Counselling- worth it or damaging if not done with a counsellor who understands autism?

HiEllie1984 

I have weekly therapy sessions and I did have a batch of 12 coaching sessions that really helped with the challenges I faced as an autistic person. The therapy has been more in depth and depending on what you are working through it can be pretty intense at times but also very revealing and helpful moving forward. My therapist doesn't specialise in autism but I had a free 30 minute session to see if it felt okay for both of us. I understand that care needs to be taken too when choosing a therapist I watched a couple of podcasts on how to choose a good therapist and then looked on the BACP therapist directory.

I hope whatever you decide it works out for you.

HiEllie1984 

I have weekly therapy sessions and I did have a batch of 12 coaching sessions that really helped with the challenges I faced as an autistic person. The therapy has been more in depth and depending on what you are working through it can be pretty intense at times but also very revealing and helpful moving forward. My therapist doesn't specialise in autism but I had a free 30 minute session to see if it felt okay for both of us. I understand that care needs to be taken too when choosing a therapist I watched a couple of podcasts on how to choose a good therapist and then looked on the BACP therapist directory.

I hope whatever you decide it works out for you.

Thank you. I agree that having an initial session to gauge how it feels is really helpful. So glad you found something that helped you. 

Unfortunately the therapist who mocked my discomfort with eye contact is listed on the BACP as someone who work with those on the autistic spectrum. As a result I'm not as inclined to trust that directory personally but I understand it helps to ensure they have adequate counselling qualifications. I think being adequately trained as a counsellor and being genuinely effective in supporting autistic people are two very different things unfortunately.