About Dori

Dori Zener is a registered social worker, speaker, and educator, who has dedicated her career to creating Neurodiversity-Affirming mental health opportunities for autistic people across the lifespan. Her specialized focus lies in supporting late-discovered neurodivergent individuals, helping them cultivate self-awareness and self-compassion throughout their personal journeys. Dori also offers trainings based on her clinical expertise, centered around her INVEST model, which provides a Neurodiversity-Affirming framework for counselling. She is deeply passionate about fostering autism acceptance and actively contributes to expanding the understanding of autism through various avenues such as publications, workshops, research collaborations, and corporate consultations.

Dori strongly values the transformative potential of shared lived experiences in fostering connections and instilling hope. To bring this belief into practice, she spearheaded the establishment of five autistic-led peer support groups. Good Company, for adult women and nonbinary adults, Chilling on the Spectrum, a young adult support and social group, Navigating Work a unique group for Neurodivergent job seekers, Rainbow Spectrum Pride, a support group for autistic 2SLGBTQIA+ adults, and Wildflowers, a support and social group for autistic girls and nonbinary teens. Through these initiatives, Dori aims to cultivate supportive communities that nurture individuals and celebrate their diverse experiences.

Client Focus:

Preteens (13+ years) teens and adults diagnosed or self-diagnosed Autistic, learning differences and ADHD. Lifespan approach. Expertise working with girls, women, and gender diversity.

Single Session Therapy + Resources:

$400/90 minute

Fee:

$225/clinical hour session

Trainings/Public Speaking on the following topics:

‍INVEST Neurodiversity-Affirming Therapy Model, Profile of Autistic girls & women, Autism & Mental Health, and Employment

‍Services:

Individual, relationship and family therapy focused on meeting the needs of clients which might include:

• Adjusting to change / life transitions
• Anger management
• Anxiety
• Bullying
• Coping skills
• Depression
• Effective communication
• Emotion regulation
• Executive functioning
• Gender diversity
• Mood disorders
• Parenting
• Persistent/Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA)
• Peer relationships
• Self esteem
• Sexuality and relationships
• Social skills
• Stress management
• Women’s issues
• Work performance

Treatment Approach:

• Neurodiversity Framework
• Strengths-Based
• Person-Centred
• Solution Focused Therapy (SFT)
• Dialectical Behavioral (DBT)
• Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)

Therapy Options:

In-person, telephone, online video conference or email therapy

Education:

Master of Social Work, University of Toronto, Faculty of Social Work
Bachelor of Arts (Hons.), Social and Political Theory, University of Western Ontario
Certificate in Solution-Focused Counselling, University of Toronto
Triple P (Positive Parenting Program) Accredited Provider
Certificate in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST)
Ongoing training in Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy