RELATE exists because we needed it for our own clinical work. We built what we wished someone had handed us, then structured it for other professionals to learn and implement.
Licensed Clinical Social Worker and clinical director for a residential treatment center serving neurodivergent individuals with complex profiles. Rachelle has presented at national conferences on PDA, autism, and evidence-based treatment. Her training spans trauma-informed care, neuro-affirming approaches, and crisis intervention.
Clinical Mental Health Counselor with extensive experience in residential and intensive outpatient programs. Justin works with autistic individuals navigating depression, anxiety, OCD, and substance use, delivering evidence-based, neurodiversity-affirming care across complex presentations.
The PDA field has been growing in awareness for years. Parents are learning the term. Clinicians are starting to recognize the profile. Conferences are filling up. But when a professional asks "I have a PDA client, what do I actually do?" there hasn't been a structured answer.
RELATE is that answer. Not the only possible answer. Not the final answer. But a rigorous, mechanism-based, clinically informed framework that gives professionals concrete tools, assessment instruments, and implementation protocols. Right now, while the evidence base continues to develop.
We built it from clinical experience. We refined it across hundreds of cases. And we structured it so other professionals can learn it, implement it, and track outcomes, contributing to the evidence base as they go.
The clinical manual is the foundation. Everything else extends the framework to the people who need it.
The complete 16-chapter professional training framework with assessment instruments and implementation guides.
Daily implementation, school coordination, sibling dynamics, burnout prevention. Ages 3 through young adulthood.
Self-directed RELATE, self-regulation, workplace navigation. Written for adults, not about adults.
Classroom modifications, IEP language, teacher-family collaboration.