psychotherapist

Yes I did briefly Google search this. I hadn't realised there were so many diverse types of therapist now. I don't think it is going to be someone who specialises in these fields, but they do know so, it will be a learning process for both of us.

I would tell them immediately and if they didn’t respond well and didn’t have a good understanding of autism (or at very least a willingness to educate themselves and learn) I would not see them again. Just my personal opinion but the last thing you want is to have someone who doesn’t understand and/or have to mask in therapy 

Hello.

I would tell them, primarily to check out if they are suitably trained to meet your needs.

If you are choosing a therapist and paying privately you could consider finding one who is autistic. This can really help with bridging the double empathy gap.  If not, find one who has trained extensively under autistic trainers - if therapists from the predominant neurotype are going to work well with autistic people the latest gold standard is that they are trained, at least in the autism part of their education, by autistics. Ask them what courses they have taken and check the course out online. Or ask them about their personal experience of autism. These are absolutely reasonable questions to ask a prospective therapist. 

If your not choosing the therapist yourself (NHS or charity provisions) or returning to one you have a pre-established relationship with, I would ask them a lot of questions about how they conceptualise autism, the hope is this helps to weed out anyone who is going to pathologise or try to “cure” autism but it will also weed out the ones who know nothing about autism. Unfortunately there is often not much can be done if there are no therapists in a service who are trained to to work in a way that is psychologically safe with autistic clients.

In any setting I would expect the therapist to initiate a conversation about reasonable adjustments and keep this conversation active so adjustments can be altered throughout your therapy. 

On the other hand, I would also be cautious of autistic therapists (or those who know a lot about autism) who presume that this means they already know all about you or what you need from therapy…. Hopefully a therapist would be open about their knowledge and experience, and at the same time curious about your unique autistic experience and whether or not/ how much it links to your presenting issue. 

Yes I agree. It needs to be explained to the professional in question. 

I'd say tell them straight off, personally I think it would be pretty pointless not too as it will change not only the course of your therapy but how well you get on with your therapist. It will also give you a chance to explore at the begining how knowlegable your therapist is about ND

pietro_21 said:

I feel a bit the same way dealing with GP receptionists etc

If someone involved in your care has set the Reasonable Adjustment Flag (including the optional details of your impairment type, adjustments and condition(s)) on your digital NHS record, then staff at your GP surgery will / should know that you need accommodations for your ASD.

You might like to check whether this has been done with your GP surgery and, if not, perhaps request it, depending on your preference.

More information:

https://digital.nhs.uk/services/reasonable-adjustment-flag#what-information-is-available

You'll need to judge who to tell. In general if it would affect what they offer and how they do it, then say. 

Thanks Bunny.

Its just a different confidentiality context as meeting with an assessor beforehand, I feel a bit the same way dealing with GP receptionists etc. I guess I have to assume they all operate under the same code of conduct.

I’d consider it vitally important information that I would disclose to my psychotherapist immediately.

You might find it helpful to borrow or buy this book. It discusses various types of therapy and counselling from an autistic person's viewpoint, including explaining how it can be important for standard therapeutic approaches (eg cognitive behavioural therapy) to be adapted for autistic clients. Several of us here have found it very helpful:

The Autistic Survival Guide to Therapy

Depending on how familiar your therapist is with helping neurodivergent clients, they might find this guidance helpful:

NAS - Good practice guide - For professionals delivering talking therapies for autistic adults and children

Why would you not tell your therapist?

Note that some NT approaches will not work well on ND, so telling them seems a good idea.

Only downside is they may not know so much about ND. My psychologist said autism was only covered for a few days in all her formal qualifications. This may be changing, but most will have done degrees etc. some years ago.