Therapy for those with Autism

Finding it difficult to find a therapist who gets you?

Having Autism can seem beautiful and challenging all at once. Maybe you have areas of strength that are hard to tap into, or feel emotions so deeply and yet have difficulty expressing them. Maybe you are tired of running into walls at work, at school, with family and friends, simply because other people are quick to judge or just don’t seem to “get you”.

Finding an Autism-informed therapist can be equally as challenging. Traditional talk therapy techniques may fall short of delivering their promises to people living with Autism. Therapists must take the time to figure out your differences in thought, emotion and behaviours, and then expertly adapt talk therapy to match your world. This takes skill and professional experience (perhaps even lived experience) on the part of the therapist.

Why traditional talk therapy may not work for you

Most therapies are designed to suit a neurotypical individual. However, with upwards of 70% of people with Autism struggling with their mental health, we need to do better at finding options that work.

Most traditional therapists expect their clients to be able to identify their mood and share it with the therapist at multiple points in a therapy session. However, people with Autism typically struggle to name and communicate their mood with others. Neurodiverse-informed clinicians will take the time to support you in mood identification and spend extra time in helping you communicate your feelings.

Traditional talk therapies assume neurotypical sensory processesing. For example, someone who avoids busy malls or gatherings might be misinterpreted to have social anxiety, whereas it’s actually the noise levels that are the problem. The neurodiverse-informed clinician can screen for sensory sensitivities, and apply these to the goals and behaviours your are working on, so as not to overstimulate or agitate you in your sessions or homework.

Traditional therapies rely heavily on cognitive strategies, such as perspective-taking or thought-challenging. For people with Autism, changing their thought selection and processing can be very difficult. Neurodiverse-informed clinicians may find more success with focusing on your behaviours versus changing your thoughts, such that “doing” something different will be easier than “thinking” something different.

Autism-informed therapy at Brookhaven

No matter what you are looking to address in therapy, we are proud to offer therapists who specialize in working with people with Autism and other neurodivergent diagnoses. We provide individualized treatment options for your unique gifts and stressors, and can provide a space to tackle whatever goals you have. We can even dim the lights for you during your sessions :)