Bespoke Members
Introduction
Autistic people are more likely to experience a range of mental health conditions, and also to report that the help they received was not effective. Evidence shows that treatment outcomes in routine mental health settings are less favourable than for non-autistic people from equivalent backgrounds. The importance of redressing these mental health inequalities is recognised by the autism community, the National Health Service and the United Nations.
Autistic people have long emphasised the importance of adapting mental health care, including psychological therapies. Adjustments to communication, sensory environments and appointment scheduling are known to be helpful. Recently experts by lived experience, clinical experience and research have called for mental health care to go further and to be neuro-affirming. This involves clinicians being informed by a neurodiversity perspective. It calls for focus on strengths as well as challenges, knowledge of distinctive autistic mental health experiences (including autistic burnout and masking / camouflaging), and appreciation of the role of environmental contexts in shaping mental health outcomes. It is a compassionate approach that champions the lived experience of autistic people, challenges deep assumptions, and informs new and effective ways of working.
The event will be equivalent to 5.1/2hrs of CPD.
Content
This full-day workshop brings together expertise by lived experience, clinical practice and research. The first half of the day will focus on sharing knowledge and perspectives, and the second half on applied clinical skills.
In the first half of the day, the workshop will explore an understanding of autism from a neurodiversity perspective. Informed by recent evidence and lived experience, it will cover:
1) The changing idea of autism, including consideration of the neurodiversity paradigm
2) Autistic strengths
3) Beyond “functioning” labels: The role of environments in shaping experience
4) Autistic intersections: Neurodivergence, gender, race and culture
5) Autistic mental health experiences, including masking/camouflaging and burnout
In the second half of the day, we will build on part one to focus on mental health care and psychological therapies. This part will involve experiential practice. Informed by clinical and lived experience, it will cover:
1) Understanding outcome disparities in mental health care
2) Adapting mental health services: Removing barriers and improving access
3) Adapting client work: Basic adaptations
4) Adapting client work: How to deliver neuro-affirming care
5) Neuro-affirming psychological therapy
There will also be a Q&A session at the end of each half of the day.
Learning Objectives
1) Knowledge of historical and contemporary models of autism (including the neurodiversity paradigm), informed by recent evidence
2) Ability to use a “person-environment” framework to understand mental health and life experiences of autistic people
3) Awareness of mental health experiences that are specifically pertinent to autistic people
4) Appreciation of disparities in autistic mental health and their causes
5) Ability to implement adaptations to improve mental health care
6) A deeper understanding of the meaning and practice of neuro-affirming treatment
Training Modalities
This full-day workshop will include didactic teaching, sharing of lived experience, and self-experiential components.
Key References
Brede, J., Cage, E., Trott, J., Palmer, L., Smith, A., Serpell, L., ... & Russell, A. (2022). “We Have to Try to Find a Way, a Clinical Bridge”- autistic adults' experience of accessing and receiving support for mental health difficulties: A systematic review and thematic meta-synthesis. Clinical Psychology Review, 93, 102131.
Chapman, R., & Botha, M. (2023). Neurodivergence-informed therapy. Developmental medicine and child neurology, 65(3), 310–317. https://doi.org/10.1111/dmcn.15384
Linden, A., Best, L., Elise, F., Roberts, D., Branagan, A., Tay, Y. B. E., ... & Gurusamy, K. (2023). Benefits and harms of interventions to improve anxiety, depression, and other mental health outcomes for autistic people: A systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Autism, 27(1), 7-30.
Stark, E., Ali, D., Ayre, A., Schneider, N., Parveen, S., Marais, K., ... & Pender, R. (2021). Psychological therapy for autistic adults: A curious approach to making adaptations.
Pemovska, T., Loizou, S., Appleton, R., Spain, D., Stefanidou, T., Kular, A., ... & Johnson, S. (2024). Approaches to improving mental health care for autistic children and young people: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological medicine, 54(10), 2313-2343.
Loizou, S., Pemovska, T., Stefanidou, T., Foye, U., Cooper, R., Kular, A., ... & Johnson, S. (2024). Approaches to improving mental healthcare for autistic people: systematic review. BJPsych open, 10(4), e128.
About the presenter
Will Mandy is Professor of Neurodevelopmental Conditions in the Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology at UCL. He is a Clinical Psychologist and autism researcher, with extensive experience as an autism trainer. Much of his research focuses on improving mental health services for autistic people.
Richard Pender is a Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Research Fellow at UCL. He has worked in specialist services for autistic people in the NHS, and has led on developing and promoting co-production projects with autistic people to improve mental health services. His research has focused on improving psychological therapies for autistic mental health.
Annalise Ayre is a late-diagnosed autistic adult, who has experienced lifelong mental health difficulties. She has extensive experience of working within specialist educational settings with autistic young people and young people with learning disabilities, and also works as an autistic co-trainer on the NHS Oliver Mcgowan Mandatory Training for NHS staff. She is passionate about using her own lived experience to improve mental health services for autistic people.
Who should attend
This workshop is suitable for clinicians working in mental health services, who are interested to advance their understanding of autism and mental health, and develop their knowledge and practice of neuroaffirming care.