Published on 12, July, 2020
For about maybe seven months now, I've been using BetterHelp for private therapy. I can't say I've found there to be any progress, though I'm not sure I'm going in with the right expectations. My therapist tries to get me to reframe my thoughts. Use less negative language, try to imagine more positive outcomes to situations, that sort of thing. "What would it be like..." is her common language for this. To which my response is often along the lines of "Well that would be unrealistic because xyz". She also tends to point out my "yets" as hopeful, despite my assurance that it's just to avoid an absolute statement. I can't tell if I'm being too rigid and set in my ways, if her approach is ill effective for autism, or a bit of both.
For anyone that uses a therapist, how do you find your engagements with them?
I recommend the same book as Bunny. It can help you work out if your therapist is a good fit. Some neuro typical techniques don't work as well for us. Before my therapist moved I ended up accepting that she was good for venting/talking but maybe not great for fixing. I really liked her and was sad to see her go. Talking was still good. In the future I would look for a therapist that had autistic experience.