Wajdi Akef Fakhoury, LMFT 148333
16 N. Marengo Ave. #501. Pasadena, CA 91101
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Clinical training that moves beyond awareness to formulation, adaptation, and practice
Samar provides customized training and professional consultation on neurodevelopmental mental health, intellectual disability, autism, ADHD and AuDHD, trauma, communication, crisis prevention, family systems, and the adaptation of clinical care.
Many professionals have learned the terminology of neurodiversity without receiving enough guidance on what that understanding should actually change in assessment, formulation, communication, treatment, crisis response, and everyday practice.
A team may recognize that someone is autistic, has ADHD, or has an intellectual disability and still struggle to understand a change in functioning, distinguish psychiatric symptoms from other sources of distress, adapt communication, respond to escalation, or translate recommendations into usable support.
Training should change what participants notice, ask, and do—not simply add another list of strategies.
For Organizations Seeking More Than an Introductory Overview
Awareness is important, but awareness alone does not resolve complex clinical or systems problems.
Professionals need practical ways to understand:
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How neurodevelopment, mental health, trauma, communication, sensory processing, medical factors, relationships, and environment interact
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How anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, psychosis, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and other psychiatric concerns may present differently
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When behavior may reflect distress, overload, pain, confusion, fear, communication, or an attempt to regain predictability or control
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How diagnostic overshadowing can cause important changes to be missed
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How standard therapeutic, behavioral, educational, or crisis interventions may need to be adapted
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How staff and caregiver responses can reduce distress—or unintentionally intensify it
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How to create recommendations that are specific, realistic, and usable in the setting where care is actually provided
The goal is stronger clinical reasoning and better day-to-day practice—not simply more terminology.
What Trainings Emphasize at Samar
Samar’s approach is neurodevelopmentally informed, mental-health competent, trauma responsive, and grounded in the realities of families and service systems.
Depending on the topic and audience, training may help participants:
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Distinguish diagnosis from formulation
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Look beyond the most visible behavior
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Recognize changes from a person’s usual baseline
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Reduce diagnostic overshadowing and premature conclusions
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Ask more useful assessment questions
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Adapt language, pacing, structure, and expectations
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Recognize communication and sensory vulnerabilities
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Understand how trauma may be expressed through relationships, behavior, and changes in functioning
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Respond to shutdown, escalation, avoidance, reassurance seeking, and crisis with greater precision
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Separate support from control and safety from unnecessary restriction
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Include family and caregiver knowledge without allowing the person’s voice to disappear
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Develop plans that account for actual capacity, context, and available resources
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Improve continuity across transitions, providers, and levels of care
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Reduce coercive, compliance-driven, or potentially iatrogenic practices
The goal is not to teach participants one “right” response. It is to improve how they understand the situation so they can choose and adapt interventions more intelligently.
Who Training Is For
Training and professional consultation can be developed for:
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Mental-health clinicians, supervisors, and clinical leaders
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Psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, counselors, and marriage and family therapists
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Schools, educators, school psychologists, counselors, and special-education teams
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Regional centers and developmental-service organizations
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Residential, supported-living, day-program, vocational, and direct-support teams
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Hospitals, health systems, emergency departments, and crisis-response providers
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Case managers, care coordinators, and interdisciplinary teams
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Family organizations, caregiver networks, and advocacy groups
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Universities, graduate programs, and professional associations
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Organizational leaders responsible for program development, quality improvement, or workforce training
Content, terminology, examples, and depth are adjusted to the participants’ roles, setting, and level of clinical experience.
Training Topics
Training can focus deeply on one area or bring several areas together around a population, clinical concern, or services.
