Research : Why Counsellors need educating in the Autistic Experience

This piece of research was carried out by myself for the completion of my degree at Warwick University. The full research paper with references can be downloaded at the bottom of the page.

How to cite this research paper: Milgate, R. (2023) An Exploration of Person-Centred Therapists Training and Understanding of Autistic Clients: including Practice Implications. Available at: www.bexmilgatetherapy.com

Abstract 

Background and Aim

8 out of 10 autistic adults in the UK experience mental health problems (Harper et al, 2019), yet so often autistic people are either unable to access mental health support or experience negative judgements, oppressions, misconceptions, and outdated ideas on what being autistic is. My own experiences as an autistic person-centred counselling trainee and the current research available highlighted a gap in person-centred therapists' training and understanding in working with autistic clients. Much of the research available, looking at both the autistic client's perspective and the therapist's perspective concluded that there had historically been a deficit in training for therapists in working with autistic clients, which impacted the person-centred conditions of UPR and empathy and also that of the therapeutic relationship. The lack of knowledge and awareness impacted the clients through invalidation, oppression, and judgement.

The aim of this present study was therefore to explore the current perceptions of newly qualified person-centred therapists' experiences of the training they received in working with autistic clients, as part of their original counselling qualification and the practice implications of that training. The study's aim, was to highlight if there was still a deficit in training in autism for person-centred therapists in the UK, or whether training providers were now taking on board autistic voices and the need for expert training by autistic educators. 

Methodology

Adopting a qualitative approach, using anonymous online questionnaires, this study explored the experiences of 7 person-centred therapists training in working with autistic clients and autism during their original counselling qualification. Using both descriptive statistics and explorative questioning, the data was analysed using a reflective thematic approach to identify common themes. 

Findings

The key theme which was extracted was that there was still a deficit of training in working with autistic clients within person-centred counselling qualifications. Only 1 out of 7 participants had any training as part of their original qualification, and was not specific to autism, but neurodiversity as a whole. It was described as broad and minimal. Participants who had worked with autistic clients (5 out of 7) either as a trainee or qualified therapist described the experiences as challenging and difficult and said that greater training would have been beneficial. It was also evident that some person-centred therapists felt that training was not required, given that they work in a person-centred way. This contradicts the research and BACP (2018) ethics and principles, which indicate that a continued and active development to be aware and gain knowledge of diversity and difference is paramount to safe practice.

Conclusion

The evidence in this study and literature review clearly demonstrates the need for better training for all counselling modalities in the UK. With such a great need for mental health support from the autistic community, it is imperative that trainee therapists receive this training as part of their counselling qualification, ideally before seeing clients. Participants in this study demonstrated a lack of knowledge of working with autistic clients in their answers and sometimes used judgemental and misinformed interpretations of their client's experiencing. This evidence gives prominence to the need for training by expert autistic educators. 

As this is a small study, the hope is that it forms part of a wider exploration and awareness into implementing change across all counselling training providers in the UK. To implement more training by expert autistic educators and to challenge the mindset of person-centred therapists who hold the view that being ‘person-centred’ means that there is no need to educate themselves on difference and diversity.