ADHD's Hidden Risk: The Relationship Between ADHD, Toxic Relationships, and IPV - 1 hour

When & Where:

• Date: Thursday, November 5, 2026
  • If you cannot attend this workshop on 11/5, you can pre-register for the on-demand version here: https://www.theknowledgetree.org/p/adhd-toxic-rela...
• Time: 12:00pm - 1:00pm Eastern Time
• CE Hours Included: 1 (please see below for details)
• Location: Live Interactive Webinar ("Synchronous") on Zoom
• Investment: $28.99 before Friday, October 23rd at 5:00pm Eastern Time, $29.99 after
• Presented by: Kate Mageau, LMHC (see bio below)
• Workshop Recording: A recording of this workshop is available to review for 60 days after the presentation. However, participants must attend live to receive the "Synchronous" CE Certificate.
• Instruction Level: Introductory
• Target Audience: Psychologists, Counselors, Social Workers, Marriage & Family Therapists

Learning Objectives:

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

• Discuss the neurobiological and psychological mechanisms by which ADHD increases vulnerability to toxic relationships and/or intimate partner violence.
• Apply a scientifically-based framework to recognize relationship vulnerability patterns in ADHD clients.

Workshop Description:

Intimate partner violence affects nearly one in three people worldwide, and it is frequently overlooked in neurodivergent populations. Adults with ADHD are 2.5 times more likely to experience IPV, yet the specific neurological and psychological mechanisms behind this elevated risk are rarely addressed in clinical training. Equipping clinicians to recognize the signs of IPV in this population is a matter of client safety.

This session provides a comprehensive, evidence-based framework for understanding why ADHD brains are neurologically and psychologically vulnerable to toxic relationship dynamics. Clinicians will explore the specific ADHD traits that create relational vulnerability, the neuroscience of why clients stay, and evidence-based treatment approaches particularly well-suited to the ADHD-IPV intersection, including ACT, narrative therapy, and feminist-informed psychoeducation. Attendees will leave equipped to recognize relationship vulnerability patterns, understand the neurological barriers to leaving, and support ADHD clients who are at risk of being in a toxic or abusive relationship.

Workshop Agenda:

• Introduction and Prevalence Data (5 minutes)
  • ADHD as a risk factor for IPV: current research, including Merscher et al. (2025)
  • ADHD underdiagnosis in women, AFAB individuals, and BIPOC communities
  • Compounded risks for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ populations including identity-based abuse tactics
• ADHD Qualities and Relational Vulnerability (15 minutes)
  • ADHD gifts that become risks: higher empathy, social justice, pattern recognition
  • Rejection sensitivity dysphoria and love bombing susceptibility
  • Need for dopamine, hyperfocus on people, object permanence difficulties
  • People-pleasing, executive functioning challenges, and learned helplessness
• Discussion/Reflection (2 minutes): How have you seen these qualities affect your clients in their relationships?
• Recognizing Toxic Relationships (13 minutes)
  • Power and Control Wheel and Equality Wheel
  • Cycle of Violence
  • Codependent versus healthy relationships framework
• Discussion/Reflection (2 minutes): Have any of your clients described relationship dynamics that appear on the Power and Control Wheel?
• The Neuroscience of Why Clients Stay (8 minutes)
  • ADHD and cPTSD overlap through the Default Mode Network
  • Dysregulated brain states and their impact on memory and decision-making
  • Trauma bonding: oxytocin and cortisol cycles
  • Why leaving feels neurologically impossible; susceptibility to gaslighting
• Discussion/Reflection (2 minutes): How can you use this information to help your clients notice patterns in their relationships?
• Treatment Approaches and Safety Planning (8 minutes)
  • Feminist-informed psychoeducation and bibliotherapy as empowerment tools
  • Narrative therapy: externalizing ADHD and the toxic relationship from identity
  • ACT: psychological flexibility and the six core principles
  • Safety planning steps and National Domestic Violence Hotline resources
• Human Bill of Rights and Q&A (5 minutes)

Presented by: Kate Mageau, LMHC

Kate Mageau (she/her) is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, National Certified Counselor, and ADHD Certified Clinical Services Provider based in Seattle, Washington. She specializes in the intersection of ADHD and intimate partner violence, maintaining a private therapy practice serving neurodivergent, queer, and domestic violence survivor populations. She is the author of two books on toxic relationships: Rose-Colored Glasses and The Healing from Toxic Relationships Workbook. Kate has appeared on approximately 20 podcasts as a subject matter expert on ADHD and toxic relationships, and has developed and delivered continuing education trainings for clinicians on supporting clients healing from toxic and abusive relationships.

While Kate does not hold a doctoral degree, her expertise in this subject area is grounded in a uniquely integrated combination of clinical training, certification, lived experience, and direct advocacy work. As a late-diagnosed ADHDer and domestic violence survivor herself, she first encountered the DV field as a participant at New Beginnings, a domestic violence agency in Seattle, where she later returned to facilitate survivor support groups. Her ADHD-CCSP certification reflects specialized postgraduate training in ADHD clinical services, and her clinical practice is focused specifically on the population addressed in this training. Her clinical practice, published work, and advocacy have centered on this intersection for over a decade.

Workshop Schedule (Eastern Time):

• 11:30am - 12:00pm | Sign-In and Welcome
• 12:00pm - 1:00pm | Session
• 1:00pm | Continuing Education Certificates Available

1 CE Hour 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.
  • GA: Counselors in GA will receive 1 Core Hour for completing this course. Please click here for more detailed information.
• SOCIAL WORKERS: The Knowledge Tree, a Summit Professional Education Company, provider #2470, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 1/14/2026-1/14/2027. Social workers completing this course receive 1 clinical continuing education credit.
  
  • GA: Social Workers in GA will receive 1 Core Hour for completing this course. 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.

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