• Replies 11 replies
  • Subscribers 85 subscribers
  • Views 399 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

psychotherapist

pietro_21

Returning to therapy after diagnosis two months ago. I just wanted to know anyones opinion of whether its ok to disclose immediately, at all,  or over time?

Parents

  • 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. 

  • in reply to Cheese_and_Biscuits

    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.

Reply Children
No Data