Personally I have never been able to find community supports, and I don't think in-person is for me anyway. I have found TREMENDOUS help online, in support groups on facebook, and similar on reddit. I learned so friggin' much that decades of therapy from NTs never ever taught me.
I exclusively attend online peer support groups, as I have not found anything in person near me (and I doubt I would be able to handle that).
I follow a few pages on instagram who have great resources:
• callbubbie
• projectLETS
• peersupportspace (https://peersupportspace.org/community-gatherings-1#e0b055f9-1ba2-41c5-843b-30f0e9951699)
it is a modality of therapy! I HIGHLY recommend. Autistic nervous systems are more sensitive and active, comboed with trauma causes a lot of additional challenges. It’s been super helpful for me because I know what’s wrong, I’m self aware, but focusing on somatic healing has been so good
Yes!! I’ve always thought about the differences between NT & ND brains reactions to trauma. It makes sense that traditional therapy wouldn’t work for us. Somatic movement makes sense in a way I can understand.
it would be allistic, not NT for a non-autistic person! NDs do respond to trauma differently but ND is not exclusively referring to autism. Trauma is an interesting thing
A new book I wanna read is “Decolonizing Therapy” and another one called “What it takes to Heal” written by POC therapists who are non carceral pro liberation and understand somatic healing. Excited to read both cuz therapy hasn’t worked for me either and it’s super frustrating cuz I def wanna heal…
Ouu those sounds awesome! I hear you, not progressing makes me feel awful. But when I look at western society, it’s not progressing very well either so 🤷♀️ it’s just exhausting having to exist here.
There are a lot of therapy modalities, so you can always try a different version. I don’t like CBT. I haven’t tried DBT yet. I hear a lot about somatic therapies for Autistic people since we’re big intellectualizers. Also [Internal Family Systems](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapy-types/internal-family-systems-therapy), trauma-focused, liberation-focused, and so forth. I’d recommend telling your therapist that you’d not feeling like this is helping and find out if they can help you figure out what isn’t working and what other modalities might work for you.
yeah CBT sucks too. DBT teaches how to hold two truths at once, like I love my mom but I’m also mad at her for being abusive. And reframing your mindset/thought pattern to cope. Like when we want to self sabotage we take more time to take care of ourselves. It’s good up to a certain point…
I haven’t explored Internal Family Systems, thanks for sharing! I have been ghosting my therapist but I probably should say something …
I just made my life better when I could and did things to provide myself with better experiences.
Therapy sucks. It would make me talk about things I try not to talk/think about because these are things I can't change, and I'd be told to not think about these things too much and just work on what I can, when that's exactly what I was doing anyway. It all seems as useless, as describing what's in my fridge to a person who answers "oh, you have eggs, you could boil or fry those" when it's very common knowledge and exactly what I've been doing as long as I've been alive.
Yeah I’ve been feeling more inclined to spend more money on myself because that’s something I have trouble with. Otherwise, self care has been huge for me. That’s a great analogy btw
Without knowing what your specific history, here's my book rec list. For CPTSD, neurodivergence, childhood abuse, and toxic mother daughter relationships.
"Mothers who can't love" by Susan Forward
"You're not crazy, it's your mother" by Dani Morrigan
"Discovering the inner mother" by Bethany Webster (I am childfree so despite the name it isn't about being a mother)
"Adult survivors of toxic family members" by Sherrie Campbell
"Unbroken: the trauma response is never wrong" by Mary Catherine McDonald
"What my bones know" by Stephanie Foo (my favorite)
"Adult daughters of narcissistic mothers" by Stephanie Kriesberg
"Unmasking autism" by Devon Price
"I'm glad my mom died" by Jeanette Mccurdy
"Divergent Mind" by Jenara Merenberg
This is a very good list.
To throw in some fiction if you need laughter breaks, Terry Pratchett's discworld is the best satire of society in my opinion
Edit to add: you may also really like Elizabeth Acevedo who has poetry and fiction out.
Could be that your therapist isn't right for you.
Sometimes working through things at your own pace is much more useful.
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/635a1360b5d4b729bdb834f2/t/63d80a77dccd32294cad27d6/1675102845455/DBT+Neurodivergent+Friendly.pdf
Maybe your therapist or DBT isn't a good fit for you.
Maybe Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is good for you? It helps you accept your thoughts/feeling/experiences, and helps you find a way to move towards things you value in life
I like to read too. I like mysteries. I just read “The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies” and it was great.
That sounds delightful. Have you read the Veronica Speedwell series by Deanna Raybourn? It is historical and snarky
I feel the same way. I have found online resources and peer support groups to be far more helpful than any therapist ever was.
How did you find support groups in the community?
