On-Demand: The ADHD Brain in Women: A Regulation & Sensory Processing Framework - 1 hour

• CE Hours Included: 1 (please see below for details)
• Format: On-Demand Webinar (“Asynchronous”) ~ At your leisure to be viewed at your own pace. You may pause, rewind, and fast-forward at any point during the videos. You are in complete control of how you view this workshop. It also comes with a PowerPoint handout and multiple handouts & forms. There is a quiz at the end to ensure viewing and is required by all CE approval organizations.
• Investment: $28.99 (provides lifetime access!)
• Presented by: Ellen Baker, LPC and Kristen Santos, OTR/L (see bios below)
• Instruction Level: Intermediate
• Target Audience: Psychologists, Counselors, Social Workers, Marriage & Family Therapists, Psychotherapists, Other Mental Health Professionals
• This workshop is not yet available; by pre-registering, you will receive immediate access when it becomes available in February.

Learning Objectives:

After completing this course in its entirety, you will be able to:

• Assess ADHD in women using a regulation-based model that integrates sensory, emotional, and cognitive components.
• Evaluate how regulation-based ADHD models complement emerging sensory processing findings in women with ADHD.
• Discuss common masking behaviors in women and their functional, emotional, and sensory consequences.
• Outline how hormonal fluctuations across the lifespan influence regulation, sensory sensitivity, and functional performance.
• Apply the NICUP (Novelty, Interest, Challenge, Urgency, Passion) framework to support motivation, task initiation, and engagement.
• Demonstrate how to integrate sensory-informed, neuroaffirming, and personalized strategies into mental health and OT interventions to enhance participation and well-being.

Workshop Description:

Women with ADHD often navigate complex, masked, and misunderstood patterns that traditional attention-focused frameworks do not fully capture. This one-hour interdisciplinary training introduces mental health clinicians and occupational therapy practitioners to a regulation-based, sensory-informed approach to ADHD in women.

Grounded in neuroscience, sensory processing theory, and neuroaffirming practice, this session examines how sensory modulation, emotional regulation, inattentive features, masking behaviors, hormonal fluctuations, and interest-driven motivation shape daily functioning and participation. Clinicians will gain practical strategies using the NICUP (Novelty, Interest, Challenge, Urgency, Passion) framework to support engagement, reduce overwhelm, and design interventions aligned with clients’ natural brain patterns.

Workshop Agenda:

I. Introduction (0–5 minutes)

• Presenter introductions
• Core framing using Solden/Flint quote:
  • “It doesn’t matter which medication you take, or what shiny new organizational system you try- you won’t get there as long as your goal is to get over who you are.” Sari Solden, Michelle Flint - ‘A Radical Guide for Women with ADHD’
• Why a regulation + sensory lens is essential for women’s ADHD
  

II. ADHD as a Regulation Disorder (5–15 minutes)

• Beyond “attention deficit”: ADHD as sensory, emotional, cognitive, and motor regulation
• Barkley’s model of self-regulation
• Sensory processing lens: arousal, discrimination, seeking/avoidance (the research)
• Why regulation explains variability, overwhelm, and inconsistency in adult women
  

III. ADHD in Women: Presentation (15–22 minutes)

• Common presentation patterns: inattentiveness, perfectionism, people-pleasing, emotional reactivity
• Sensory & emotional sensitivity
• How gender expectations shape coping
  

IV. Masking in Women With ADHD (22–30 minutes)

• Why masking develops
• How it affects regulation and participation
• Functional implications
  

V. Hormonal Influence on ADHD Symptoms (30–37 minutes)

• Key hormonal cycles that influence dopamine + regulation
• Sensory and emotional amplification
• Brief clinical implications across the lifespan
  

VI. NICUP in Clinical Practice (37–50 minutes)

• Interest-driven brain: Novelty, Interest, Challenge, Urgency, Passion
• How sensory input, arousal state, and motivation interact
• Practical, brain-friendly strategies for participation
• Short vignette demonstrating clinical application
  

VII. Q&A (50–57 minutes)

• Dedicated space for case questions, clinical scenarios, and application to practice
  

VIII. Resources + Wrap-Up (57–60 minutes)

• Book recommendations
• Websites & clinician supports
• Referral pathways for coaching & counseling

Presented by:

Ellen Baker, LPC

Ellen is a Licensed Professional Counselor and runs a solo private practice, Counseling with Heart, in the north metro Atlanta area. Ellen received her BA in Psychology from Emory University in 1989 and her MS in Community Counseling from Georgia State University in 1997. She began her career as a counselor, working with youth in residential care and providing strengths-based, family-focused services. She later transitioned to foster care, working for a private agency as a program supervisor. After several years in this role, she became a state trainer for this same agency, providing training, clinical consultation, and program oversight for program employees and providers.

Ellen began her private practice in 2013. She enjoys helping clients who are managing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and the impact of trauma. She is also committed to supporting fellow therapists in their personal healing work. Ellen is an Advanced Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist and a National Board Certified Fellow in Clinical Hypnotherapy (NBCFCH) through the National Board for Certified Clinical Hypnotherapists (NBCCH). She received a Clinical Certification for Stress Management and Emotional Management from HeartMath and is a HeartMath Certified Trainer. She has advanced training in Brainspotting, EMDR, EFT (tapping), and IADC therapy. She also offers coaching, training, and consultation services. Ellen values the power of using brain/body approaches and energy psychology to facilitate healing and growth for her clients.

Kristen Santos, OTR/L, MS, CPCC

Kristen is an occupational therapist and certified coach who brings lived experience with ADHD and more than 30 years across healthcare, the U.S. Coast Guard, and leadership roles to her work with neurodivergent adults. She helps clients understand how their brains, habits, roles, and routines shape daily life—and how to make meaningful changes that align with who they are.

In both her private practice and her work in a neuro-rehab hospital setting, Kristen specializes in bridging the gap between knowing what to do and being able to do it. Clients describe her approach as practical, detail-oriented, and grounded. They appreciate that she offers clear direction while honoring their autonomy and decision-making.

She provides individual coaching, group programs, and workplace training focused on neurodivergent adult success, life and career transitions, neurodivergent women, leadership development, and supporting neurodiverse employees and their supervisors.

1 Core CE Included - Details by License Type Below:

• PSYCHOLOGISTS: The Knowledge Tree, A Summit Professional Education Company is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Knowledge Tree, A Summit Professional Education Company maintains responsibility for this program and its content. For more detailed information on the current CE ruling in Georgia, or if you are licensed in another state or country, please click here.
• COUNSELORS: The Knowledge Tree, A Summit Professional Education Company has been approved by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) as an Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP), ACEP No. 7153. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. The Knowledge Tree, A Summit Professional Education Company is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. Please click here for more detailed information.
• SOCIAL WORKERS: TKT has applied for approval for this workshop through the Georgia Society for Clinical Social Work (GSCSW). If you are licensed in another state or country, please click here for more detailed information.
• MARRIAGE & FAMILY THERAPISTS: TKT has applied for approval for this workshop through the Georgia Association for Marriage & Family Therapy (GAMFT). If you are licensed in another state or country, please click here for more detailed information.

To view our various workshop policies, including our multi-workshop discount & refund policy, please click here.

We are an approved vendor for the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs for easy reimbursement of educational expenses for VA employees.

Neither the Knowledge Tree nor its speakers have received any commercial support for this program or its contents and will not receive any commercial support prior to or during this program.