• The Luminary Group exists to advance more inclusive and equitable mental health care for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, brain injuries, and other cognitive disabilities.

    Through education and training, we cultivate a learning community where clinicians deepen their understanding, expand their practice, and grow in their ability to provide thoughtful, responsive care. By strengthening preparation, exposure, and shared understanding across the systems surrounding mental health support, we work to reduce longstanding barriers and increase access to disability-affirming care that sees and supports people as whole individuals.

  • Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, brain injuries, and other cognitive disabilities continue to face significant barriers to mental health support, barriers that often reflect systems and training models not designed with these populations in mind.

    Because professional education has historically offered limited preparation for supporting people with complex cognitive or developmental needs, many clinicians enter practice without the experience needed to provide meaningful care. These gaps can also contribute to diagnostic overshadowing, when mental health concerns are overlooked or attributed solely to a person’s disability.

    Improving access begins with preparing clinicians to work thoughtfully, ethically, and with an equitable commitment to care for people whose experiences of the world may differ from their own. The need for understanding, connection, and mental health support is human and universal. Access should never depend on whether someone fits a traditional model of therapy, but on the shared recognition that every person deserves to be seen, supported, and understood.

  • The Luminary Group is grounded in work with mental health clinicians and professionals who want to expand their capacity to support individuals often underserved by traditional models of care.

    Rather than promoting a single method or rigid approach, we emphasize thoughtful adaptation, encouraging reflection on how therapy is structured, delivered, and experienced. This work supports clinicians in shaping their existing practice to better fit the people they serve, using difference as a guide rather than a barrier. Our approach is informed by real-world clinical practice, integrative learning, and evolving research in disability-affirming care.

    We also offer select learning materials designed to be accessible to caregivers and other support persons who, while not in clinical roles, play an essential part in daily care and mental health support. At its core, this work is for those motivated to learn, reflect, and grow in how care is understood and provided, regardless of professional role, setting, or prior experience.

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Kristen Hamilton, LPC, CRC is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Rehabilitation Counselor with over a decade of experience in clinical mental health, rehabilitation counseling, and professional training. Her clinical background includes work at the Virginia Commonwealth University Rehabilitation Research and Training Center and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, with a focus on individuals with developmental disabilities, neurocognitive differences, and complex co-occurring mental health presentations. She founded The Luminary Group to bring better training and clinical tools to the practitioners who serve this population.

Meet the Founder