Intellectual Disability & Mental Health
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Recognizing co-occurring mental health conditions in people with intellectual disabilities
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Diagnostic overshadowing and differential clinical formulation
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Adapting psychotherapy for cognitive, communication, and support needs
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Understanding changes in behavior, functioning, sleep, participation, and communication
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Distinguishing psychiatric, medical, sensory, trauma-related, environmental, and relational contributors
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Involving families, caregivers, and support teams without excluding the person from their own care
Autism, Trauma, Crisis, & Mental Health
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Anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, burnout, and co-occurring psychiatric concerns
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Sensory overload, shutdown, meltdown, and loss of capacity
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Communication vulnerabilities and repeated misunderstanding
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Masking, exhaustion, and the emotional cost of appearing to cope
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Adapting assessment and psychotherapy for autistic people
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Avoiding treatment approaches that prioritize compliance or neurotypical presentation
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Trauma exposure among people with intellectual and developmental disabilities
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Recognizing vulnerabilities and early changes before a crisis develops
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Understanding escalation as a process rather than a sudden event
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Reducing responses that unintentionally increase fear, shame, or overload
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Supporting continuity and relational safety after crisis
ADHD, AuDHD & Executive Functioning
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Executive-functioning differences beyond attention and distractibility
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Initiation, working memory, time awareness, prioritization, task switching, and follow-through
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Emotional regulation, rejection sensitivity, shame, and burnout
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Understanding the interaction of ADHD and autistic traits when they coexist
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Distinguishing ADHD-related difficulties from depression, trauma, sleep disruption, sensory overload, or environmental demands
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Developing supports that reduce executive demands rather than adding more systems to manage
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Understanding ADHD and AuDHD within relationships, school, work, health care, and daily life
Families, Caregivers & Systems of Care
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Caregiver burnout, grief, fear, anger, and chronic vigilance
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Family roles, sibling experiences, and unequal responsibility
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Autonomy, safety, support, and future planning
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Improving collaboration without blaming families or minimizing provider constraints
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Reducing fragmented or contradictory responses across settings
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Preparing for transitions, discharges, placement changes, and service changes
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Preserving the person’s voice within interdisciplinary systems
Clinical Practice & Service Development
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Neurodevelopmentally informed assessment and formulation
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Adapting psychotherapy for communication, cognitive, sensory, and executive-functioning needs
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Case consultation for complex presentations
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Clinical supervision and workforce development
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Developing accessible and clinically meaningful treatment plans
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Improving handoffs and continuity across providers
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Program design for people with developmental disabilities and co-occurring mental health needs
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Translating evidence-informed principles into realistic organizational practice
Case-Based and Practice-Focused Learning
Training becomes more useful when participants can connect concepts to situations they actually encounter.
Depending on the format, sessions may include:
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Clinical vignettes
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Guided formulation exercises
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Review of common assessment errors
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Communication examples and alternative phrasing
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Analysis of escalation and crisis sequences
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Discussion of difficult or conflicting recommendations
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Small-group problem-solving
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Application to organizational procedures or service settings
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Participant questions and case-based discussion
Any case material brought into a training must be sufficiently de-identified. Participation in a training does not establish a psychotherapy or clinical-consultation relationship regarding a particular person.
Professional Consultation for Teams & Organizations
Some organizations need more than a single training event. Professional consultation can support the way a team, program, or organization applies neurodevelopmental mental-health principles across its work.
Professional consultation may focus on:
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Strengthening clinical formulation and supervisory practice
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Reviewing how staff respond to distress, refusal, shutdown, escalation, or crisis
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Improving accessibility of clinical services
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Developing or revising training curricula
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Translating broad organizational values into observable staff practices
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Supporting implementation after training
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Clarifying roles across clinical, behavioral, medical, educational, and direct-support teams
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Improving interdisciplinary meetings and decision-making
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Reviewing transition, discharge, and handoff practices
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Identifying patterns that contribute to repeated service breakdowns
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Supporting leadership in developing more coherent neurodevelopmental mental-health services
This service focuses on the practice of the team, program, or organization. Consultation regarding a particular person belongs on the Clinical & Systems Consultation pathway. Learn about Clinical & Systems Consultation
Formats & Customization
Training Formats
Training and professional consultation may be provided through:
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60- to 90-minute workshops
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Two- or three-hour focused trainings
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Half-day or full-day programs
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Multi-session learning series
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Case-based team consultation
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Clinical supervision or supervisor development
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Leadership consultation and implementation planning
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Conference presentations, panels, and keynote addresses
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Guest lectures for universities and graduate programs
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Customized continuing-education programming
A single workshop may be appropriate for a focused topic. More complex goals—such as changing clinical practice, strengthening supervision, or implementing a new service model—may be better served through a series with consultation and follow-up.
Customized to the Organization & Audience
Training is developed around the organization’s actual needs rather than delivered as a generic presentation with a new title.
Before recommending a format, Samar considers:
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The roles and experience of participants
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The population and service setting
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The clinical or operational problem the organization is trying to address
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What participants already know
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What should be different after the training
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The amount of time available
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Whether leadership, supervision, or implementation support is needed
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Whether the organization needs introductory education, advanced clinical training, or ongoing consultation
Learning objectives, depth, format, and scope are clarified before the training is finalized.
Requesting Training or Professional Consultation
When contacting Samar about a training or professional-consultation request, it is helpful to include:
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The organization and intended audience
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Approximate number of participants
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Preferred date or timeframe
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Whether the program will be virtual or in person
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Requested length or format
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Primary topic, question, or service challenge the training should address
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Participants’ current level of experience
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Any implementation, supervision, or follow-up needs
Samar will recommend a proposed scope, format, learning objectives, and fee based on the needs of the organization.
Practical Details
Delivery Options
Training and professional consultation are available virtually or in person by arrangement. In-person programs may be offered at Samar’s Pasadena office or at the requesting organization’s location, depending on audience size, location, and scope.
Fees
Training and professional-consultation fees are determined by program length, preparation, audience size, travel, customization, material or record review, and any requested written resources or follow-up consultation.
A proposed scope and fee are provided before services are scheduled.
