March 12–13, 2026
Speaker
Viridiana Breinig, M.Ed., BCBA
Care Team Manager at Easterseals Northern California
About Viridiana Breinig
Viridiana Breinig is a clinical leader with over 12 years of experience in Applied Behavior Analysis and behavioral health. She integrates wellness and evidence-based practices to promote sustainability across practitioners, caregivers, and families. Through her leadership within the Catalight network, she advances inclusive, empowering and neurodivergent-affirming care.
Presentation
Achieving Sustainability Through Wellness and Evidence Based Practices
Thursday, March 12 | 1:50PM to 2:50PM| 60 MINUTES | LIVE
This presentation explores the intersection of caregiver sustainability, practitioner well-being, and client-centered practices in supporting neurodivergent families. Neurodivergent caregivers and practitioners often face high stress, burnout, and compassion fatigue, which can undermine treatment efficacy and quality of care. To address these challenges, the session introduces a hands-on approach integrating evidence-based wellness strategies, neurodivergent-affirming care, and caregiver-mediated interventions, informed by surveys of families and practitioners and piloted wellness check-ins. Drawing on experiences within the Family of Companies, the presentation highlights how empathy, soft skills, and flexible goal-setting foster engagement, confidence, and clinical fidelity. Emphasis is placed on inclusive practices that account for diverse caregiver identities and accessibility needs. Ultimately, wellness-focused, affirming approaches are shown to enhance sustainability for caregivers, practitioners, and neurodivergent individuals, underscoring the need for further research on diverse caregiver populations and their impact on service delivery.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Objective 1:
Demonstrate evidence-based wellness strategies for practitioners by participating in structured exercises and completing a brief reflection checklist to track stress reduction and sustainability practices.
Objective 2:
Apply neurodivergent-affirming practices when supporting caregivers by analyzing case scenarios, practicing empathy and soft skills, and receiving instructor feedback on implementation adjustments to ABA treatment plans.
Objective 3:
Evaluate the effectiveness of caregiver-mediated strategies in reducing caregiver stress and improving treatment implementation by observing role-play sessions and completing a rubric-based assessment of caregiver engagement and adherence.
Elevate Your Impact is Catalight’s annual virtual conference, dedicated to advancing person-centered care for individuals with autism and intellectual developmental disabilities (I/DDs). Offering continuing education to those who qualify, the conference features a dynamic mix of live sessions and on-demand content, providing a flexible learning experience. Elevate Your Impact is an opportunity to connect with thought leaders, gain insights and optimize care outcomes in behavioral health.