Mental Health & Helping Field Professionals Who are Autistic/Neurodivergent
Some of my clients are mental health or “helping” professionals themselves (HR, nursing/medical, teachers/professors, communication specialists, etc) and unknowingly went into their fields of work partly due to their Autism/neurodivergence. They might have psychology or communication as a special interest of theirs that they find endlessly interesting, and they know more about it than most of their colleagues as a result but doubt this about themselves. They might have been interested in this area because it was helping them to learn to “mask” or fit in with society, without even realizing it. They also might be trying to help others, like they wish they had been given.
Research shows autistic/neurodivergent people often make excellent therapists and helping professionals for a number of reasons, including the following: our dedication to learning, our perceptive abilities, our pattern recognition, and our increased ability to understand people of a similar neurotype, etc. They might have unique approaches or theories in their field which could result in them being quite successful in their career or struggling and feeling like an outcast/imposter.