“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.
I very much relate to the author's experiences, given I am of a similar age and have been through about as many different therapists over roughly the same timeframe, only to find that it either made no difference or - in many cases - made things worse.
Importantly though, this book contains lots of practical information on how to get the most out of therapy, and I hope that many people will benefit from this and not have to go through the same traumatic experiences that I have over the years (and no doubt many others have too).