Autism Spectrum Therapy
Do You Or Your Teen Have A Hard Time Adhering To Neurotypical Standards?
Are you a parent seeking counseling and support for your teen with autism? Or are you an adult that suspects you fall somewhere on the spectrum? Do you or your teen experience symptoms of anxiety, depression, or behavioral setbacks as you struggle to conform to a neurotypical world? My neurodiversity-affirming and trauma-focused approach to autism spectrum therapy can help.
If you’re the parent of an autistic, you may feel like the support your teen receives often doesn’t understand their individual needs and autism traits. Perhaps you have to battle with school administrators or guidance counselors to get your teen appropriate services and accommodations. You may be worried that your teen has to wear a figurative mask or behave in a way that is ultimately inauthentic to who they are, creating a sense of self-doubt, and disconnect. Or that their therapies only focus on addressing behaviors and don’t adequately support your child’s social and emotional needs as well.
These concerns may translate into various mental health challenges. Your teen could be exhibiting symptoms of depression, anxiety, trauma, and/or OCD tendencies. If this is the case, you may have sought the counsel of a therapist in the past, but they lacked experience working with neurodivergent populations or providing trauma-informed and affirming care.
Some Adults Do Not Realize They’re On The Spectrum
Alternatively, you may be an adult who has struggled throughout life, unsure of why you’ve always felt different from those around you. Maybe you find your day-to-day routine grinding or even unmanageable, as you spend so much energy trying to appear “normal” (also known as masking). You may have trouble relating to others, or perhaps you experience extreme social anxiety, which, in turn, impacts your relationships and daily functioning.
It’s possible you are beginning to feel the cumulative stress and/or trauma of spending your life feeling unaccepted and misunderstood. However, by exploring your experiences with a therapist, you can start to heal unprocessed traumas, and cultivate what I like to call “intentional authenticity” as you learn your way out of the behaviors and patterns that no longer serve you.
Whether you’re the parent of a teen with autism or an adult on the spectrum, counseling can provide you with support and guidance.
What Is Autism And Who Has It?
Before we dive into my affirming approach to therapy, it’s important to know a few things about autism. Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that impacts social, communication, and behavioral functioning. Signs of autism often include interpersonal challenges. There can be difficulties in reading social and emotional cues. Autism traits can include trouble reciprocating emotions as well as social interactions. There can be hurdles in communication skills, and struggles with initiating or maintaining relationships.
Some autistic individuals experience behavioral setbacks. There may be restrictive, repetitive patterns, creating an intense preoccupation with certain activities, interests, and conversational topics for those who are verbal. Autism can impact an individual’s motor skills, as with “stimming” (repetitive motor movements), or manifest in strong adversity to changes in plans or routines. It’s common for autistic individuals to be hypo- or hyper-sensitive to sensory and auditory stimuli. Finally, the toll of masking can lead to burn out, emotional dysregulation and meltdowns.
The most recent data from the CDC now estimates that 1 in 31 children are autistic, noting that the autism spectrum is three times more common in boys than girls. I do see that in girls, identification is often missed as autism can presently a bit differently in girls than boys. However, researchers are continuing to learn more and more about how signs of autism vary across gender.
Autism Awareness & Acceptance Is On The Rise, But We’re Still Living In A Neurotypical World
Though characteristics of autism spectrum typically are noticeable in childhood, there are increasing numbers of adults who identify as autistic or suspect that their condition was overlooked when they were younger. Rates of diagnosis have been on the rise due to the fact that we are creating more awareness, acceptance, and better evaluation methods.
Beyond the social, communication, emotional, and behavioral setbacks that neurodivergent individuals experience in a neurotypical world, other serious mental health issues often co-occur with autism. Research shows that close to 40 percent of autistics struggle with some form of anxiety and that symptoms of depression, OCD, and PTSD are also prevalent among the population.
Unfortunately, children and adults with autism are often held to neurotypical standards or are misunderstood by clinicians who fail to affirm their identity. However, at my practice, I don’t like to pathologize autism —rather, I am committed to acknowledging and celebrating the characteristics that make my autistic clients unique.
Many autism specialty therapies focus on early intervention approaches and young children with autism. However, as autistics develop through adolescence, teen years and mature into young adulthood they often need more support. As well, they typically age out of specialized services by age 18. Therefore, it is my goal to support individuals in these stages of life with autism so that they can have a safe place to explore independence and experience a successful transition to adulthood. I offer mental health support to teens, and adults across the autism spectrum (level 1) so that my clients can learn to thrive not just survive.
Therapy Gives You A Chance To Understand And Embrace Your Autism
Autism is a lifelong identity, therefore, I wholeheartedly believe that the function of counseling is to help autistic individuals affirm, embrace, and celebrate their strengths.
Working with my neurodiversity-affirming approach, you or your teen will better understand autistic traits and how they impact your daily life and relationships. By learning to live mindfully and intentionally, you can move towards an authentic life while minimizing the stress from masking.
Therapy begins with an intake that will span a few sessions as I get to know you and your needs. If you’re the parent of a teen with autism, treatment will include individual counseling for your child as well as elements of parenting coaching that can reinforce what’s learned in each session. I will make sure the therapy process is collaborative for the family, as appropriate, while using a family system and relational lens in my approach.
