Lisa LeBon, LCSW

05/15/2026

A child who cannot put shoes on.
A child who explodes over homework.
A child who says “no” to everything.
A child who seems desperate to stay in control.

People often see bad behaviour.

But sometimes there is far more going on underneath.

Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) is a term used to describe children who experience an extreme need to avoid everyday demands and expectations. For many, demands can trigger intense anxiety, overwhelm or distress - especially when they feel pressured, unsafe or out of control.

These children are often labelled manipulative, oppositional, rude, lazy or attention seeking.

But many are struggling far more than people realise.

The heartbreaking part?
The more pressure they feel, the harder things can become.

Too many families are judged.
Too many children are punished instead of understood.

Please note - PDA is not currently recognised as a separate diagnosis in diagnostic manuals such as the DSM-5 or ICD-11. However, organisations including the NHS, the National Autistic Society and PDA Society use the term to describe and support children who show this pattern of behaviours and experiences.

Free UNDERSTANDING PATHOLOGICAL DEMAND AVOIDANCE (PDA) IN CHILDREN POSTERUNDERSTANDING PATHOLOGICAL DEMAND AVOIDANCE (PDA) IN CHILDREN POSTER

LIKE the photo and comment "PDA" and we will send you a message with a link to a free PDF of this resource.

04/25/2026

Summer is the perfect time to invest in your growth 🌿

Join me June 4–6 for an Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) training designed for therapists who want powerful, efficient tools to help clients move through trauma and stuck patterns—fast.

If you’ve been thinking about expanding your clinical skills, this is your sign to make a plan for summer that truly pays off.

Registration closes in one month.

More info at:

https://www.lisalebonlcsw.com/arttraining

or

www.ArtWorksNow.com

04/22/2026

Community is medicine.

Research consistently shows that strong social connections are one of the most powerful predictors of health, resilience, and longevity. Not the size of your network, but the depth of your relationships. A few people who make you feel safe, seen, and supported can profoundly shape your biology.

Loneliness activates the same stress pathways as chronic disease. It drives inflammation, dysregulates hormones, weakens immune function, and accelerates aging. Connection does the opposite. It calms the nervous system, lowers cortisol, improves metabolic health, and even influences gene expression linked to longevity.

This is why community is a core pillar of functional medicine. Food, movement, sleep, and supplements matter, but without meaningful human connection, healing is incomplete.

Invest in your people. Nurture a small, trusted circle. Shared meals, honest conversations, laughter, and belonging are not soft interventions, they are some of the most powerful tools we have to extend healthspan and quality of life.

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04/02/2026

ART has become one of the most meaningful tools in my work. I’ve seen it help clients move through the weight of single traumatic events, as well as the deeper layers of complicated grief and long-standing abuse histories—often more quickly and gently than they expected. There’s something powerful about watching people no longer feel stuck in experiences that once defined them.

ART is also gaining traction beyond private practice, with research and application in military and VA-related settings as an emerging approach to trauma treatment. If you’re curious, you can take a look here:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29635395/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8168719/

If you’re a clinician who wants a structured, effective approach to trauma treatment that still leaves room for your clinical intuition, I’d love to have you join me.

And honestly… I’m also looking forward to a few evenings of zydeco music and some really good Lafayette food while we’re there. 😉

Find out more here: www.ArtWorksNow.com

RRenee Legnon Richards

03/12/2026

The brain often responds to vivid imagined experiences in ways that closely resemble real ones. When an event is imagined or remembered, brain regions involved in perception and emotion—such as the visual cortex, limbic system, and amygdala—can become active even though nothing is happening in the external environment. These areas do not rely on logic or timelines. They respond to sensory detail and emotional intensity, not to whether something is occurring now or happened years ago.
Because of this, the brain can react to imagined or recalled experiences as if they are real. In the context of trauma or chronic stress, this can lead to physical responses like a racing heart, muscle tension, nausea, or panic, even when there is conscious awareness that the present moment is safe. The prefrontal cortex, which helps with reasoning and perspective, does not always override these signals under high emotional load.
At the same time, this same neural mechanism creates opportunities for healing. If imagined experiences can activate threat responses, they can also be used to activate safety, regulation, and new emotional associations.
Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) works within this system. By combining guided imagery, metaphors, and bilateral eye movements, ART engages both emotional and regulatory brain networks. This process can help the nervous system experience a calmer bodily response while the factual memory remains intact. The event is still remembered, but the body no longer reacts as if it is happening in the present.
To find an ART-trained therapist, visit
www.ARTworksnow.com

02/25/2026

02/11/2026

Laughter is a great antidote to trauma and stress. Don’t underestimate your need for shenanigans. 🤪

02/09/2026

Yep. It’s sneaky like that…

“I don’t know if it worked…”
followed by:
“…because I literally haven’t thought about it.”
That’s the thing about ART.
When the emotional charge around a memory changes, it often just stops taking up space.
You don’t have to keep revisiting it, managing it, or bracing for it.
When a client realizes they forgot the thing that used to overwhelm them?
That’s often the first sign their nervous system finally feels safe.
ART doesn’t erase the past — it helps clients to stop reliving the painful images over and over.
Find an ART therapist at ARTworksNow.com.

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02/06/2026

About a year into private practice, I realized that I needed a tool to help clients heal trauma or places where they became stuck.

There are many good therapy options out there. But I needed to find something that was not only effective, but also manageable for me to fit into my life. I couldn’t take a week off of work. Some therapies required that I take a week off of work for part one, then another week for part two. So, not only did I lose income from my private practice, I had to consider that if I needed to travel out of state, I would also have to pay for a hotel for a week. Some fees were so expensive that I couldn’t fit it into my budget. When a friend in Texas told me about Accelerated Resolution Therapy, and I looked into it, I was pleasantly surprised.

ART allowed me to be trained in three days over a long weekend. And after I completed the three days, I was ready to use this therapy with my client on Monday. The cost of the training was affordable. It was an investment in my practice that would make me better, and I knew that I needed it. It also gave me all the CEU hours that I needed for the year, so that was an added benefit.

ART increased my confidence in my abilities and my satisfaction with my work. Because I love seeing clients heal.

If you’re like me, and looking for a training that fits into your work schedule and makes you a more effective therapist, consider ART.

Find out more about this powerful therapy here: https://www.lisalebonlcsw.com/arttraining

01/25/2026

I often sit across from my clients and am so impressed by their decisions to keep going. I don’t think I tell them enough how much I admire them. I admire their courage, their bravery and their resilience. They inspire me every day.

Reality check.

01/09/2026

This one’s funny and also very true.

Feelings want the steering wheel.

Healing says, “I hear you...but I’m driving.”

Because if emotions were in charge, we’d be crying at a stoplight, taking a random exit, and saying “what the actual f**k” the whole way.

You can ride along.
You can talk your s**t.
But you are NOT driving.

😂 Annie