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I haven't said this in years, but please would you help with my (CBT) homework?

felineaut

I am participating in CBT to help me learn new ways to manage myself in challenging situations. My therapist/practitioner/tutor suggested we each seek answers to questions about a hypothetical scenario. I hope it's ok to post this here, I wondered if there's anyone with a few minutes to spare who wouldn't mind sharing their thoughts.

Many thanks for reading and many more if you are able to answer - completely understand that everyone's busy. I am happy to update when we've compared answers to see how mental health professionals differ from any answers I receive if anyone has any interest.

The Situation:

(From the perspective of a car driver, imagined or real)

If you were stopped in a parking space to drop someone off and someone pulled up alongside and became confrontational about you being there, got out of their car and started shouting and taking your registration number:

1) How would you feel? 

2) What would you do?

3) Is it unreasonable to feel helpless and upset?

4) How would you 'come down' from that?

Parents

  • Reading your experience it does make me wonder the extent to which people who lock themselves away aren't so much responding to their autism, but to the damage done by inadequately qualified incompetent therapists.

    I've encountered young people on the spectrum who would suffer anything just to avoid another therapy session. And I'm amazed at the way some therapists can only address even adults by bringing out the little pictures from social stories in order to communicate with their patients in baby talk.

    I do wish NAS read these exchanges, but I don't think they do. There's an article in the latest Your Autism Magazine spotlighting the online community, but I don't get the feeling reading it that the NAS knows much about it. It is just a promotion (the latest magazine though is one of the best ever).

    There is an urgent need for some sort of policy on therapists, especially involving young people. The process as you describe is about stripping away current beliefs and strategies and trying to get the patient to take on new ones, supposedly better.

    If that happens over and over it must totally destroy any capacity to develop coping strategies, and must be totally demoralising. It is not therefore surprising people deteriorate and become totally introspective.

    Therapists who are engaged in helping people with autism must not only have autism awareness but a clear idea of the risks of mishandling therapy on the long term wellbeing of people on the spectrum.

    Coping strategies are hard enough to develop without some misguided underqualified quack therapist wrecking them. Maybe if the process was better understood a lot fewer people would suffer the way they do now.

Reply

  • Reading your experience it does make me wonder the extent to which people who lock themselves away aren't so much responding to their autism, but to the damage done by inadequately qualified incompetent therapists.

    I've encountered young people on the spectrum who would suffer anything just to avoid another therapy session. And I'm amazed at the way some therapists can only address even adults by bringing out the little pictures from social stories in order to communicate with their patients in baby talk.

    I do wish NAS read these exchanges, but I don't think they do. There's an article in the latest Your Autism Magazine spotlighting the online community, but I don't get the feeling reading it that the NAS knows much about it. It is just a promotion (the latest magazine though is one of the best ever).

    There is an urgent need for some sort of policy on therapists, especially involving young people. The process as you describe is about stripping away current beliefs and strategies and trying to get the patient to take on new ones, supposedly better.

    If that happens over and over it must totally destroy any capacity to develop coping strategies, and must be totally demoralising. It is not therefore surprising people deteriorate and become totally introspective.

    Therapists who are engaged in helping people with autism must not only have autism awareness but a clear idea of the risks of mishandling therapy on the long term wellbeing of people on the spectrum.

    Coping strategies are hard enough to develop without some misguided underqualified quack therapist wrecking them. Maybe if the process was better understood a lot fewer people would suffer the way they do now.

Children
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