Velaris Psychological Services, PLLC

11/09/2025

The 25th annual Renfrew Foundation Conference for Professionals launched on Friday!

I had the honor of preparing an on-demand workshop on accommodating PDA in eating disorder treatment. It's available with many other outstanding workshops until 12/31/25. Thanks, Renfrew!

10/29/2025

Yes! Mama Wolf's on it.

10/09/2025

Today's the day! Well, evening, depending on where you are!

Join me to hear about accommodating PDA in eating disorder treatment.

Hope to see you there!

💛 Accommodating PDA in Eating Disorder Treatment
with Megan Agee, M.A., LPA

Traditional eating disorder treatment often assumes cooperation — but for autistic individuals with a PDA profile, even well-meaning support can feel like a threat.

Join Megan Agee, AuDHD psychologist and PDA specialist, for a compassionate webinar on approaches that center autonomy, safety, and real connection.

You'll explore:
✨ How PDA impacts eating behaviors
✨ Why resistance isn't defiance — it's protection
✨ Ways to support nourishment without power struggles

📅 October 9
🎟️ Register here: https://buff.ly/mZMHGTt

You can honor autonomy and support recovery — this webinar will show you how.

10/04/2025

PDAers, parents, and caregivers: it's a shifting tide. A real slow one, but a shifting one.

This is how we inch toward established protocols. Thank you, Curtis & Izett.

Purpose Emergent research literature has identified emotional and behavioural challenges for autistic children with a pathological demand avoidance profile. However, understanding of their parents’ experience is limited. This study aimed to explore the experience of parents of autistic children wi...

09/24/2025

Velaris Psych believes in scientists.

08/28/2025

Join me on 10/9 to hear about how PDAers can be accommodated in eating disorder treatment.

A high need for autonomy can surely challenge manualized approaches.

Thanks to PDA NA for this opportunity. 💜

Accommodating PDA in Eating Disorder Treatment:
A live webinar with Megan Agee, M.A., LPA

Traditional eating disorder treatment often relies on therapeutic compliance — but what happens when a client’s neurobiology says no to demands, even supportive ones?

Autism and eating challenges often overlap, and when PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) is also present, treatment needs to look different.

Join Megan Agee, M.A., LPA — an AuDHD psychologist and PDA specialist — for a thoughtful, neuro-affirming exploration of how to support autonomy and reduce resistance in disordered eating care.

🧠 You’ll learn:
• Why PDA can complicate standard ED treatment approaches
• How to shift from compliance-based care to needs-based care
• Practical strategies to honor autonomy while supporting recovery

📅 October 9
🎟️ Register here: https://buff.ly/mZMHGTt

08/13/2025

Invisible and dynamic disabilities are extra hard on the bearer. We expect to "see" disability and individuals are much more likely to be dismissed if their disability isn't physically obvious.

08/12/2025

Today I recorded my presentation for the 35th Annual Renfrew Foundation Conference. Sit and talk about how to support PDAers for two hours? Don't mind if I do!

It was a really cool experience, and I'm appreciative of this opportunity. The workshop will be available on demand from November 7 through the end of the year. Thanks, Renfrew!

08/01/2025

I see you, PDA caretakers. You know your kiddo. And still, you aren't impervious to scrutiny. Your Knowing is such a valuable tool.

05/14/2025

New fave.

05/11/2025

Hey Spicy Mamas.

I see you. We're a different kind of tribe. We're not likely to be out to brunch on Mother's Day. And seeing posts from others might feel some type of way.

That's okay.

It's okay that you feel complicated, even seemingly contradictory, feelings. It's okay if you cried today. It's okay if you felt great today. It's okay if you yearned to hear, "I love you" but couldn't. It's okay if you chalked today up to "just another day."

Our society likes to create neat little boxes of experience. And when our existence has been a little too amorphous to fit inside any box, it's very normal to feel big feelings about that.

But you're an amazing mama. Even when you don't feel it.. even especially then. Because your values are aligned, but your support system and resources are limited.

Here's to the Spicy Mamas. Nurturing, loving, teaching, challening, defending, enriching, and protecting. 365.

05/09/2025

Curiosity is paramount to truly understanding what many behaviors desperately try to communicate.