Newly diagnosed. Should I consider therapy?

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Hello everyone,

I am a 30 year old woman that just got diagnosed on the spectrum a few weeks ago. I have been sitting on the fence as to whether I should consider psychotherapy. I have never made use of therapy before and am generally anxious as to what I can expect in such sessions. I do intend to go to the debriefing following my diagnosis with the psychologist that did the assessment and will therefore have the opportunity to ask questions. I have not determined those questions yet.

It would be helpful if you could share your experience in post-diagnosis psychotherapy. Secondly, if you could suggest any questions I should ask the clinical psychologist would also be beneficial to me.

Thank you in advance.

It depends. Therapy for what exactly? Therapy isn't going to change your neurology, though if you want support coming to terms with the grieving process (which many go through after discovery) - of missed opportunities, misunderstandings, being misdiagnosed, mislabelled, wasted time, beating yourself up for misunderstanding about your self - then a certain kind of psychotherapy may help you. However you may be able to find that help here.

If you want therapy because you "have" an autism spectrum condition per se - then be specific about what features you personally would like to address, and remember that most psychotherapists judge issues and the people who have them with NT yardsticks, and few understand that what may be quite normal ways of being for someone on the spectrum can seem too "different" from NT ways to be acceptable to them.

Also bear in mind that psychotherapists come in many different versions - there are the behaviourists (who will push you into cognitive behavioural therapy if you choose or stumble into the office of one of them) and there are "humanists" who tend more to look at the impacts of past experience on a person and unhealed trauma.

From what I have read on WP over the years it seems to me that people with AS are a very poor fit for NT psychotherapy in the majority of cases and the idea of an AS person undergoing psychotherapy to "fit in" better with neurotypicals (if that is what you want, it's not clear from your opening post) may bring some benefit to you perhaps though there is no evidence I know of which has demonstrated positive benefit for AS people from a neutral perspective.

Generally I think psychologists, psychotherapists mental health professionals, use their position to play social games, they can't help it they are normal and that is what normal people do. There is a lot of understanding on this forum but face to face contact is maybe preferable you should see if there is a support group near where you live. I would love access to such a group but my current location forbids it.
It would be interesting to know how you feel about your diagnosis, I came to the understanding that I was on the autistic spectrum last year, it has lead me new understandings about myself the ability to put my personality into context so many little details didn't make sense in my life suddenly have form and substance, its been tumultuous and earth shuddering however trying to communicate these issues to other people is practically impossible. I do believe that if I brought them to a mental health professional they wouldn't understand them either. Only I understand myself or perhaps I should say only I am properly motivated to understand myself.
Welcome to the forum

I would think it worth a try, as long as you feel able to appraise the quality of the session(s) and drop out if it should turn out to be counterproductive or a waste of time.

no. therapy has nothing to do with autism.