How do I work with autistic therapy clients?
World Autism Acceptance Month this April is an invitation for us all to create a society that works for autistic people. The National Autistic Society website suggests ways in which you can get involved in supporting this cause and explores the barriers that autistic people face in today’s society, for instance:
- 8/10 of autistic people experience mental health problems
- 55% of autistic people avoid going out because they are worried how people will treat them
- 26% of autistic pupils feel happy at school
- 30% of autistic people are in any type of employment
If you are autistic and looking for counselling it can be difficult to know if the counsellor you chose will be able to support you in the way that you need, often traditional therapeutic training does not include the tools for working with someone with autism, so working with a therapist who has a greater awareness and expertise can be useful. Below are a few examples of how my approach is specifically designed to work with autistic clients.
Therapy can be overwhelming for autistic people – I aim to provide a safe space where you can go at your own pace to explore your concerns. Things that I will do to support you with this include:
- I will offer you an initial consultation to explore what you want to bring to counselling and to check that you feel comfortable working with me.
- I will ask you before we start therapy if there are any adjustments that you need, or anything that you need me to know that is important in understanding you and helping you access therapy.
- I will understand that you might find it difficult to know where to start in a therapy session, so I might prompt you.
- I will understand that sometimes in our sessions you will want to be silent and have time to think and sometimes you might find this difficult and uncomfortable.
- I will understand that your social battery might run low or run down and that you might need to take gaps in therapy.
- I will understand that often people feel that there is an unspoken rule book of interpersonal relationships and autistic people often feel that that they have missed the class on this.
- I will not use language that is too formal or “therapy language”.
- I will understand that you might speak to me really directly and that’s absolutely fine.
- I will understand that you may want to stim in sessions or not look at me as we talk.
- I will be aware of how autism might be impacting your life and relationships and I would be happy to explore with your relationship skills and how to form and maintain relationships.
- I will understand that there is sometimes an overlap between autism (and neurodivergence in general) and LGBTQIA+ and other particular physical conditions.
Of course every person is different, my aim as a therapist is to offer a safe accepting space to meet autistic clients where they are and offer a collaborative approach to supporting their counselling journey. I work face to face in Birmingham and also online. For more information about me and the way I work please see my FAQs page. If you would like to arrange an initial conversation with me then please contact me.