Therapy and Mental Health Support for Autistic Women

Many autistic women come to therapy feeling exhausted, misunderstood, and overwhelmed by the demands of daily life. Whether you've recently received an autism diagnosis, suspect you might be autistic, or have been masking for years, therapy can provide vital support in understanding yourself, developing coping strategies, and building a life that works with your neurotype rather than against it.

Understanding Your Autistic Experience

Autism affects how you process the world around you, communicate with others, and navigate social situations. For many women, autism has been a hidden part of their experience, masked by years of trying to fit neurotypical expectations. This masking, whilst often necessary for survival, can be incredibly exhausting and lead to significant mental health challenges.

In therapy, we work together to understand your unique autistic profile - your strengths, challenges, sensory needs, and the ways autism shows up in your daily life. This understanding forms the foundation for developing strategies that honour your neurotype whilst addressing the difficulties you may be experiencing.

Many autistic women describe feeling like they've been wearing a mask their entire lives, constantly performing to meet social expectations. Therapy provides a safe space to explore what it means to unmask, to understand your authentic self, and to develop ways of being in the world that feel genuine and sustainable.

Common Challenges We Address in Therapy with Autistic Women

Masking and Identity

Years of masking can leave many autistic women feeling disconnected from their authentic selves. In therapy, we explore the impact of masking on your mental health and identity, work on understanding when masking might be necessary versus when you can be more authentic, develop strategies for reducing masking in safe environments, and process the grief that often comes with recognising years of hiding your true self.

This work often involves learning to recognise your own needs and preferences after years of suppressing them to fit in with others.

Autistic Burnout and Overwhelm

Autistic burnout is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion that results from prolonged masking, sensory overload, and the stress of navigating a neurotypical world. In therapy, we focus on recognising the early signs of burnout, developing strategies for managing sensory overwhelm, creating sustainable routines and boundaries, and building recovery strategies when burnout occurs.

Recovery from burnout often requires significant lifestyle changes and learning to prioritise your autistic needs over external expectations.

Social Relationships and Communication

Many autistic women struggle with maintaining relationships whilst feeling authentic. Therapy can help with understanding your communication style and needs, developing strategies for navigating social situations, learning to communicate your needs to others, building and maintaining meaningful friendships, and addressing challenges in romantic relationships and family dynamics.

We work on developing confidence in your natural communication style rather than constantly trying to adapt to neurotypical expectations.

Sensory and Environmental Challenges

Sensory sensitivities can significantly impact daily life and mental health. In therapy, we explore identifying your specific sensory triggers and preferences, developing strategies for managing overwhelming environments, creating sensory-friendly spaces in your home and work, and learning to advocate for your sensory needs with others.

Understanding and accommodating your sensory needs is often a crucial step in reducing anxiety and improving overall wellbeing.

The Complex Relationship Between Autism and Mental Health

Anxiety and Autism

Anxiety is incredibly common among autistic women, often developing as a response to living in an unpredictable, sensory-overwhelming world. Unlike typical anxiety that might be based on unfounded fears, anxiety in autistic women is frequently a reasonable response to real challenges in their environment.

In therapy, we distinguish between anxiety that stems from your autism and anxiety that might be treated with traditional approaches. We focus on addressing the root causes - such as sensory overwhelm, social confusion, or the exhaustion of masking - rather than simply trying to challenge your thoughts or expose you to anxiety-provoking situations.

Many autistic women find that when their autistic needs are understood and accommodated, their anxiety levels decrease significantly.

Depression and Self-Worth

Years of feeling different, struggling to fit in, and having your natural way of being misunderstood can lead to depression and low self-worth. Many autistic women develop a harsh inner critic, believing they're somehow failing at being human.

Therapy provides an opportunity to challenge these negative beliefs, understand how your autism has been pathologised or misunderstood, and develop a more compassionate relationship with yourself. We work on building self-acceptance and recognising the strengths that come with your neurotype.

Processing Late Diagnosis

Receiving an autism diagnosis later in life can bring up complex emotions - relief at finally having answers, grief for the years of struggling without understanding, anger at systems that failed to recognise your autism, and confusion about what this means for your future.

Therapy provides support through this adjustment period, helping you integrate your new understanding of yourself and make decisions about how you want to move forward.

Therapeutic Approaches for Autistic Women

Autism-Affirming Therapy

Our specialists are autism-affirming, meaning we view autism as a neurological difference rather than a disorder to be cured. We work with your autism, not against it, focusing on building on your strengths whilst developing strategies for managing challenges.

This approach recognises that many difficulties autistic women face come from living in a world not designed for their needs, rather than from inherent deficits.

Sensory-Informed Therapy

We understand that traditional therapy settings might not work for everyone. We can adapt our approach to accommodate your sensory needs, whether that means adjusting lighting, reducing background noise, allowing movement during sessions, or finding other ways to make therapy more accessible.

Trauma-Informed Care

Many autistic women have experienced trauma, whether from bullying, masking, medical procedures, or other overwhelming experiences. We use trauma-informed approaches that recognise how trauma might interact with your autism and provide gentle, appropriate support for healing.

Moving Forward as Your Authentic Self