I met up with a therapist in college today, I havn't had any luck with councellors and thankfully own of my teachers got me in to see her friend who is a therapist.

We spent about one and a half hours talking and I worked out alot from it. She's looking into AS and if I may have it, I'm seeing her again next week.

Just letting you know, let us know of your experiences and or expectations of getting or having a therapist.

Personally councelling/ therapy has not worked for me. I think it may be good for resolving specific problems, like not being able to go into a supermarket or get on a bus, etc. I found no help in therapy because all the woman was doing was trying to get me to do things like join clubs or socialise and ignoring the fact I had no interest in these things. I think therapy is geared towards reintegrating people into society and so may not be suited generally to people with AS.

Also my Doctor has advised me to ignore typical anxiety and depression test results as they will be misleading for someone like me.

However I think it is good to talk to people as long as you come away from it feeling positive about yourself.

I have no experience with this myself but I have heard that CBT is supposed to be one of the few forms of psychotherapy that works with AS.

Oopsy, hit the wrong button. Sorry.  I think my brain was still reeling from having to reread the part mentioning "CBT".  I took it to mean  something else

Oopsy, hit the wrong button. Sorry.  I think my brain was still reeling from having to reread the part mentioning "CBT".  I took it to mean  something else

What did you think it meant?

It helped me with my anxiety attacks.  I don't have them anymore.  It also taught me how to deal with my post traumatic stress problems when they come around.  

The social skills training sucked.  It actually got me into more trouble because when I did make friends, they were bad people who used me and abused my trust.

CBT can also mean "computer based training"

This post was last modified: 03-23-2007 06:28 PM by couldbecousin.

So if you weren't referring to "Computer Based Training", what does CBT mean in this context?

Cognitive Behavoir Therapy

"Also my Doctor has advised me to ignore typical anxiety and depression test results as they will be misleading for someone like me."

I think there's a lot of truth in that -- some behaviors and feelings that could suggest depression/anxiety for an NT are perfectly normal behaviors for AS people. Therapists tend to approach everyone from an NT bias.

And Silky, if you thought CBT meant what I've heard it to (also) mean, you are a naughty little thing.

"Also my Doctor has advised me to ignore typical anxiety and depression test results as they will be misleading for someone like me."

I think there's a lot of truth in that -- some behaviors and feelings that could suggest depression/anxiety for an NT are perfectly normal behaviors for AS people. Therapists tend to approach everyone from an NT bias.

And Silky, if you thought CBT meant what I've heard it to (also) mean, you are a naughty little thing.

I agree with all of youse.

Therapy has been a complete waste of time and money for me, and I no longer see a point in getting it.  My last therapist gave me insults that really pissed me off; it is a shame that most therapists don't like to suggest the possibility of PDD to a patient.

And why should I waste more time and money?  Because of short term memory problems and executive dysfunction and also just plain oppositional defiance, about 5 minutes after the session, everything that was said is basically lost or denied.  It doesn't help much, except to relieve me of anxiety, in some cases.

silky Wrote:

Oopsy, hit the wrong button. Sorry.  I think my brain was still reeling from having to reread the part mentioning "CBT".  I took it to mean  something else

What did you think it meant?

I don't think it's any reason to smile and I hope there's no applicable subtext behind that, as these kinds of things make me shudder.

I was simply curious as to what this other meaning could possibly be to cause such seeming embarrassement.

A smiling (rather than grinning etc.) emoticon appeared to be an appropriate way of trying to disarm a situation where someone apparently got upset/ashamed for having misread something I typed.

"No harm done" so to say. Why that would make you shudder is beyond me.

I agree with all of youse.

Therapy has been a complete waste of time and money for me, and I no longer see a point in getting it.  My last therapist gave me insults that really pissed me off; it is a shame that most therapists don't like to suggest the possibility of PDD to a patient.

And why should I waste more time and money?  Because of short term memory problems and executive dysfunction and also just plain oppositional defiance, about 5 minutes after the session, everything that was said is basically lost or denied.  It doesn't help much, except to relieve me of anxiety, in some cases.
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What about making notes for yourself during the sessions.  I find writing down what I am trying to work out is much more effective than just talking about it.  Then have sheets for reviewing and working on at home.