I’m an aspie who is good with people, is this weird?

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Sounds like that kid needs a new therapist and said therapist needs a new job.

That's cruel. I'm against the touchy-feely approach to therapy myself, but you can't tell him he's bad at what he does just because he earnestly believes in that approach.

If you are saying that I need to find a different job then I find that response quite harsh MagicMeerkat. If you are saying that whoever told my ASD client they could never become a therapist due their autism is a jerk then I agree. (the person who said that wasn't a therapist but a family member).

I have autism but ALSO I have very real empathy to the point of being an empath.
But at the same time, I have communication deficit.
It sucks. Lol.

Yeah, I find the same. My emotional radar is so sensitive sometimes its almost creepy and I have no idea how I know some things. Its a useful thing to have as a counsellor. I'm know I'm better at understanding others emotions than most NTs (especially for a male), but that doesn't translate to understanding my own feelings. It takes a lot of time and reflection for me to understand what I'm feeling about something, if at all.

It's also very hard for me to communicate what I'm thinking feeling to others as I usually don't know in the moment. Luckily, I don't have to do this in my work as a therapy relationship is not reciprocal. It's not a friendship, its a one way transaction. I'm there to understand my client and there is usually no need for me to tell them much about myself. So it suits my strengths and limitations I think.

Excessive self disclosure states that the counselor is not supposed to tell clients about himself unless he thinks it will "help" the client


But maybe that policy is different in different countries

Self disclosure guidelines aren't different in different countries. That's best practice for therapist training everywhere.

Self disclosure about something "deep" is not habitually done by any credible therapist. It's a big exception and only done if it serves the needs of the client and is not just the therapist "getting something off their chest".

To clarify. I disclosed my diagnosis to one client, who also had ASD. They were a long standing client who I knew very well. The disclosure was done in the context of the client (an adolescent, thinking about a future career) feeling hopeless after being told by a family member that she could never become a psychologist (her dream career) due to her ASD. My disclosure clearly challenged this inaccurate and damaging belief and it was very effective. I told my clinical supervisor afterwards who agreed that the disclosure was appropriate and produced a good outcome that probably wouldn't have been easily achieved without my disclosure.

The parent actually thanked me the following session as my disclosure restored her daughters hope and confidence in her future and helped her depression. I can easily justify my decision as working in the best in best interests of my client, and I stand by it.

I hope that clears that up for people.

I have discovered that I like being around people, especially people who share common interests and people I can talk to. My major weakness is with mechanical and technical things, quite the opposite of a lot of people with Asperger syndrome.

Definition check: empathy is the ability to identify with what others are thinking or feeling, and is not something one shows. You need to differentiate between empathy and sympathy/compassion; they usually go hand in hand, but not in everyone, they are different things. I for one am hopeless at "reading" people, but that doesn't mean I don't care about them.

If empathy cannot be shown then why do we always say "Aspies show empathy differently to NTs"?

I wonder if part of the difference is that NTs communicate what they empathise better

But then that is showing empathy.

OMG!! !! !! ! God bless you. I am so thrilled that you are an Autistic psychotherapist. I think Autistics can make the BEST psyches. Your patients are very fortunate to have you. I spend all of my sessions with all of my therapists explaining Autism to them. They should be paying me.

Deep empathy is very typical for Autistics. Many of us are actually overly empathetic to the point that it literally shuts our bodies down sometimes. I am so glad you are here on WP. I will pm you soon because I have some very important things to tell you.

But yes, you are in the PERFECT profession for yourself and I wish there were many more like you.

I'm decent with people now-----but it's definitely a "learned" thing, rather than something that was intrinsic within me.

Congratulations on being a psychotherapist. My mother is also a psychotherapist.

I am pretty sure that MagicMeerkat was saying that the person who told your client that she cannot be a therapist because she has ASD needs a new job. You are doing your job very well.

Thanks skibum, I try very hard to do my job well.

I wasn't sure how to interpret MagicMeercat's comment. Text doesn't communicate nuances of meaning. I hoped she wasn't saying I was the one who needed a new job. That's why I gave her the benefit of the doubt.