What is it like being autistic and being a counsellor?
Do I disclose to my clients that I am neurodivergent? Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t.
To do so can help clients feel understood, but it also means I have to be careful not to assume that their experience is the same as mine. Being autistic can give me insight, but it also means I have to stay curious and keep listening. And notice my assumptions.
Over time I realised that many neurodivergent counsellors spend a lot of energy adapting to environments that were not really designed for us.
There are not many spaces where we can talk openly about what that is like.
So I decided to create one.
The Difference Room
The Difference Room is a small reflective group for neurodivergent counsellors, therapists, and trainees.
The idea is simple..
As counsellors, we help others explore themselves.
We try to generate safety, share power, be transparent about our thinking, and remain curious about difference.
As neurodivergent counsellors and therapists, we often hold the dual awareness of supporting others while also navigating differences in our own lives.
What does that mean for us?
Are we careful about the blurring of boundaries, the small assumption that because we are counselors, we automatically understand others?
Do we notice when we make those assumptions, and are we transparent about them?
And what about our own lives?
What happens when life becomes difficult for us, complicated family relationships, misunderstandings with people we care about, or situations we simply have to tolerate? How do we decide where to place boundaries so that we still have enough psychological energy for the work we do?
Somewhere inside all of this, at least for me, sits a subtle awareness that this entire enterprise, this strange and sometimes beautiful profession of trying to understand human minds, is happening inside something much bigger.
We are temporary.
Our lives are finite.
Perhaps that is part of the work.
Not to become perfect helpers.
Not to pretend we always understand.
But to remain curious about our assumptions, honest about our limits, and willing to keep learning about ourselves while we sit with the complexity of others.
In the end, I suspect good counselling is not about having answers.
It could be about having the courage to stay interested in the questions. We will explore topics such as communication, regulation, professional identity, and what it is like to work with clients while also being neurodivergent.
My role is to hold the container for the space, while also listening carefully to participants about what helps them feel safe enough to be real.
Join the The Difference Room: Neurodivergent Counsellors Group
You can read more about the group and the container of this intended space and book a place here:
Places are limited so the group can stay small and reflective.
For more existential ramblings about the intersectionality of spiritual virtue signalling, privilege and weight training to make my cat immortal, please check out my blogs.
