Counseling to help you in social situations

Page 1 of 1 [ 4 posts ] 

aspiemike
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 8 Jul 2012
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,303
Location: Canada

14 Jul 2012, 1:05 pm

I am just wondering if anyone has to take counseling or therapy of some kind to help with some behaviours they have or to cope with the stress they have in their life or maybe to help you with your social skills. I am wondering what your opinion is on counseling is. Does it make you feel better and actually help, or does it make you feel worse and not help at all?
I personally think that you have to be open-minded in order to get help. If you don't want to listen to suggestions or opinions, there is no point at all and therefore you cannot make yourself feel better by going. If a person truly does want help in a certain area, they will work on it and they will listen to their counselor's opinion and more importantly to the opinions of friends and family.



Robdemanc
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 30 May 2010
Age: 49
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,872
Location: England

14 Jul 2012, 1:12 pm

I think it can help if the counselling session is about a particular issue, like how to deal with small talk or gossip at work. Or how to handle a wedding reception etc. I have never found counselling in general helpful.

The counsellor needs to understand autism or Aspergers.



daydreamer84
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 8 Jul 2009
Age: 41
Gender: Female
Posts: 5,001
Location: My own little world

14 Jul 2012, 3:32 pm

I'm going to try cognitive behavioral therapy, mainly for my anxiety and to stop skin picking , but I am going to see if it can help me in terms of socializing as well. My friend, who is an aspie (I met her in an ASD support group) said that CBT helped her stop revealing too much information at inappropriate times or to the wrong people. If you did CBT for your issues you would probably have to figure out what some of your specific issues are ( not knowing when to speak in a conversation, for example) and then the therapist could talk to you about it and help you change your thought about the situation and/or your behaviour as necessary.



chessimprov
Toucan
Toucan

User avatar

Joined: 11 Jun 2010
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Posts: 295
Location: Philadelphia

14 Jul 2012, 10:03 pm

It really depends on the counselor. Some are better matches for people than others. Many do not want to use the computer during sessions for reasons it seems. I've had mixed results. Some can relate better than others depending on the type of situation you are in.

If you have close friends you can lean on, I think that's the best. Not that you can't try to have therapy in addition. Just try not to overburden them or take up too much of their energy, and also be as much of a listener to them as you are a talker to them. Also, friends don't fall under the same potential liabilities that a therapist might. And no matter how well you connect with a therapist, they traditionally cannot ethically be your friend outside of the field because of potential conflicts of interests. Maybe if both of you don't see each other for like a 2-4 year period and then meet again outside of the professional environment, then circumstances will have changed. . .