Session 4

Therapeutic Considerations and Treatment Strategies

Joanna Haase, Ph.D., MFT, Lisa Hancock, MA, Dee Dee Kates, MEd.

Clinicians are lacking education in the unique challenges of working with gifted individuals,

not only in terms of mis-diagnosis, but in terms of understanding how asynchronous

development, overexcitabilities, and stealth learning disabilities need to be addressed

accurately in therapeutic environments. The cost of professionals not understanding how to

work with gifted individuals can lead to devastating outcomes, especially in underserved

populations.

This session focuses on interdisciplinary treatment strategies of gifted individuals. The

presenters will share case histories to help illustrate how professionals who work with the

gifted can increase their success by adopting effective therapeutic postures, “thinking” in terms

of multi-disciplinary strategies and avoiding common therapy “traps.”

Specifically, the clinicians will explore different treatment modalities for helping clients

manage anxiety, overexcitabilities, and existential depression. All the strategies discussed will

connect how the sensory and intellectual processing differences in gifted individuals also

manifest social/emotionally, as well as the impact of twice exceptionality on psychological

wellbeing.

School based interventions for gifted and twice exceptional students will be explored as both

part of SST, RTI, 504 and IEP plans as well as essential components of traditional therapy

treatment plans. Participants will also learn how to use “education plans” to provide a more

comprehensive and less “therapy” based treatment plan.

Participants will be encouraged to use what they have learned about gifted individuals to

present clinical questions from their own experience for discussion.