders and the relationships that went unattended while they built it.
Emma teaches from one premise: desire is a meaning problem, not a technique problem. Which is why the fix is never a new position or a nicer vacation; it's releasing the brake no one taught you was there.
She hosts The Intimate Philosopher podcast and keynoted the STIMULATE Sexual Wellness Symposium. Bookers describe her as the consummate professional who talks like your closest friend: clinically rigorous, disarmingly human, and genuinely funny about it.
Ready to Transform Your Approach to Neurodivergent Relationships?
Access both live sessions for $449
Gain practical tools for navigating desire discrepancy, communicating with demand-sensitive partners, and developing explicit relationship agreements that support lasting connection with this 2-Part Masterclass Series.
FAQs
-
Therapists who work with individuals or couples and keep meeting neurodivergent clients whose desire, touch or relationships don't make sense through the usual frames. That means licensed clinical social workers, licensed professional counselors, marriage and family therapists, psychologists and certified sex therapists.
It's also a good fit for psychiatric nurse practitioners, clinical supervisors, graduate clinicians and sexuality educators working with autistic, ADHD and PDA adults. -
No. You don't need a background in neurodivergence or sex therapy. The series sits at an intermediate level, so it moves at the pace of people already seeing clients, and it starts from cases you've likely met: the partner who suddenly can't stand a hug, or the client whose high early desire vanished once the couple moved in together.
If you're trained in one of these areas, this is where you get the other half. Kory brings the neurodivergent lens, Emma brings the sex and couples therapy lens, and they teach both sessions together. -
Part 1 (Saturday, November 7) is about recognition. You'll practice building a sensory and interoceptive history, work through responsive and spontaneous desire with the dual control model, and look at how masking, misdiagnosis and trauma can hide neurodivergent traits in a client presenting with intimacy concerns. You'll also widen what counts as intimacy, from shared special interests to parallel activity.
Part 2 (Saturday, November 21) is what to do in the room. You'll test variables before choosing an intervention, learn direct questions for raising sexuality, rephrase requests so a demand-sensitive (PDA) partner can say yes, and build an explicit relationship agreement in session that a couple can keep using after therapy ends. The session closes with live consultation on de-identified cases submitted by participants.
You'll leave each session with a worksheet you can use with clients the following week. -
Yes. The recordings, slides and worksheets stay in your dashboard for 365 days after Part 2.
They're for your own personal and professional use, so please don't share them or pass them on. -
Yes. The series carries 7 CE hours, 3.5 for each Saturday. APA, ASWB, NYS and AASECT are currently pending.
CE is for live attendance only, and you need to be present for at least 80% of a session to earn its hours. If you miss a Saturday, you can watch the recording, but it won't count toward CE. Your certificate is released once Part 2 wraps and you've completed the evaluation.
Approvals vary by license and state, so check with your board if you're unsure whether these hours count for you. -
You can request a refund within 14 days of purchase, as long as it's before Part 1 begins on November 7.
Refunds are minus the payment processing fee. To start one, email hello@mindful-mgmt.com with your order confirmation.