Most general self-help instruction manuals are not created for people with differently wired brains. People who feel unsafe or insecure due to neurology, communication differences, and poor social skills need assistance learning to navigate in what might be an unwelcoming society.
Even though there is no definitive manual everyone’s journey is different –some more traumatic than others — but you can grow, discover your SELF and create your own path. I have over 20 years of experience working with autism, ADHD, trauma and sensory processing disorders. Much of my therapeutic practice is devoted to the connections and differences between autism and trauma.
The world is full of possibilities. It all starts with YOU.
When I was growing up, I had a deep sense of not belonging. I became an observer of people, looking for patterns and watching soap operas to understand social engagement. Though I liked being alone because it was easier than dealing with social “randomness,” it was lonely. The world didn’t make sense. So, I sought information, studied, and went into therapy.
My earliest therapists didn’t realize I didn’t have the vocabulary and understanding to discuss emotions and feelings. I was traumatized by therapists who insisted that while I had emotions, I just wasn’t getting “it” or not trying hard enough to understand them. Instead of helping, I came away from these experiences feeling more misunderstood and isolated.
Fast forward: During intensive psychotherapy, I started the process of teasing out different feelings from my numbness. A significant PART of me wanted others not to feel so adrift and misunderstood. I became a teacher, then a mental health therapist. I kept searching for answers.
What I discovered about many leading mental health therapies were that they were too abstract, and not sufficiently structured for my linear minded clients. It wasn’t until I learned about Internal Family Systems (IFS) that I experienced an eureka moment.
Why IFS?
Internal Family Systems (IFS) has a therapeutic structure that enables an individual to discover and define their “feeling states” known as PARTS. By identifying specific PARTs, the therapist and client can determine each PARTS roles. Looking at the interplay of the various PARTs helps a client work through trauma and learn how to engage with themselves and others. The first time I invited a client to turn inward and do “PARTS work,” I saw first hand that it wasn’t just me that “got it.” Using IFS therapy brought into focus an organic and natural method to explore one’s internal SELF. IFS is a valuable tool to teach a person self-awareness through the clarification of thoughts and feelings which paves the way to a path forward. This non-pathological therapy doesn’t apply diagnosis or labels to people.
Many of my blog posts will have a IFS slant. As in my private mental health practice, I will incorporate a variety of techniques and modalities to make sense of being autistic and neurodivergent.
The abc’s of autism is dedicated to mental health, education and community. It is for clinicians, practitioners, families and individuals figuring out what it means to be neurodivergent in a world constructed by and for neurotypical individuals. I want to provide a supportive voice, a pat on the back and knowledge that you are not alone. To share Richard Schwartz’s, founder and creator of Internal Family Systems (IFS); mantra : “all Parts are welcome” and I’ll add that “all Brains are too.”
Shall we begin…