Exploring the Experiences and Perceptions of Psychotherapists and Counsellors Working With Autistic Adolescents: Paper Two

IF 1.2 Q3 PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL

Counselling & Psychotherapy Research Pub Date : 2025-03-07 DOI:10.1002/capr.70007

Rachel Casper-White, Judith Hebron, Netalie Shloim

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

A growing body of research has identified counsellor and psychotherapist perceptions of autism as barriers for autistic individuals to accessing mental health care (Lipinski et al. 2022; Roudbarani et al. 2022). A prior quantitative study (Casper-White et al. 2025) focusing on therapists' experiences and perceptions of working with autistic adolescents identified that the number of years since qualifying and the number of clients seen had a positive relationship with confidence to work with this client group. In addition, the descriptive statistics provided support for offering non-directive therapy to support autistic adolescents' mental health. This follow-up qualitative study aimed to better understand these findings and add to an emergent research field, from which improved training opportunities for therapists and access to psychological care for autistic adolescents can be gained.

Methods

This research formed part of an explanatory sequential mixed-methods study (Maarouf 2019). It aimed to investigate counsellor and psychotherapist experiences and perceptions of therapeutic work with autistic adolescents, using data collected via online semi-structured interviews with N = 10 qualified psychotherapists/counsellors and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke 2019).

Findings

Findings are presented in relation to five themes: (1) See the Person, not your Perceptions; (2) Collaborative Working; (3) Overcoming the Stereotypes; (4) Navigating a Deluge of Diagnosis; and (5) Improving upon Unpreparedness.

Discussion

The qualitative results both support and extend previous quantitative findings and provide valuable suggestions for future training provision and a positive insight into working in a non-directive therapeutic way with autistic adolescents.

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探索与自闭症青少年一起工作的心理治疗师和咨询师的经验和看法：论文二

越来越多的研究表明，咨询师和心理治疗师认为自闭症是自闭症患者获得精神卫生保健的障碍(Lipinski et al. 2022；Roudbarani et al. 2022)。先前的一项定量研究（Casper-White et al. 2025）关注治疗师与自闭症青少年合作的经验和看法，发现自获得资格以来的年数和所见客户的数量与与该客户群体合作的信心呈正相关。此外，描述性统计结果为提供非指导性治疗来支持自闭症青少年的心理健康提供了支持。本后续定性研究旨在更好地理解这些发现，并增加一个新兴的研究领域，从中可以获得改善治疗师培训机会和自闭症青少年心理护理的机会。方法本研究是解释性顺序混合方法研究的一部分（Maarouf 2019）。该研究旨在调查咨询师和心理治疗师对自闭症青少年治疗工作的经验和看法，使用通过对N = 10名合格心理治疗师/咨询师的在线半结构化访谈收集的数据，并使用自反性主题分析进行分析（Braun and Clarke 2019）。调查结果与五个主题有关：(1)看到人，而不是你的看法；(2)协同工作；(3)克服刻板印象；(4)在诊断的洪流中穿行；(5)准备不足时的改进。定性结果支持并扩展了之前的定量结果，为未来的培训提供了有价值的建议，并为自闭症青少年的非指导性治疗提供了积极的见解。

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来源期刊

Counselling & Psychotherapy Research PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL-

CiteScore

4.40

自引率

12.50%

发文量

期刊介绍： Counselling and Psychotherapy Research is an innovative international peer-reviewed journal dedicated to linking research with practice. Pluralist in orientation, the journal recognises the value of qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods strategies of inquiry and aims to promote high-quality, ethical research that informs and develops counselling and psychotherapy practice. CPR is a journal of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy, promoting reflexive research strongly linked to practice. The journal has its own website: www.cprjournal.com. The aim of this site is to further develop links between counselling and psychotherapy research and practice by offering accessible information about both the specific contents of each issue of CPR, as well as wider developments in counselling and psychotherapy research. The aims are to ensure that research remains relevant to practice, and for practice to continue to inform research development.