I've posted a few times about therapy on here which have been quite negative so I wanted to share a positive moment.
Those that read those posts will know I was struggling with therapy and didn't feel like it met my autism needs and was finding it hard to gel with the therapist.
I feel like we finally had a breakthrough in a recent session where I wanted to share something that I felt needed talking about but I hadn't and still didn't feel comfortable talking about. She asked if she could try and guess if I didn't want to talk which I was initially dubious about but agreed. It took a while but we got there. Through this I became totally nonverbal and was just communicating through nodding and shaking my head which she completed accepted and didn't push me to talk. As we were nearing the end of the session she wanted to bring me out of this and end on a positive note and so started talking about my special interest which succeeded and brought me out of the non verbal, emotional state. This just seems like a big step forward on both sides and was the first session that actually felt productive despite me hardly saying a single word.
I am now a little concerned however that as it is through the NHS and has a limited number of sessions and has taken so long to get going that we will run out of time before we've really dealt with the things I need to deal with. It seems such a backwards system. I know they need some kind of limit as there are so many people to fit through. But if they let people have the number of sessions they actually need there would be far less people being referred back into the system. It would seem completely pointless for me to be referred back if it doesn't work this time. I would then have a long wait and then have to start again with a different person which would come with the same issues all over again. The therapist said she can ask to extend by a few sessions but then that's the limit. You'd think the therapists could be trusted to decide how many sessions a person needs and surely it should be recognised that a neurodivergent person may need more sessions in order to build the relationship and navigate the therapy system.
I appear to have negatived up my positive post - my bad. I am trying to focus on the positive and will end with emphasising it - that I was able to share my feelings in a way that worked for me and that the therapist recognised the importance of my special interest in supporting me.
