How to find an Autistic therapist

How to find an autistic therapist 

This is probably the number one question I get as a social media content creator. It makes sense, learning you are autistic is an earth shattering experience. For many of us, this is a very vulnerable experience and we need to be extra careful with whom we seek support. Being autistic myself, I can deeply relate to this need. Learning I was autistic made my life finally make sense but that didn’t mean that my life made sense to others. This was a personal discovery that many people in my life didn’t even know how to begin to understand. 

The problem

Autism is not well understood by therapists. Ask any autistic person who has been to therapy and most of the time, you will hear some horror stories of what it is like to open up to a therapist only to be invalidated or offered therapies that weren’t helpful. In school and clinical internships, unless the therapist is being trained by a neurodivergence-affirming organization or school (which are rare, unfortunately), therapists do not receive adequate training in neurodivergence, much less autism. Any education provided that includes autism is generally outdated and does not include voices from #actuallyautistic people/clinicians. Search on any popular directory for therapists and you will find a noticeable lack of therapists who say they work with neurodivergence and use neurodivergence-affirming language. 

Some tips on how to find an autistic therapist

While it is difficult to find autistic therapists, it is not impossible. There have been some directories that have been created specifically for autistic-identified therapists and/or neurodivergent-identified therapists. To find an actually autistic therapist, there is only one directory I am aware of which is located at https://autistictherapist.com/directory. I would start there if I specifically wanted an openly autistic therapist. 

For neurodivergent-identified therapists (not necessarily autistic, they could be ADHD’ers, have OCD, etc), there is a popular directory located at https://ndtherapists.com/. 

Some keywords to look for

If you don’t find someone on those directories, there are more mainstream directories such as https://www.inclusivetherapists.com and https://www.psychologytoday.com to name a few. If you search on the more mainstream directories, you can look for therapists who use terms such as:

Neurodivergence-affirming, high masking autism, late-diagnosed autism, autistic-centered, late-discovered autism, AuDHD, lived experience. 

Some terms to be wary of: ASD, autism spectrum disorder, “on the spectrum”, high functioning (any functioning labels), Aspergers, saying “with autism” instead of autistic. 

These terms don’t necessarily mean that this therapist isn’t neurodivergence-affirming but it may point to outdated knowledge or lack of awareness of actually autistic voices and advocacy. 

Supply and demand

Although it looks like there are many autistic and neurodivergent–identified therapists, there are a couple problems. The first problem is that there is far more demand than supply. Most autistic therapists have long waitlists and limited working capacity due to being disabled themselves. Being a therapist is quite an energy intense job to do and add in the fact that the therapist is autistic, it can be quite exhausting and hard for autistic therapists to keep full caseloads. Many autistic therapists have to work part-time and or more limited hours than allistic therapists. 

Another issue is that many autistic therapists do not take insurance and those that do have extremely long waitlists. There are a number of reasons why autistic therapists don’t take insurance, accessibility being one of them. Taking insurance requires much more of the therapist and this can be a hardship for autistic therapists. 

My suggestion would be to get on as many waitlists as you can. I would also suggest checking with your insurance and seeing if you have out of network benefits. If you do have out of network benefits, you could potentially see a therapist who does not take your insurance directly but could provide you with a superbill so you could get some coverage. You could also use your Health Savings Account (HSA) for therapy as well. 

If individual therapy with an autistic therapist is cost prohibitive, see if there are pro-bono or sliding scale spots available or consider group therapy or coaching memberships. While group therapy and memberships are not the same as therapy, you may be able to find some support and connection with other autistic folks there. 

Not all autistic therapists will be good fits

Just because a therapist is autistic, doesn’t mean they are affirming or the right fit for you. Autistic people are a diverse bunch and, while I do believe being autistic is an asset in a therapist, it is not sufficient in and of itself. If you don’t connect with the therapist, it’s ok to leave and try someone else. Trust your experience and yourself. I would also argue that having an autistic therapist isn’t 100% necessary, there are many autistic people who say that they have found allistic therapists who have been very helpful for them. Keep an open mind and go with what feels right.