“Basically, it's that she accepts me as I am”: Autistic Adults' Positive Experiences with Psychologists in Australia
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Background: Despite their increased need for mental health support, Autistic adults often report dissatisfaction with the care they receive. Although research focused on barriers and limitations to health care for Autistic adults is informative, it may not offer guidance to professionals looking to learn about how to meet the needs of Autistic clients. Limited research has explored Autistic adults' interactions with psychologists, and no known study has explored their positive therapy experiences. Methods: We conducted semi-structured online interviews with nine Autistic adults (aged 20–46 years) in Australia to learn about their positive experiences working with psychologists. Results: We developed four primary themes and nine subthemes using Reflexive Thematic Analysis. Primary themes included (1) “A Clear Sense of Direction,” (2) “Understand the Autistic Brain,” (3) “Creating a Safe Space,” and (4) “A Huge Flow on Impact.” Participants described having worked with psychologists who understood Autism, were flexible and accommodating, followed a strengths-based approach, and facilitated self-understanding and self-acceptance through helping clients to feel heard and validated. Conclusion: There are actions psychologists can take to promote a positive therapy experience for Autistic adults, and relational factors that facilitate a positive experience. A positive therapy experience can contribute to Autistic adult clients feeling heard and validated, which can have a flow on impact to improve their self-perception. We have developed a proposed model of care that outlines accommodations psychologists can consider when providing therapy to Autistic adults.
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O'Brien et al. (2024) found that effective psychologists understood autism, adopted a flexible and strengths-based approach, and facilitated self-acceptance by helping clients feel heard and validated.
“O'Brien et al. (2024) found that effective psychologists understood autism, adopted a flexible and strengths-based approach, and facilitated self-acceptance by helping clients feel heard and validated.”
From Rethinking psychological interventions in autism: Toward a neurodiversity‐affirming approach. (2025) · cites this paper as O'Brien et al., 2024
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Rethinking psychological interventions in autism: Toward a neurodiversity‐affirming approach.
Graf‐Kurtulus, S., & Gelo, O. C. G. (2025) · Counselling and Psychotherapy Research · doi:10.1002/capr.12874 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
- Authors
- O'Brien, C., Jellett, R., & Flower, R. L.
- Affiliations
- La Trobe University (AU)
- Swinburne University of Technology (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Flower, Rebecca L.
- Venue
- Autism in Adulthood
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2024-05-02
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 568-580
- ISSN
- 2573-9581 (ISSN-L)
- 2573-959X
- PMC
- PMC12670685
- OpenAlex
- W4396531263
- Cited by
- 10
- References
- 18
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 1
- FWCI
- 2.42
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Autism in Adulthood (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- La Trobe University
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Counseling Practices and Supervision
- Keywords
- autistic adults, psychologist-client relationship, mental health services, strengths-based approach, self-acceptance, validation, safe spaces, models of care
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