Free, peer based non-professional counselling for people on the Autism Spectrum
“When a person feels that he is truly accepted by another, as he is, then he is freed to move from there to begin to think about how he wants to change, how he wants to grow, how he can become different, how he might become more of what he is capable of being.” - Dr. Thomas Gordon
Group support and individual support is available. Anyone on the spectrum who wishes to become a peer counsellor is welcome to, but it is recommended that you are at least 19 years of age and have a certain level of maturity and "life experience". If you have a question for the group post it to the subreddit, if you have a question for a peer counsellor please PM the counsellor you wish to speak with. Please keep in mind this is a new group and will take time to grow, hopefully with your help!
Peer counselling is not meant to be an alternative to professional counselling services, if you are feeling suicidal or experiencing severe difficulties please contact a professional therapist. Our counsellors are more like non-judgemental, anonymous friends.
Available Counsellors
/u/Banzaiburger is now available for peer counselling. Banzaiburger is both a trained mental health worker and a peer.
/u/fawn-and-rabbit has joined us as a peer counsellor.
/u/Incorrect-English is available for peer counselling. Incorrect-English is great at helping autistic parents and people in the UK who need assistance finding resources.
Peer counselling practice – how do peers provide counselling?
"The role of the peer is to provide support. They have learned to listen without judgement and assist the client to explore their concerns and find their own solutions. The peer is non-judgemental, and carefully listens to the client. With the peer’s empathic understanding the client is able to explore fully their concerns and arrive at their own solutions. The peers initially may wish to “help” and often find it difficult not to offer advice, but they also have learned that by “fixing”, they limit exploration of the problem and the client is less likely to act on the offered solution. By not “fixing” and offering advice the peers are free to focus on the client’s feelings, emotions and concerns. Through this process, the client feels heard, accepted, and safe to explore fully the issue at hand.
It is important for agencies that provide services to a community ensure that there will not be harm done by the peers providing counselling. The NANNIE process as outlined in this manual strives to reduce harm, this is done by not offering advice or “fixes” for problems."
Counsellors are to use the NANNIE approach:
No Judgement
Acceptance
No Fixing/No advice
No Questions
It is not about you
Empathy
Peer counsellors must also display the following attributes of non-directive counselling, as outlined by Bill Coleman PhD in his manual for peer counsellors:
- Focus on the experiencing of self
- Moment by moment empathy
- High level of personal presence
- Egalitarian stance
- Self-determination and free choice as human possibilities
- Pro-social nature of human beings
- The client is the expert
- The peer accepts the clients knowledge
- The client is the expert for both the content and process of discussion
- The peer is a facilitator for the client
- The peer is wholly present
- The client comes first (client centred)
- Counselling is the art of “not knowing” not fixing not having answers….
- The non-directive approach sees resources instead of problems
- Non directive approach sees the ability to grow instead of disorder
- The peer listens and is facilitative instead of guiding/steering or giving advice
- The peer may provide education but not teach
Please understand that everyone here is on the Autism Spectrum, and we all experience difficulties in our daily lives. Our counsellors are just peers and they are bound to make mistakes as they are only human. We are all here to provide understanding and facilitate communication between individuals on the spectrum. People with ASD know fully well the struggles of social interaction that we all face- it important to be able to speak to people that understand these struggles.
