Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

[KarenT]

Has anyone had experience of their AS child being seen by an autism specific CBT practitioner? I'm considering looking for one for J who finds it hard to understand and recount his own emotions and experiences and also to relate to those of other people, and have been told (by another parent) that CBT might help. I thought it might be useful to find out about other people's experiences first.

 

Karen

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[Tally]

Hi Karen, I have had CBT as an adult with varying degrees of success. I found it very helpful when I saw a therapist with a good understanding of Asperger's through her previous work with CAHMS. It can be difficult for people with AS to verbalise their feelings, but my therapist said that many people with depression also have this difficulty too.

 

CBT looks at the interaction between the automatic thoughts about experiences, and then how these thoughts combine to affect your feelings an emotions. However, just by focussing on the thoughts alone, you can influence the emotions. Thoughts are the things that come automatically to you, like when you have a bad experience you might think, "I am stupid," or something like that. By teaching you to develop different, more realistic thoughts, like, "I made a mistake then, but I don't always make that mistake," can eventually filter through and make you feel better about yourself, even if you are not able to actually focus on the feelings in therapy.

 

The type of thoughts they will look at will depend on what your son's difficulties are, but CBT is supposed to be very good for all kinds of different things, including depression, OCD and anxiety.

[KarenT]

Thanks for that Tally.

 

I'm fairly familiar with CBT as I was assessed for it myself a few years ago (I have ME/CFS and it was assumed I must be depressed as a result ) but I didn't go on to actual therapy as the practitioner reckoned I'd been following the principles of CBT for a while without realising it

 

For J, problems are surfacing in his academic work (he's home educated) and he's struggling to make sense of books, characters, motives etc and I can see this will have an impact on his learning in the future across a wide range of subjects. I've felt this was also an issue for him in real life situations for some time now, though my concerns were dismissed by various professionals. J had no practical input or support while at school and seems to have been dismissed by his NHS consultant who I think has recently closed his case without telling me, so I can't really ask advice there. That said, CAMHS have been no help in the past even when his case was open so no change there.

 

Thanks for your input. I do realise that it's important to find a therapist who has an understanding of ASDs and CBT can be counter-productive when carried out by an inexperienced/unaware practitioner, so it's useful to hear experiences like this.

 

thanks

Karen

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[Karen A]

Hi Karen.

I have read that of the various options for talking therapy for people with AS CBT is thought to be the most likely to be effective.

Many of the other forms of talking therapy have as a central feature the development of a therapeutic relationship between the therapist and the client.They also involve a lot of exploration of feelings.Hence the theory states that people with AS may not benefit.I have to say Ben has proved that not to always be the case in practice but he may be very unusual.

 

CBT usually has more of a focus on the current situation and may include support in thinking about things in more helpful ways or even in developing practical solutions to difficulties.

http://www.jkp.com/catalogue/book/9781843105527

This book might interest you if you can get hold of a copy.It includes some information about CBT and how it may need to be adapted for people with AS.

Karen.

 

[KarenT]

Thanks for the link Karen, I'll try to get hold of that book for some background reading.

 

Good to hear Ben benefited from CBT. I've heard of others too but obviously every case is different so it's hard to make judgements as to whether it would be suitable for an individual.

 

Doing some research now to find a practitioner locally, and will do some asking around.

 

Thanks

Karen

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[Karen A]

Thanks for the link Karen, I'll try to get hold of that book for some background reading.

 

Good to hear Ben benefited from CBT. I've heard of others too but obviously every case is different so it's hard to make judgements as to whether it would be suitable for an individual.

 

Doing some research now to find a practitioner locally, and will do some asking around.

 

Thanks

Karen

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Sorry I was not very clear.There is rather a lot going on in my life today.

Ben did not have CBT.He had lond term individual psychoanalytic child psychotherapy.It is not usually recommended for children with AS but CAMHS thought he did not have AS at the time.Despite turning out to have AS he did find it very helpful.....there you are probably none the wiser.

However my elder son who does not have AS had short term CBT for anxiety and found it very helpful.

 

I thought it worth adding.It may be difficult to find a CBT therapist with specialist training in ASD as there are not too many around.However I think it might be worth considering a general CBT therapist as a fall back option.

If you can find someone who is able to develop a good relationship with your son , who is open to learning more about AS and who does not have rigid pre-concieved ideas then they might be helpful.

Edited to add.

Some CAMHS teams have clinical psychologists who use CBT in treatment so it might be worth investigating that option.

If you are hoping to find a therapist in private practice or a charity that offers reduced cost therapy then the BACP web site may be useful.

http://www.bacp.co.uk/

The ''find a therapist section'' includes details of all thaerapists registered with the BACP.Registered therapists are subject to some regulation and subscribe to a code of practice which hopefully ensures that they subscribe to at least minimal standards.The site also includes details of specific approaches used so it may be possible to check out those who offer CBT in your area.

Karen.