In addition, whether you are a parent of a teen or an adult who suspects a diagnosis of autism, I can provide you with a referral for a full evaluation and assessment with several of my trusted community partners and Denver network.
My Neurodiversity-Affirming Therapeutic Approach
I have training in clinical psychology, family systems, couples counseling, behavior therapy, special education, and affirming/trauma-focused therapeutic approaches. I bring decades of personal and professional experience to working with neurodivergent individuals and families. In fact, I am a proud mom to an autistic young adult, and therefore, I understand the essential need for acceptance and inclusive practices on both the individual and collective level. You are not alone.
Throughout the therapy process, you and your teen will learn new skills and strengthen your ability to tune into your needs and make intentional decisions that support your well-being and help you live a life you love. By using a strengths-based approach, incorporating elements of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), I can help you adjust your relationship to your unhelpful thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. For Trauma-Focused therapy, I integrate EMDR and Parts Work to help you move through your unprocessed trauma towards integrating healing in a gentle and effective way. Using these methods, you can target symptoms of depression, complex trauma, and anxiety, among other mental health challenges, learn skills for emotional regulation, and reduce burnout. This will ultimately help you resolve behaviors that interfere with your functioning and overall well-being.
Regardless of whether you’re autistic or the parent of someone with autism, therapy is an opportunity to feel embraced and empowered in a world that can often be conformist and alienating. In our therapy sessions, you have permission to show up exactly as you are to explore and celebrate the unique qualities that autism has gifted in you.
Maybe You’re Considering Counseling For Teens And Adults With Autism, But You Still Have Questions…
I don’t necessarily think that I need to know whether or not I’m on the spectrum, but I struggle with basic day-to-day functions—can therapy help?
In my private practice, I seek to normalize and affirm the experiences of those with autism. I am not interested in pathologizing or labeling your “symptoms,” but instead providing you with support so that you can feel embraced and empowered. If your struggles align with neurodivergence, we can work together to help you shift your perspective and build skills to thrive.
How long does autism therapy take?
The length of this process depends greatly on presenting issues and your long-term goals, but my aim is to ultimately work myself out of a job. Therefore, once you feel like your goals for therapy have been met, we can begin to taper our sessions. This is meant to be a collaborative process for you and your family, so we will work together to create a treatment plan that feels effective and manageable.
Can you come to the school or home environment to provide therapy?
I offer off-site visits within the greater Denver Metro area and HIPAA-compliant telehealth services by request. Meeting outside of the therapeutic office environment gives you and/or your teen a chance to practice applying skills, which is an important aspect of therapy for the autism community. By reinforcing these skills in the natural environment, you and/or your teen can build the foundation for the generalization of new behaviors.
Autism Blog Posts:
When Surviving isn’t Thriving: Supporting High-Masking Neurodivergent Adults with Trauma Informed Care
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Why Setting Boundaries is Essential if You Are an Autistic People-Pleaser
People pleasing is a common trait among our autistic clients as they mask their needs to adjust to more neurotypical norms. If you consider yourself a people-pleaser and have a diagnosis of autism, you may put the needs and wants of others above your own more often than not. While there’s nothing wrong with doing
Understanding Neurocrashes: Meltdowns and Shutdowns in Autism Spectrum
Autism is often used to describe a range of conditions that fall under the larger umbrella of a neurodevelopmental disorder called autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A person with ASD may display symptoms like communication difficulties, repetitive behaviors, and delayed onset of skills like language, movement, and learning. There is no cure for ASD, and at
How Social Anxiety Takes a Toll on Neurodivergent Folks
Social anxiety casts a wide net. It’s a type of anxiety that can practically paralyze you in social situations or even make you fearful when you think about social settings. But, for people living with autism, ADHD, and/or another form of neurodivergence, social anxiety can feel even more overwhelming. Unfortunately, anxiety is fairly common in
How Does Trauma Affect Someone With Autism?
In a perfect world, no one would have to experience traumatic situations. However, they’re more common than we’d like to admit. Traumatic experiences can include everything from child or domestic abuse, to emotional abuse, witnessing a tragic event, or anything that essentially is too much, too fast, or too soon for our nervous system to
Newly Diagnosed? A Beginner’s Guide to Raising a Child with Autism.
Raising a child on the autism spectrum can be a wonderful, educational, and incredible journey for a parent. But, there’s no denying it also comes with challenges. No doubt, parenting in general, is difficult. When you’re raising a child with autism, there are even more potential obstacles to overcome. Some potential challenges may include managing
How to Know the Difference Between an Autistic Meltdown Vs. Panic Attack
It’s often hard enough to understand the differences between an anxiety attack and a panic attack. But when you or someone you care for has autism, understanding the differences between an autism meltdown and a panic attack is a whole different ballgame. There’s no question that autism can often cause distress and dysregulation. Sometimes, it
Competent, Affirming Care Exists
If you or your teen struggle to thrive in a neurotypical world, Dr. Gurash King specializes in counseling individuals with autism spectrum.
To touch base about how I can be of support with my autism therapy approach, please contact me for a FREE 20-minute phone consultation.
