Have any of you been to counseling as an adult?

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I'm considering seeing a therapist, but I'll know after I get a free consultation in about two weeks.

I'm in counseling now and I hate it. She's my third one to see and none of them have even sort of gotten me. I really want to bring up AS and see what she says but we seem to be in different universes most of the time so I don't know how she would react.
She keeps saying that I'm not in touch with my emotions and I think that's on of the AS things. I can't label them with one of her labels. We have no common ground and I just find it so difficult and frustrating and taxing to communicate with her.

I have no valid reason for not mentioning Aspergers to her yet. I'm just terrified of her telling me I'm fine but just screwed up.

I've had counselling several times from 7 years old onwards.

I found it helpful for releasing daily stress by having able to rant about it. Or having a safe place to cry, or get angry, or sit and say nothing. A safe place to just use the time how I wanted.

However I realise now that both counsellors and psychologists, even GPs and psychiatrists like to ask me how I feel on a scale of 1-10, or on a weekly basis. This is very hard due to my mood fluctuations and also my alexthymia (it is a common element of autism, where you have trouble identifying your own emotions).

Bearing this in mind would be useful.

I found with my recent psychologist that working through my feelings by using plotting graphs to compare them to what I felt normal people may show or feel and what was normal for me was best, but this took a year to complete as I find talking about my emotions very difficult, it has to be very long lasting, over analysed and turned into a thought before I can articulate it.

This is how I've found I can spend my therapy time effectively.


If I were to conclude, I'd say all of the counselling has served it's purpose if it helped me get to that point of finally learning that, and further therapy sessions look much more positive for that, but for me it has and will be a very long process, but one I'm more hopeful about, which is the outcome any therapys desires to hear from their clients.

I would suggest trying it and am glad you have family support, it means a lot when it gets difficult (which it can be, so be prepared to feel worn out sometimes, it can be like an emotional work out!) but long term it can do some real good.


I personally would see it as a partnership, you teach them as they teach you. If something doesnt work for you, tell them, and make sure they try to work how you feel is useful, as much as is suitable anyway. They don't need to be fully trasined to be a supportive figure to you.

Thank you. I knew there had to be something like this but I had no idea what it was called or even how to begin looking it up.

It's your time. Talk about what you want. THe point of the therapist is to provide a safe space for you to be you and let out what you need.
If that's not working ask for another one in the organisation. That's normally possible.

About 3 times, when I was away at college. Usually after a meltdown that involved me threatening someone ( I never have, but I have had a volatile temper) on a hairtrigger. This led to the usual guilt/depresdsion/fear/anxiety that would last for weeks. It also caused teasing & bullying to increase though mostly by then that involved insults at a distance or phone harrassment. But I digress...
My counselors were ok, but always seemed to want me in group therapy, which I dreaded. Well, I never followed through with that. Anyway, this was in the days BEFORE AS/HFA were known. Had that been known, I might have gotten appropriate advice/counseling

Sincerely,
Matthew

No worries. =] It's one of my favourite finds actually because it explains so much for me but doesn't say i'm broken, it's just a thing that some people have.
We have to identify our emotions in different ways, it's a challenge but it's not an illness. ^_^
Many Drs don't seem to know about it.

Yes I have gone to counseling and it does help some and I am reading a book that is helpful as well. The book is Feeling Good by Dr. David Burns (I believe that is his name) and it has exercises that a person can do to help a person see that sometimes depression causes one to see things in a "very negative light." Counseling does help and yet I am sometimes uncomfortable in counseling when the counselor does not talk and I am sitting there feeling like I need to say something, but I do not know what to say. I am usually a better listener so counseling is not easy for me and I am not good at talking about how I am feeling. I can talk about how I am feeling up to a point and then I just shut down or become uncomfortable so it is not always easy.

In the past I have kept a journal for a few days per week and it does help as well, I just do not keep up with the journal and stop doing it after a awhile.


I need some serious motivation now I can see that.