Karen.

Edited February 27, 2010 by Karen A

[Mumble]

I think the most important thing to remember is that everyone is an individual and will respond differently so generalisations are probably difficult here. I've been having CBT for a year now; it was really hard at first, but it has helped me so much, although I am beginning to worry now that I'm too dependent on the sessions because I really notice the effect on me if a session is missed for any reason.

 

I do realise that it's important to find a therapist who has an understanding of ASDs and CBT can be counter-productive when carried out by an inexperienced/unaware practitioner, so it's useful to hear experiences like this.

I wouldn't necessarily agree with this. My therapist is not ASD trained nor had she worked with an ASD individual before me. And yes, our first session was a complete unmitigated, uncommunicative disaster and I didn't want to go back. However, my GP helped in building a relationship and suggesting ways of communication that worked for me, and we have worked together with a very open relationship where I feel I can say "haven't a clue what you're on about" etc. On the other hand, I was also seen by a specialist ASD CBT therapist for an assessment session for further work and well, not really sure how they could call themselves specialists as they just didn't get how to communicate with me or the difficulties in some of their questions (particularly taking things literally) - but worst of all they didn't see me as an individual but as an ASD person and made their assumptions based on the label rather than on really assessing me.

 

[Karen A]

I think the most important thing to remember is that everyone is an individual and will respond differently so generalisations are probably difficult here. I've been having CBT for a year now; it was really hard at first, but it has helped me so much, although I am beginning to worry now that I'm too dependent on the sessions because I really notice the effect on me if a session is missed for any reason.

 

Hi Mumble.

Please don't worry there is hope yet that you will recover from your dependence.

After ten years I have just about reached the point where I think I can manage without my therapist.I even missed a session and coped.....so you have nine years to catch up. <'> <'>

Karen.

Edited February 27, 2010 by Karen A

[Mumble]

Please don't worry there is hope yet that you will recover from your dependence.

I'm thinking I'll take lessons from the delightful students I live with and find another dependence to replace this one with...

 

[barefoot wend]

We have tried CBT and found it far more useful than psychotherapy. It has been useful in providing a framework to help work through a problem rather than psychotherapy which seems to involve lots of in depth discussion of emotion which is difficult when you find communication hard.

 

I think it is a life skill that many can benefit from and may use subconciously as they become more experienced and mature.

 

I can recommend two books:

 

One for adults, 'Mind over Mood' by Pressburger

 

One for children/adolescents, 'Think Good - Feel Good' by Stallard

 

I have found it very useful myself and have used it with all my children as it helps to provide a clear logical plan for dealing with worries.

 

I do, however, think it is not a panacea for those with complex issues which need particular intervention or medication from experts.

[Karen A]

I'm thinking I'll take lessons from the delightful students I live with and find another dependence to replace this one with...

Ah I can advise on <'>

 

[KarenT]

Thanks so much for the replies - lots of useful stuff here to go on

 

Sorry Karen, I misunderstood about Ben's therapy. Good to hear that something has been of help to him though.

 

It was the BACP site I looked at and I've found two ASD experienced therapists in my area, one of whom takes NHS referals. I'll make further enquires locally and perhaps contact the chap direct to ask if he feels he can help J with his specific difficulties, and if it looks appropriate I'll approach my GP for a referral.

 

Mumble - thanks for telling your experiences with CBT - very helpful indeed. I do generally agree that a practitioner that's willing to learn is a positive, it's just that over the years I've had so many know-it-alls who think their way is right (regardless of ignorance when it comes to ASDs), so in this case I'd prefer to look for someone who has an insight into the condition AND is prepared to listen to how it affects J personally. There's a lot of generalised stereotyping among professionals and I'm sorry you've been on the receiving end of that, though it's good that you now have a positive relationship with your current therapist.

 

Wend - thanks for the book recommendations, will look into those.

 

Karen

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[BusyLizzie100]

Hello Karen,

 

My eldest son, aged 12 and AS, is currently having CBT, mainly linked to his anxieties. He saw a psychologist for three years at our local CAMHS but there was no progress, despite the fact she said she was incorporating CBT techniques. He ended up on anti-depressants, at which point we asked for proper CBT input.

 

He started CBT in September and it has been a slow process so far. We are now at the point of starting to address his 'hot thoughts' and challenge them with more appropriate thoughts. It is tough going; he is very good at talking about it in clinic but finds it very hard to put into practice. It's become evident that we have to start small and work up to the big ones, which for him revolve around school.

 

As has already been mentioned, developing a good relationship with the therapist is all-important; don't give up if CBT doesn't work with one therapist, it might be that a change of therapist could make all the difference.

 

Lizzie x

Will PM with more info

 

Edit to say, I'm sure Tony Attwood has written books about using CBT in Asperger's

Edited March 1, 2010 by BusyLizzie100

[KarenT]

Thanks Lizzie. Will check messages and reply from there.

K

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