A look at “To understand the experiences of autistic counsellors: A United Kingdom phenomenological study” by Jade Rita Taylor and Michael Sims (2024)
There’s an old, stubborn myth that autistic people lack empathy. If that were true, you’d hardly expect to find them in one of the most empathy-heavy professions going. Yet autistic counsellors are out there, often quietly and sometimes masking furiously. This small UK study asked seven of them what the work is really like.
What they found
The participants were seven counsellors who were either diagnosed or self-identified as autistic. They answered detailed written questionnaires, a format chosen deliberately to suit autistic communication preferences. Four themes emerged.
Working differently. Participants described approaching the world “intellect-first” and sometimes having to work harder to connect with clients whose reactions are driven by emotion. But many also described being “a super-sponge” for others’ feelings, the very opposite of the empathy myth.
Neurotype matters. Working with autistic and neurodivergent clients was described as a real strength. Shared experience and an understanding of the “double empathy problem” helped. That’s the idea that communication difficulties run both ways between autistic and non-autistic people. Clients often felt instantly understood. Working with non-autistic clients was entirely possible, and some said years of masking had made them highly adaptable. But it could “drain an autistic counsellor’s battery”, whereas neurodivergent clients “charge it!”
A profession that doesn’t always understand. Training experiences were often painful, with forced socialising at coffee breaks, unclear timetables, sensory-unfriendly rooms and lecturers declaring that autistic people “cannot be empathetic”. Several described feeling “oppressed and alienated” in agencies.
Representation. Participants called for autistic trainers, better accommodations for autistic trainees, neurodiversity as a core part of every counselling course, and the ability to advertise themselves as autistic practitioners in professional directories.
A grain of glitter ✨
This is a rare and genuinely important study that centres autistic voices. It’s also refreshingly affirming in its framing. But its size and design mean it’s a starting point rather than a definitive picture.
Seven people is a small number, even for qualitative research. Written questionnaires are accessible, but they don’t allow follow-up questions to dig deeper. We don’t know how varied the participants were in age, ethnicity, gender or experience. The paper also seems written partly from a position of advocacy, which is valuable, but it means the findings are framed very much as a call for change rather than a neutral exploration.
Why this matters
If you’re autistic and looking for a therapist, it’s okay to want someone who “gets it”, and this study suggests that shared neurotype can be a genuine asset. It’s also perfectly fine to work with a non-autistic therapist who is neurodiversity-affirming. What matters most is feeling understood, rather than having to translate yourself all session long.
Sometimes the best person to help a unicorn is another unicorn. It saves an awful lot of explaining about the horn.