The Autistic Survival Guide to Therapy

✍ Scribed by Steph Jones

• Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
• Year: 2024
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 256
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

"This is the book that would've saved me nine different therapists, decades of self-analysis, thousands of pounds, twelve different doctors and untold amounts of pain, frustration and trauma - in spending a lifetime looking for the right answers in the wrong places I've become an accidental expert." In this candid, witty and insightful exploration into therapy, Steph Jones uses her professional and lived experiences as a late diagnosed autistic woman and therapist, as well as consulting therapists from across the world and tapping into the autistic community, to create the ultimate autistic survival guide to therapy. Steph confronts the statistics, inadequate practices and ableist therapists head on and poses the questions of how we can make therapy neurodivergence-affirming and how to create safe spaces for autistic individuals. With strategic and practical advice to help recognise the 'red flags' of a dodgy therapist and provide a clear roadmap to finding your confidence and setting the appropriate boundaries with a new therapist, Steph has every question answered. To support therapists striving for inclusivity and a neurodiverse affirming practice, the inclusion of a context guide provides a deconstruction of each therapy session so you can recognise how undiagnosed (or diagnosed) autism may present itself during therapy and how you can start to explore this in the therapeutic space.

✦ Table of Contents

Foreword by Tony Attwood

Foreword by Sarah Hendrickx

Acknowledgements

Disclaimer

Preface

Introduction

Why this book?

Who is this book for?

Roadmap to The Survival Guide

1. Myths, Misdiagnosed and Misunderstood

What’s in a name?

What the hell is autism anyway?

What autism sure as hell is not

Training matters

A frightening picture

Why are we being misdiagnosed?

Masking

1. Trauma

What is trauma anyway?

Are autistic people biologically at greater risk for trauma?

What about additional risks?

Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD)

Who gets to decide what is traumatic for us?

Other reasons stress and trauma are hard to overcome with autism

Silver linings

1. Do You See What I See?

Weak central coherence

A different planet (I feel like an alien!)

Delayed processing

A different perception of the world

The double empathy problem (and it is)

Bottom line

1. Problems We Might Encounter and Why Traditional Therapies May Fall Short

Limerence

Social anxiety disorder

Abuse

Autistic burnout and fatigue-based complaints

Anxiety and depression

Identity crisis post-diagnosis

General

Eating disorders

Cognitive distortions (thinking errors)

Overthinking, anger and rumination

1. Red Flags and Red Herrings

How to read the danger signs

How we may be harmed

Red herrings

1. Therapeutic Concepts

Psychological theories

Therapeutic strategies

Flexibility is the key

1. Choosing the Right Therapy and Therapist

What approaches might work best for us?

Case study: Michael

Choosing the right therapist – neurodivergent or neurotypical?

1. So Does Neurotypical Therapy Work for Neurodivergent Brains?

What neurodivergent therapists think

What do I think?

Other non-therapy options

Suggestions for good practice from the experts – You!

Suggested accommodations from the therapists

And in conclusion…

Notes from Tony Attwood

Context Guide for Professionals

About the Author

References

Subject Index

Author Index