Autism therapy

[shinkansen]

I was wondering about other people's experiences of therapy and counselling.

Currently on waiting list for specialist ASD therapy, which should start in about 8 weeks' time. I've had counselling sessions before to help with anxiety and anger management, which were helpful. But these sessions were before my ASD diagnosis.

I'm actually looking forward to some specialist therapy. I think that talking is the medicine. My recent 'journey' to an ASD diagnosis was a surprise, so I'd like to know more about how this all affects me and how I can manage things better.

Recently had my ADHD review and the doctor's keeping me on the medication. This was the same doctor who first suggested that I was on the spectrum, so I guess he knows the full picture !

All being done on the UK's National Health Service and I've pleased with service.

 

[clg114]

I was wondering about other people's experiences of therapy and counselling.

Currently on waiting list for specialist ASD therapy, which should start in about 8 weeks' time. I've had counselling sessions before to help with anxiety and anger management, which were helpful. But these sessions were before my ASD diagnosis.

I'm actually looking forward to some specialist therapy. I think that talking is the medicine. My recent 'journey' to an ASD diagnosis was a surprise, so I'd like to know more about how this all affects me and how I can manage things better.

Recently had my ADHD review and the doctor's keeping me on the medication. This was the same doctor who first suggested that I was on the spectrum, so I guess he knows the full picture !

All being done on the UK's National Health Service and I've pleased with service.

I was not diagnosed until I was 62 years old and by then my life style was pretty well set. While I was very pleased to get diagnosed, the doctor and I agreed that further therapy was not needed. However, I do believe that counseling can be a very beneficial for people with autism. I believe that young people can be counseled to better be able to deal with their weaknesses and better take advantage of their strengths.

 

[garnetflower13]

I have had mostly frustrating experiences with counseling because it usually went wrong when said counselor started trying to convince me that I was not on the spectrum. I have given up on it for now. I sincerely hope you can get help from someone who is experienced with Asperger's or at least open minded!

 

[clg114]

I have had mostly frustrating experiences with counseling because it usually went wrong when said counselor started trying to convince me that I was not on the spectrum. I have given up on it for now. I sincerely hope you can get help from someone who is experienced with Asperger's or at least open minded!

You are right about that! I was diagnosed by a doctor with a lot experience with Asperger's Syndrome. I have encountered a lot of medical professionals who are clueless about AS.

 

[DogwoodTree]

I started seeing a therapist about a year and a half ago. He's not an AS specialist, but I told him about it up front, and he wasn't worried about being able to work with me. He's never questioned my intuition on this, not even once, and didn't seem a bit surprised when I got the official dx a year after I started working with him. One of the main therapies he uses with most of his clients is CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy), and that approach is often recommended in working with aspies, so that works out well for us.

The first time I went for a dx, I saw a woman who supposedly was qualified to administer these kinds of assessments. But she was primarily a trauma therapist, and all she could see in my symptoms was "trauma-trauma-trauma...all of these symptoms you have were caused by trauma...and I won't even do a test until you've tried my recommendations for trauma therapy." Based on how she was answering my questions about how she had formed that opinion, it was obvious she didn't know anything at all about autism, no matter what qualifications she supposedly had. When I told my therapist team (I was seeing an equine therapist at the time, too) about that appt later, they were dumbfounded. They could hardly believe a therapist would have been so brash.

Then I went to see a different diagnostician whose website advertised assessing both children and adults for all kinds of learning and developmental disorders. At the very beginning of our conversation, she said she was very familiar with the presentation of female aspies. She went through an interview assessment with me, and concluded before the session was even over that I was most certainly on the spectrum. My score on the assessment was very high.

All that to say...there's a huge variety of therapists and therapy approaches and attitudes out there. You have to be careful. Just because they don't advertise being an AS specialist doesn't mean they can't be a good fit. And vice versa...just because they claim to know about autism doesn't mean they know any more than what you could read on Wikipedia.

Look for someone who clicks with you, who respects your opinion without kowtowing to your every expectation (they should definitely know how to hold good, healthy boundaries), and who is willing to learn from you about who you are instead of who they want to see you as, and yet will hold you accountable for growth and exploring beyond your comfort zone.