This is a peak into how Elise began providing PDA affirming care and how she does it. Thank you to the PDA Therapy Collaborative for all your support. Attend her webinar on August 22nd through PDA North America to hear her professional descriptions of PDA strength-based care and how it helps her conceptualize good relational practice. Go to pdanorthamerica.org to register.

Transcript:

As a clinical Social Worker for 32 years my instincts have served as a 6th sense. But at a crucial time, they appeared to fail my family. Learning about The PDA Profile of Autism in 2021 restored confidence in my own instincts.

Since then, I merged my professional and my personal life. It was neither something I planned for or saw unfolding until it did.

I knew I didn’t want families to be in the dark about PDA. Information offers the power for change. But I had a traditional therapy practice. I was not attempting to support PDA families.

Following my instincts I examined my existing practice and came to realize that a significant number of my clients fit the profile. Yes, that’s right. I hadn’t been trying to but I was already supporting PDA adults and families.
I was 52 at the time. I was making sense of a great deal all at once and doing what I think was important professional work. Yet I had no colleagues. No one to discuss PDA with.

I began to generate ideas of what PDA Relational Therapy looks and feels like with no guidebook of my own.

I found my footing through collaboration with members of a national PDA consultation group. We knew that in doing this work we would have to use our own knowledge base and experience to develop best practice.

I want those reading this to know that nothing I do is new. It exists in the cannons of psychological and social work theory. I didn’t develop a clever idea, or, come up with a new way to provide therapy.

I am just adapting already existing relational client centered and psychodynamic practice theories to work with PDA.

This is something I want therapists to know how to do, but this work is not easy.

Relational and client centered work is actually the hardest way to practice as there is no technique between you and the feelings of your client but your own mastery of process, ability to navigate your own emotions and use them therapeutically. There is no tool in the tool box but you.

I’m confident or foolish. Maybe both?

Or, instead, just comfortable listening to big stories and can speak to them in a meaningful way.

PDA parents and adults illustrate that autism does not look like what any of us have been taught. They may not have thought of themselves as autistic. At least not until recently. As a result, what PDA looks and feels like is important to address as part of the therapy. I look to distill commonalities from the experiences of those I’ve worked with. I offer reassurance and validation that my clients are not alone and that they can be seen and understood.

Truthfully, this is the relational basis for therapeutic connection, to address the existential fear that we are alone in our pain. The relief and comfort in being understood addresses existential suffering.

This work is both interesting and exciting to me. I follow work that excites me knowing it’s connection to producing good relational work. I give myself permission to choose work that makes me happy which in turn helps set the stage for good work to happen through the relationship.

I love challenges. Mentoring, teaching, writing, running groups and offering long- and short-term therapy.

Choosing my work allows me to “show up” every day and bring as much to the work as I can. When we do this, we can be professionally authentic. To choose ourselves in our work lets us be both professional in our role but also PDA affirming in our authenticity. We can be both.

I believe that in 5 to 10 years PDA “best practice” will be relational work that affirms PDA emotional and cognitive processing and supports unfolding healthy identity.

But far too many parents and adults are just now learning about PDA with not enough affirming providers. At just the right moment it is my aim, that, they have affirming care when they need it.

Those professionals with PDA families or those who have lives touched by PDA can change things for the better right now by adapting our practices and interpreting this to our colleagues. If we choose, we can be the change makers.

If you are here, this may be what you’re trying to do. You are not alone in this work. Find your group or lean on The PDA Therapy Collaborative in adapting your practice.