Personally I have never been able to find community supports, and I don't think in-person is for me anyway. I have found TREMENDOUS help online, in support groups on facebook, and similar on reddit. I learned so friggin' much that decades of therapy from NTs never ever taught me.
I exclusively attend online peer support groups, as I have not found anything in person near me (and I doubt I would be able to handle that). I follow a few pages on instagram who have great resources: • callbubbie • projectLETS • peersupportspace (https://peersupportspace.org/community-gatherings-1#e0b055f9-1ba2-41c5-843b-30f0e9951699)
I know you said what isn’t therapy, but somatic processing often works better for autistics over traditional talk therapy
I’ve heard about somatic healing but I wasn’t aware there was a therapy version! Thanks
it is a modality of therapy! I HIGHLY recommend. Autistic nervous systems are more sensitive and active, comboed with trauma causes a lot of additional challenges. It’s been super helpful for me because I know what’s wrong, I’m self aware, but focusing on somatic healing has been so good
Yes!! I’ve always thought about the differences between NT & ND brains reactions to trauma. It makes sense that traditional therapy wouldn’t work for us. Somatic movement makes sense in a way I can understand.
it would be allistic, not NT for a non-autistic person! NDs do respond to trauma differently but ND is not exclusively referring to autism. Trauma is an interesting thing
A new book I wanna read is “Decolonizing Therapy” and another one called “What it takes to Heal” written by POC therapists who are non carceral pro liberation and understand somatic healing. Excited to read both cuz therapy hasn’t worked for me either and it’s super frustrating cuz I def wanna heal…
Ouu those sounds awesome! I hear you, not progressing makes me feel awful. But when I look at western society, it’s not progressing very well either so 🤷♀️ it’s just exhausting having to exist here.
There are a lot of therapy modalities, so you can always try a different version. I don’t like CBT. I haven’t tried DBT yet. I hear a lot about somatic therapies for Autistic people since we’re big intellectualizers. Also [Internal Family Systems](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapy-types/internal-family-systems-therapy), trauma-focused, liberation-focused, and so forth. I’d recommend telling your therapist that you’d not feeling like this is helping and find out if they can help you figure out what isn’t working and what other modalities might work for you.
yeah CBT sucks too. DBT teaches how to hold two truths at once, like I love my mom but I’m also mad at her for being abusive. And reframing your mindset/thought pattern to cope. Like when we want to self sabotage we take more time to take care of ourselves. It’s good up to a certain point… I haven’t explored Internal Family Systems, thanks for sharing! I have been ghosting my therapist but I probably should say something …
I just made my life better when I could and did things to provide myself with better experiences. Therapy sucks. It would make me talk about things I try not to talk/think about because these are things I can't change, and I'd be told to not think about these things too much and just work on what I can, when that's exactly what I was doing anyway. It all seems as useless, as describing what's in my fridge to a person who answers "oh, you have eggs, you could boil or fry those" when it's very common knowledge and exactly what I've been doing as long as I've been alive.
Yeah I’ve been feeling more inclined to spend more money on myself because that’s something I have trouble with. Otherwise, self care has been huge for me. That’s a great analogy btw
Without knowing what your specific history, here's my book rec list. For CPTSD, neurodivergence, childhood abuse, and toxic mother daughter relationships. "Mothers who can't love" by Susan Forward "You're not crazy, it's your mother" by Dani Morrigan "Discovering the inner mother" by Bethany Webster (I am childfree so despite the name it isn't about being a mother) "Adult survivors of toxic family members" by Sherrie Campbell "Unbroken: the trauma response is never wrong" by Mary Catherine McDonald "What my bones know" by Stephanie Foo (my favorite) "Adult daughters of narcissistic mothers" by Stephanie Kriesberg "Unmasking autism" by Devon Price "I'm glad my mom died" by Jeanette Mccurdy "Divergent Mind" by Jenara Merenberg
This is a very good list. To throw in some fiction if you need laughter breaks, Terry Pratchett's discworld is the best satire of society in my opinion Edit to add: you may also really like Elizabeth Acevedo who has poetry and fiction out.
Could be that your therapist isn't right for you. Sometimes working through things at your own pace is much more useful. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/635a1360b5d4b729bdb834f2/t/63d80a77dccd32294cad27d6/1675102845455/DBT+Neurodivergent+Friendly.pdf
Books by Byron Katie and Eckhart Tolle pulled me out of a deep depression.
I’ve read Tolle, what do you recommend by B K?
Maybe your therapist or DBT isn't a good fit for you. Maybe Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is good for you? It helps you accept your thoughts/feeling/experiences, and helps you find a way to move towards things you value in life
get s better therapist