As an autistic psychotherapist, I've witnessed firsthand the profound impact of trauma on autistic clients, stemming from an accumulation of seemingly innocuous experiences leading to complex PTSD. Misunderstood aspects include, agoraphobia, whistleblowing consequences, and situational mutism. I discuss rauma-informed approaches to supporting autistic adults.

The surge in autism recognition. Why didn’t we know before? this surge in recognition also exposes deep-seated political issues. The fact that so many people went unrecognised for so long dramatically points to systemic failures in our educational, medical, and social systems. It highlights how societal structures, particularly within neoliberal capitalist frameworks, can disproportionately impact neurodivergent individuals.

The Certificate in Working Therapeutically with Autistic Adults is open for registration again. We ran this course from February to May 2024 and are taking bookings for the next cohort of the training group in September 2024. See video clips of the actual training course on this website. If you are a counsellor, psychotherapist, or psychologist working with autistic clients, this is suitable. You can find out more about this course by watching the training videos and reading the course description on our website.

Counsellors and psychotherapists play a vital role in utilising identity-affirming practices to affirm autism as a natural difference, not a deficit and transform difference into diversity. Developing a positive autism identity can have challenges for autistic adults. Facilitating autism identity development is an important therapeutic process because research shows a link between positive autism identity and improved self-esteem and wellbeing. However, barriers like stigma and lack of acceptance impede identity formation. This article offers guidance for therapists working with autistic clients and offers insights in fostering affirmative identity which contributes to empowering clients to fully embrace themselves and increase well-being.

Autistic adults face multifaceted decisions surrounding whether, when, and how to disclose their autistic identity to others. This complex journey involves stages of self-discovery, evaluating risks and rewards of disclosure, handling others' reactions, and ultimately integrating one's autistic identity. As clinicians, we strive to validate clients' realities, provide sensitive guidance around disclosure, bolster self-advocacy skills, and encourage community and environments where autistic people can live openly and authentically. This article examines best practices for supporting autistic clients across the stages of autism self-realisation, disclosure, identity integration, and therapeutic approach, to equip therapists to engage with clients throughout this deeply personal process.

Autistic burnout is an increasingly widespread yet overlooked challenge within the neurodivergent community. As psychotherapists and counsellors, we can educate ourselves on this exhausting state of complete physical, mental, and emotional depletion, and provide meaningful support to autistic clients. This therapists guide explains and illustrates best practice and useful approaches

The profound concept of autistic masking is described by drawing inspiration from the serene image of ducks gliding across a tranquil lake. Autistic individuals, much like these ducks, often camouflage their true selves to fit in with neurotypical society. and avoid rejection and hostility. The post highlights the conscious effort that goes into this masking, the toll it takes on mental health, the importance of creating inclusive spaces where authenticity is celebrated, and what psychotherapists and counsellors can do to help clients safely emerge as true selves.

Psychotherapists and counsellors aware of issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion are concerned with providing inclusive practice for neurodivergent clients. However, they may not have the knowledge, skills, or confidence to adapt therapy or implement adjustments to the design and delivery of it in order to meet the needs of neurodivergent clients. Vauna Beauvais discusses how, in light of recognising that neurodivergent people aren't benefitting from therapy, and core training doesn't equip therapists to adapt it so that they do, there was an emergence of the realisation of how much support therapists need in relation to this social justice issue. Vauna Beauvais and Eoin Stephens call for therapists to talk to each other and explore this and offer a safe place for discovery and learning. Vanguard Neurodiversity Training offers learning opportunities and resources, both paid and free, for those offering counselling and psychotherapy to neurodivergent adults. Additionally, Vauna presents the mental health statistics of autistic adults that were drawn from conclusions borne from the National Autistic Society survey, and from NICE, which state that an extremely high proportion of this population have poor mental health and are among the highest suicide risk, and yet therapy is not adapted to their needs. Therefore is this an ethical issue? Is a rethink of the theory and application of therapeutic approaches and interventions needed? How do therapists themselves sit with this dissonance, when professional development activities are the responsibility of each individual therapist? Vanguard Neurodiversity Training offers support and resources for counsellors and psychotherapists who have been impacted by these realisations and want to implement best practices in their work.

‘Neurodiversity at 2:15’ is an online half-hour weekly Wednesday talking event at 2:15 pm London / Dublin time. Vauna Beauvais and Eoin Stephens chat about issues relevant to autism and other topics of neurodiversity. Attendees may watch passively with or without camera on, and have personal choice about whether to become involved in the conversation by voice or the chat facility. One way to get onto the show is by subscribing to the ‘Vanguard Neurodiversity Training’ sign-up form on the ‘Resources’ page, to instantly receive the meeting access details. All shows are recorded and will be broadcast.

We now have a YouTube channel. As the channel grows there will be different playlists showcasing different categories of videos. Some will be training and presentations that we have actually given to groups, some will be recorded pieces to camera, some behind-the-scenes or ad-hoc chats that we engage in, and some videos will be of other professionals talking about their involvement in the wellbeing of neurodivergent people.

We have started recording our podcast “Talking Therapy, Talking Autism”.

To help make therapy therapeutic for autistic adults, counsellors and psychotherapists can subscribe and receive our news and information.

We have started writing a certificate-level training course and are launching soon.

Adrian Rhodes, the Char of ACTO sends commendation to Vanguard Neurodiversity Training for Autism presentation given at 2022 conference.