Private Therapy: Is It Right for Me?

Depending on when you received a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), you may have received years of therapy or you may have had very little intervention. As an autistic adult, you probably have already realized that there are not as many services and service systems available for adults as there are for children. After you have explored all options that are covered by your health insurance and any waivers or other public benefits you may qualify for, you may wonder if private therapy is a good option for you. Before jumping in, consider the questions below to make sure private therapy is the right choice for you at this time.

• Can you afford it? Private therapy isn't cheap, and not all therapists accept insurance. When insurance coverage is available, it may only cover a limited number of appointments. Carefully look at your financial situation and determine how much money per month you can afford to spend out of pocket. If you can only realistically afford one treatment session per month and the private therapist recommends one per week, private therapy may not be worth pursuing at this time. Racking up credit card debt to pay for therapies may be more damaging in the long run than not receiving private services.
• How much free time do you have? Private therapy is done on your own time. Can you take time off from work or do you have time at the end of the work day? Will private therapy interfere with other activities you are taking part in?
• Are you committed to doing the work that is required to receive a benefit from therapy? Benefiting requires more than just showing up for an appointment once a week. You will need to work on goals throughout the week and make changes in your life if you want things to be different. Old habits and ways of thinking are not easy to let go of.
• Are you having trouble adjusting to a new diagnosis? Private counseling may help you get the perspective you need to eventually accept the diagnosis and learn how to move forward. But support groups for autistic adults may be able to help with this too – free of charge.
• Are you going through an especially difficult situation, like anxiety or depression? If so, private therapy may provide critical extra support.
• Do you have a hard time making friends and don't know why? Are you having trouble with social interactions at work? A therapist may be able to help you analyze why you are having difficulties and provide strategies to turn things around.
• Consider what you hope to gain from the therapy. If you are tempted to go all in with the idea that if you just do this one thing, you will have a dramatic improvement, you may be acting on emotion and your expectations may not be realistic ones.
• Are you prepared to continue the private therapy for as long as the therapist thinks is needed to achieve the therapy goals? Even if the therapist can estimate how long it might take to see progress, be prepared if it takes longer (or never works).
• Are you tempted to pursue private therapy because you don't like the therapist you have through a waiver? Talk to the team and express your concerns. You may be able to switch therapists.
• Is the therapy evidence based? Evidence based treatments have been proven to work in samples of individuals on the autism spectrum. Spending money on evidence based treatments may be less risky than pursuing other, unproven ones.