bringing up AS to therapist...??

Post Reply New Topic

going to my second session with my new counselor/therapist and I think I am going to mention Asperger's today...if he doesn't first. But for some reason I am very nervous about this....I don't want to influence his thoughts or gear him in any direction other than the correct type of referral I may need if I wish to get a diagnosis............so what should I say to him about it?


how do I bring it up? I'm sure, maybe, after i get there it may come up more naturally than I feel it could....I get very nervous in that sort of one-on-one environment...my un-dx AS becomes very apparent....and he asked me questions last time that made me think he was thinking along the same lines as me....

how do you all bring it up? or did you bring it up?

<-----nervous laugh

thanks

^s^

wait until half way through the consultation and then bring it up.
if he is thinkign along the same lines he may bring it up before you, but be aware these "counsellor" types are trained not to tell you anything but to allow you to see for yourself the answer to your problems, it is a usefull skill, so he may "(ightly) be waiting for you to bring it up so you can both discuss it.

it is a difficult time for anyone with AS or who thinks they have AS.
but approach it like a beginning. once you can deal with a diagnosis of As you are more than ha;fway home. it gets easier, your just going through the hardest part.
good luck.

please let us know how it goed

i think you mean went?

'goed' will do...

and I will ...I am nervous. My appointment is at three today and right now I'm at work...unable to really get much done other than multiple games of 'hearts' and 'solitaire' and of course peruse wrongplanet...

I guess I'm just worried because whenever he asks me follow up questions about why I think I'm AS I will probably go blank...not that I don't have multiple examples to give him...just that that is the way things normally go for me....ask me a question-whether I know the answer or not...it's gone..unless it's something to do with the things that most interest me........... So I'm nervous about bringing it up because of that....and also b/c I don't know if he is versed in it....he said he's been in practice for 12 tears...so that's since 2 years after AS first started being diagnosed....that's good right?

and I have started to learn some social cues and such recently (and only recently..i'm 22... ) so I don't know if that will mask things....probably not...my lack of eye contact with him last time was painfully obvious...for one. I did mention the couple of friends I have...whom I don't ever really see nor am I truly 'close' with, but they are friends nonetheless...so I hope he isn't of the line of thought that if one has friends they are not AS....I'm closest to being comfortable only when around immediate family...some of them anyway.....and sometimes I can pretend..

aaah! now I'm just irrationally worrying...I know I know..ramble ramble.

I'll be sure to post how it goes...I hope I don't chicken out...I've just been through many past misdiagnoses and I'm somewhat traumatized I guess...a bit trepid I suppose..

any more advice?



^s^

it is so so common for AS to want, or need to have prepared answers to anticipated questions.
and if we dont we tend to go nonverbal, or BS.
Why do you think your AS?
if you dont know then say so.
he will probably know exactly what your going to say anyway.

would writing out a list of reasons why I think this, be beneficial to take with me to the appointment?

i hope he already knows...that'd be great.

i'm writing a list now...ha! maybe my list will appear to him as something else to add to the list...

i know why i think I'm AS...i know my reply without my list probably would be, "i don't know," ...as a sort of reflex response to questions not easily responded to...soooo..i'll try to repress that programmed response

thanks again

Since it's only the second session...would it be too soon? Is this a counselor, psychologist? Maybe you can get a referal to a specialist? A list of traits sounds like a good idea.

dont repress anything petal, be yourself be who you are, that way he can help better, once you start repressing you hide the real you from him, he cant help as much.
you wouldnt be there if you didnt need help...we all do.

If you are worried about your mind going blank, then I would definitely bring a list.

By the way, I like your avatar- very cool!

he's a counselor. he works in an office with a psychiatrist (i think that's what she is anyway) as a sort of team. no idea if either is a specialist. I go to him because my boyfriend was referred to him for free sessions after being assaulted in a robbery. I picked him up one of the times...so I was somewhat familiar with the inside atmosphere..how to get there, had seen what the counselor looked like, etc. It made for a more easily approachable scenario for myself...so I made an appointment. honestly my initial reason was for anxiety about transferring to a new college and going to classes on campus...it didn't cross my mind right away, to mention this..

now another reason I stay with him is that he lowered his cost from $125/session to $60/session....and I can just barely afford that.

I made a rough list of traits...I'm sure I'm leaving stuff out but it's somewhere to start. I don't know if it's too soon to bring up....I think that is a matter of opinion. I came upon the term Asperger's about a year and a half ago reading a completely unrelated book and it struck a chord with me and I did lots of reading about AS...massive relief...but sort of an uneasy relief, you know? because I'm not diagnosed. My mom was even told when I was a toddler that I should be evaluated for Autism, but she angrily refused, as would be a common response of some parents...however detrimental in the long run...... So I've been waiting awhile to work up the courage to actually make an appointment somewhere......so I don't think it's too soon....considering the length of time I've gone without any kind of diagnosis- other than wrong ones that have left me with physicl signs of maltreatment (uncontrollable muscle spasms for one..)

i'm just nervous about it...but now that I'm there I can't hold it off...we'll see if I actually follow through with that today...

donkey-i'll try not to repress. someitmes i can "pretend" but not so much in this situation for some reason. if i am pretending it is usually for my mom and other people my age who I don't just quite understand. so that will probably be something that is on my side during therapy sessions...he will undoubtedly see the "real" me...

Last edited by stephaniecatherine on 12 Aug 2008, 11:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

i'm writing a list

and YAY! thank you i like your kitty too <---that's me nodding

^s^

you might want to consider a nueropsych or developemental psych, they specialized in testing for as.

Many practicing psychologists, social workers, and even psychiatrists are NOT experts in Asperger's, or even that familiar with it at all, other than that they may have heard of it - be very careful in taking advice as 'expert', simply because the therapist has non-AS credentials.

If you want to discuss it, though, you might try preparing yourself by taking one of the online Aspie quizzes available - this will give you a much better idea of where you may be on the spectrum than merely discussing it with a person whose training/credentials may not be useful for making such diagnoses. Alas, even lacking such training, many therapists will not hesitate to offer their opinions anyway, which will not help you at all.

Here's one of the standard AQ tests:

http://www.msnbc.com/modules/newsweek/a ... efault.asp

well my therapist/counselor guy doesn't give me opinions...I don't think any of them are really supposed to....and it only being the second appointment..there hasn't been much advice given...and again I don't really think that he would be the guy giving advice-not in the credentials.

I'll take the quiz...but I hardly think an internet quiz has many credentials either. .....either way...thanks! and I had my appointment today and brought it up!

he just asked me questions about what I knew about it, gave him my list....before mentioning it we were talking about some of my family members and their eccentric behavior, etc. ...talked about reasons why I thought this...stuff like that. mainly him asking questions and me answering them....actually that was everything and is normally what we do.

it was all very comforting. guess I will see what happens next..next week at my third appointment. I know he wouldn't give me a diagnosis because he doesn't have the authority to give out diagnosis...but he can refer me to someone who does. ...and I thought there was only 1 other person in this place other than him....but there is at least three others! :O I think one deals with autistic spectrum people specifically...which would be mighty convenient.

i feel so relieved having gotten this out to him and not having just blurted it out first thing...in fact I brought it up about 15 minutes before the end of the hour...pheww...i feel really good right now

thanks everyone!