Open Letter to a Group Therapy Facilitator

Post Reply New Topic

You know that I have Asperger’s Syndrome. Yet you run this group in a way that makes it very difficult for an Aspergic to participate.
* You often interrupt me and you allow other members to interrupt me.
* You often allow the focus to wander all over the group and I can never concentrate on one thing at a time.
* I often feel that you and other members are ganging up on me and you do nothing to prevent it.
* You are constantly condemning my worldview. I believe that there is an objective reality and when I am speaking, that is the worldview that should be heard. Don’t write everything off as my personal fantasy.

That's why I won't go to group therapy. You should find something else like a counselor for people with AS or an AS group they do have them out there.

Wow, that's really bad. You should definitely find another group. A skilled leader is not going to allow ganging up, whether the person is aspie or not.

PS Welcome to Wrong Planet!

I gave up on group therapy in my mid-20's (way before I knew I had AS) after a few different attempts with a few different groups, for many of the reasons you listed. I second either finding an AS group or an individual counselor.

I attended a couple AS meet-ups and experienced much of what you're complaining about except there was no ganging up. The worst part were the NTs who brought there AS kid or partner. They did 90% of the talking and changed subjects so fast that by the time I thought of something to say the subject had changed twice. I also experienced some of the "everyone has that happen to them" comments from the leader that dismisses your experiences. I stopped going. Maybe you can find a good AS group. Good luck.

You're Welcome