As a humanistically trained therapist, I learnt in my therapy training that a therapist’s self disclosure is a double-edged sword. Showing too much or too little of myself can be equally unhelpful. The absence of dialogue on a website and the uncertainty how my words may impact on the reader often informed how I wrote about my work.
Friends and colleagues who proofread my content unanimously told me a version of: “There needs to be more of you in your in your content“. This felt difficult to me, because the words queer, neurodivergent and an immigrant of muslim origin have an impact. In my context, these words mean kind, compassionate, empathic, caring, warm, open, honest, occasionally under- or oversharing, respecting your boundaries, eager and passionate about trivial things. In essence, I’m a human being.
Why all this self-disclosure?
When it comes to neurodivergence, I learnt the benefits to disclose parts of my lived experience and identity outweigh the disadvantages. Having said that, lived experience is never a guarantee for good therapy, as this BBC News story explains.
How is neurodivergence identified in adults?
Neurodivergence isn’t a diagnosis, but rather an approach to reframe neurological differences such as ADHD & Autism (among other differences) from the perspective of those who are experiencing these differences.
There are various different ways how neurodivergence is acknowledged in people:
- Some seek support for depression or anxiety and if the professional is familiar with the subtle nuances of neurological differences they may bring it up.
- Many people self diagnose with surprising accuracy through their own research.
- Some learn about their differences because their children get diagnosed with learning difficulties, ADHD or autism. Current research suggests that ADHD is likely to be hereditary.
Knowing what is going on for you can be major life changer and a diagnosis with ADHD in adults can have major benefits according to this study. In addition autism diagnosis went up by 787% in 20 years because it is more likely to be recognised in people.
According to NICE guidelines a formal ADHD diagnosis is performed by a specialist psychiatrist or other appropriately qualified healthcare professional with training and expertise in the diagnosis of ADHD. I hold a certificate from the UK Adult ADHD Network (UKAAN) for “Diagnosis and Assessment of Adults with ADHD”.
How can therapy help?
Therapeutically there are several options. As a humanistically trained therapist, I believe nobody knows you better than you do.
If we discover that neurological differences have caused you stress throughout your life, there are various therapeutic options to draw from. Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing (EMDR) and Internal Family Systems (IFS) appears to be a positive experience for neurodivergent people.
However, the therapeutic approach is often less important than developing a collaborative, therapeutic relationship with your therapist where you feel safe enough to open up.
What might be additional alternatives to therapy?
The current science is in favour of medication to treat some of the symptoms of ADHD and yet as with all interventions it doesn’t always work for everyone. Maybe you also don’t like to take medication and that is also absolutely ok. Medication needs to be managed by a psychiatrist who is knowledgable with ADHD.
