Autism Treatment From a Trauma Perspective
Robert Cox came to this from the floor up. Direct care first, then service coordination, then a master’s and clinical practice, close to thirty years across the field. What he kept noticing was that the responses he was watching in autistic clients behaved like the responses he knew from his own history: not misbehaviour, but a nervous system with nowhere to put the load.
That observation is the whole course. If a meltdown is a dysregulated brain rather than a behavioural problem, then behavioural management is arriving at the wrong moment, and regulation has to come first for anything else to get through. He is explicit that he is not saying behavioural or cognitive approaches do not work. His argument is that they work better when the supports are stacked in the right order.
Four and a half hours, and most of it is practical. Sensory processing and what the world is like when you cannot filter it. Stimming read as self-regulation, and why taking it away without replacing it makes things worse. Mindfulness adapted for clients who will not sit still and do not want to talk about their feelings, built out of balloons, fidget objects and attention games. Working with parents, including teaching a parent to stay calm so the child has something to co-regulate against. And the social piece, which he treats as a place to build genuine connection rather than a set of scripts to rehearse.
You’ll walk away with
- His model of autism and the brain, and what it changes about the order you deliver treatment in
- Meltdowns understood as dysregulation, and what to do in the moment rather than afterwards
- Stimming as regulation, why suppressing it backfires, and what to offer instead
- Sensory processing from the inside, and why a child sensitive to noise might play music loudly
- Mindfulness and regulation exercises adapted for non-verbal and low-tolerance clients
- Working with parents on their own regulation, which is often the intervention that moves things
- Rapport with a client who has learned that adults arrive to list their limitations
- Perseveration and rules-bound thinking treated as capability as well as difficulty
- Building safe social connection, including group and peer approaches for older clients
- Where behavioural and cognitive approaches fit, and why sequencing determines whether they land
Watch the course trailer
CPD Information For Mental Health Professionals
Enjoy complete flexibility with 100% self-paced learning you can access anytime, anywhere, and on any device. This course is included with your Tatra Training membership, along with every other course in the library.
Where this sits: the specialist application of the model Robert Cox sets out in Early Trauma, Attachment, and Repair. Either can be taken first.
Please note: this was recorded in the United States and one section covers diagnosis pathways and disability services as they operate there. The clinical material applies anywhere; the service navigation section does not map to Australian systems.
Course Duration: 4.5 learning hours
Certificate and CPD hours: On completion you’ll receive a Certificate of Completion to support your CPD records. Your certificates are yours to keep.
Assessment: Complete a short quiz at the end (80% pass mark), which you can resit as many times as needed.
Revisit Anytime: Come back to the course as often as you like while your membership is active, whenever you want a refresher for practice.
CPD Eligibility: This program may be suitable for CPD for professionals such as:
- Psychologists
- Counsellors and Psychotherapists
- Social Workers
- Community Workers
- Mental Health Nurses
- General Practitioners (GPs)
- Occupational Therapists
CPD requirements vary between professional bodies, so please check with your association or credentialing body to confirm you can claim CPD hours/OPD points for this program and what evidence they require.
Course Content
Meet Your Instructor
Individuals with autism spectrum disorders struggling with undiagnosed trauma - and practitioners working with clients whose behaviors don't respond to traditional approaches - can miss the critical connection between developmental differences and traumatic stress. Robert Cox has spent over 20 years pioneering this intersection, becoming one of the few experts who understands how autism and trauma interweave to create complex presentations that require specialised treatment approaches informed by lived experience with recovery.
As Owner/Therapist at Life Recovery Consulting and Executive Director of The Tristn Jevon Center for Recovery, Cox brings unique expertise grounded in both professional training and 33+ years of personal recovery from addiction (clean since 1988). His book The Life Recovery Method: Treating Autism From a Trauma Perspective represents groundbreaking work in understanding how developmental differences affect trauma processing and recovery. His role as President-Elect of the American Counseling Association of Missouri and presentations at Autism Society national conferences demonstrate his leadership in advancing trauma-informed autism treatment approaches.
Cox's expertise spans trauma treatment from an autism perspective, addiction counseling, complex trauma and PTSD, mindfulness-based interventions, dissociative disorders, and what he calls helping clients "live vulnerably in an uncertain world with real joy, connection and courage." His approach recognises that many individuals with autism spectrum disorders have experienced significant trauma related to their developmental differences - from bullying and social rejection to medical trauma and sensory overwhelm - but traditional trauma treatments may fail if they don't account for autistic processing differences. He specialises in cases where standard approaches haven't worked, particularly with clients who have dual diagnoses of autism and addiction, or trauma presentations complicated by sensory processing differences.
What sets his training apart is lived experience combined with clinical expertise. Cox doesn't just teach theoretical approaches - he shows practitioners how his own journey through addiction, trauma, and recovery informs his understanding of resilience and healing. His 30 years of mindfulness practice and specialisation in DBT mindfulness techniques give him deep insight into helping clients develop distress tolerance skills that work for neurodiverse populations.
For your practice, expect to gain specific techniques for treating trauma in autistic individuals, tools for adapting traditional trauma therapies for neurodiverse clients, and frameworks for understanding how developmental differences affect addiction and recovery processes. His approach particularly benefits clinicians working with autistic clients, those treating dual diagnosis presentations, or practitioners wanting to develop trauma-informed approaches for neurodiverse populations.
Quick Win: Cox's "sensory-informed grounding" technique helps autistic clients access present-moment awareness during trauma responses - sometimes providing the first effective self-regulation tool they've ever had while honoring their unique sensory processing needs.
Qualifications
- MA, Counseling, MidAmerica Nazarene University, 2015
- BA, Social Psychology, Park University, 2011
- Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Missouri
- National Certified Counselor (NCC)
- Provisional Licensed Professional Counselor (PLPC)
- 20+ years experience in mental health field
- 33+ years personal recovery experience (clean since 1988)
- 30 years mindfulness practice, specialised in DBT mindfulness techniques
Authored Publications
- The Life Recovery Method: Treating Autism From a Trauma Perspective (2016)
Leadership & Professional Service
- Owner/Therapist, Life Recovery Consulting, Richmond, MO & Liberty, MO
- Executive Director, The Tristn Jevon Center for Recovery, Richmond, MO
- Adjunct Professor, MidAmerica Nazarene University, Graduate Counseling Program
- President-Elect, American Counseling Association of Missouri, current
Professional Experience
- Opened trauma treatment center in Richmond, MO, December 2017
- Various capacities in mental health field for 20+ years
- Volunteer, Kairos Prison Ministry, Crossroads Correctional Center, Cameron, MO
- 20+ years working specifically with autism spectrum individuals
- Podcast Host, "Mindful Recovery," 2016–2018 (37 episodes)
- International speaker on trauma and addiction
Clinical Specialties
- Trauma treatment for autism spectrum disorders
- Addiction counseling for neurodiverse populations
- Complex trauma and PTSD in autistic individuals
- Mindfulness-based interventions adapted for autism
- Dissociative disorders and attachment issues
- Dual diagnosis treatment (autism and addiction)
- Sensory processing trauma and medical trauma
- Rural community mental health services
Ready to develop expertise in the overlooked intersection of autism and trauma? Discover how Robert Cox's Life Recovery Method can transform your understanding of how developmental differences affect trauma processing and give you the specialised tools needed to help neurodiverse clients achieve genuine healing and recovery.
Feedback & Reviews
This course includes:
- Lessons 5
- Topics 0
- Duration 4.5 hours
- Quizzes 1
- Language English