Are there any other, any other myths that therapists harbour, carry? Anything that interferes with the therapeutic relationship impacts on that?

Yeah, I think, I mean, there are many.

In terms of like in the book, I talk about the therapeutic relationship and how that can be impacted.

And I mentioned about communication.

That's a big one.

So I think it's also around things like maybe how we might interpret literal thinking, for example.

So, again, for autistic people largely talking about here, we can have quite literal thinking and that can come across as maybe.

What does that mean and why are they important?

Could you, could you explain what you mean by that? Or, says he with a pretty good on, uh, suspicion about what you're going to say.

[laughs] So neurodivergent people, it will come as no surprise probably to anyone listening, are more susceptible to that kind of big T trauma, the k- the trauma that we think of.

They're more susceptible to victimization, to bullying, to abuse, and that's for a variety of reasons.

There's lots of risk factors there.

But on top of that, being neurodivergent in a world that is not set up for you can be traumatic in itself.

Now, that could be where we have maybe different, different experiences that our nervous systems as a neurodivergent person, my neurod- my, um, nervous system might experience that as traumatic, whereas to the general population, quite possibly it might not be considered that.

So for example, it may be, uh, having a conversation with a shopkeeper or something.

Yeah.

So I guess my first, um, my first question really is what inspired you to write the book, Amy?

So I think for me, this book is the book that I really needed w- as I started seeing clients.

I didn't feel prepared, I think, to support my neurodivergent clients fully, and it felt like there was a quite big gap between how we're trained as counselors and what actually works for neurodivergent people.

And as I saw more and more neurodivergent clients, I saw clients who had been maybe misunderstood, maybe subtly shamed for the way, their ways of being, by their counselors.

Not intentionally at all, but I think in part because therapy models are still so rooted in neu- normative assumptions, those kind of unwritten standards that dictate how we're supposed to communicate or express ourselves.

So I really wanted something to bridge that gap, really.

The book hopefully bridges that gap.

What are the common mistakes that therapists may unconsciously, or I'm going to use the word ignorance in its purest sense, without knowing the information, um, make with neurodivergent clients?